Yann Tiersen - Toronto Concert Review (4/5)

I would like to start off by saying that I am a big fan of Yann Tiersen. The first time his name was presented to me was about three years ago. Then, I found out he was the person responsible for Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain's Soundtrack, which is called J'y suis jamais alle. I also discovered that he was the man behind the Soundtrack of Good Bye Lenin! I hope I was able to draw the idea of Yann Tiersen I had in my head all these years, so to me last night's show [at the Mod Club] caught me completely off guard. I never thought I would see Yann perform, nor would I ever imagine that I would interview the guy. This entire experience was incredibly surreal.

I am not necessarily implying that last night's performance was a bad. Not at all, on the contrary, it was a magnificent show, but it was a Yann that I was not familiar with. It was the electronic side of a man whom I had idolized as a contemporary composer. Well, last night he proved me wrong, and I liked that. Let me explain in more detail. As he had said to me earlier that day while I was interviewing him, Music should not be meant for the purposes of moving images. It should be the representation of something beyond; something perhaps more abstract, and that is exactly what he did last night. It was that: Abstraction being fully defined. It was beautiful, with an electric twist.

I was expecting to hear La Chute, Le Parapluit, and the Soundtracks that projected him to a level beyond a major scale. To my surprise, none of the above were played, or at least in their traditional way. He wrapped up the show with a fully synth-remastered version of J'y sius jamais alle, which I did not recognize immediately. It actually had to be brought to my attention. Either way, I really enjoyed it.

Overall, Yann Tiersen's show and the introduction of his musical side, to which
I was introduced last night is still mesmerizing me the same way Summer of '78 once did.

****
My interview with Yann Tiersen will be up on the Music Department blog the second week of May.
Music Director