InternationalBob Sinclar is live in Yerevan, as the audience holds on
Published: Thursday July 30, 2009
Artwork from Bob Sinclar's Born in 69.
Yerevan - When I got back to Armenia in June, one of the first things I noticed in the streets was the blue posters announcing Bob Sinclar's live concert in Yerevan. As time grew near, I decided to get a ticket despite the price; after all, it promised to be one of the events of this summer. When buying the ticket, I didn't know I was also paying for an extra dose of Armenian rock band music, a faulty sound system, and overpriced beer.
It's July 29. I'm excited to get to the event, finally. Despite all the objections of my friends, we got there early (that is, more than two hours after the official start of the concert). My friends were right: there were very few people, and no live performers.
A staff member with Viva Productions, the organizers of the event, turned out to be a friend and shared some info about the concert. Apparently, the concert sold out – about 4,000 tickets sold – and the organizers had to add "last-minute" extras to make sure the demand was met. The concert was going to include performances by Armenian rock bands such as Reincarnation (who did the opening, which we had missed) and the Beautified Project, as well as by locally renowned DJs Vakcina and C-Rouge.
To my dismay, I found out that Sinclar was to perform only starting midnight, and only for 2.5 hours. Still, I hoped for a great show.
A first for the region
If anyone asked me to recite some of Sinclar's lyrics, recount his biography, or name some of his albums, I would never be able to do so. The French musician made his name through world-famous hits such as "World, Hold On" and "Love Generation," and that was about all I knew of him. But, according to my friend, the concert was going to be the first of its kind in the entire Southern Caucasus, and the first open-air disco on such a scale in Armenia.
I was told that Viva Productions had arranged for a mega-sound system to ensure that both the audience and the musician were satisfied with the presentation of the new album Born in 69, released in May this year.
I cannot speak for every person in the audience, but I can say that my personal expectations were hardly met. Although it started pretty late, the warm-up before the arrival of the main attraction was not bad: DJ Vakcina and the Armenoids did a good job in setting the mood.
And then, when Sinclar arrived, the much ballyhooed sound system failed, and the sound was barely enough for the front-most circles of the audience. After painstaking efforts and about 20 (precious) minutes, the problem was fixed.
An extraordinary crowd
The crowd – which, I should admit, was largely a gathering of the most extraordinary and unorthodox young people in Yerevan – was ecstatic, and the good-quality sound, together with the lights and the horrid foam effects, provided for a memorable performance. However, to our disappointment, Sinclar did not show generosity, and his show was only about an hour long. Apparently, the organizers thought it would be too much of a good thing, and Sinclar was replaced by the Armenian DJ C-Rouge.
And yet, more disappointment was still to come. As C-Rouge took over the stage, the police started yelling at the audience in the back, telling them to leave the park. Before the musician could finish his second track, an officer was on stage ordering him to stop the music and making sure the lights were off; and this all, supposedly, without the advance knowledge of the organizers, who had promoted the concert as an event that was to go until 4 a.m.
It's a shame the long-awaited event of the summer did not live up to the hype.
