Jean-Michel Jarre: The Concerts In China
The Concerts in China was a concert tour by Jean Michel Jarre, notable for marking the opening of post-Mao Zedong China to live Western music, in 1981. Five concerts were held in the two biggest cities, for an estimated audience of 120,000 spectators, on October 21 and 22 in Beijing, and on October 26 through 28 in Shanghai.
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While there remains no official DVD release of the "The Concerts in China", the VHS version and the derivative Shock DVD version show the Andrew Piddington, Central Television (UK) documentary of the shows.
Due to the source material used the picture quality is not high, however the content is great for getting a feel of just how pioneering an enterprise hosting these concerts was.
The programme gives a nice insight into China before it's birth as the Economic powerhouse that we know her as today - remembering that all the footage would presumably have been approved at the time.
Of course Jarre's music is also at the heart of the show and the mix of images and music is just right.