Vivid LIVE 2024 - Air play Moon Safari

French space pop wizards recreate their voyage to the moon

Twenty years ago, a pair of young French musicians set out on a journey through the pop cosmos – and came back with a romantic masterpiece. Melding lush electronics, swooning songcraft and irresistible European retro-futurism, Moon Safari contained a universe that continues to lure in listeners with its gorgeous, starry-eyed sonic wonder. Now, to celebrate the album’s 20th anniversary, Air return to Vivid LIVE to play their iconic debut for the first time in its entirety, immersing the Sydney Opera House in their singular soundscape across three performances in the Concert Hall.

Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel were university kids studying astrophysics and architecture when they combined their musical talents to form Air in the mid-’90s. Released in January 1998, their full-length debut Moon Safari became a pop culture sensation, selling millions of copies and launching the inescapable hits “Sexy Boy”, “Kelly Watch the Stars” and “All I Need”. It would become a defining soundtrack of the era, transfixing the likes of David Bowie, Beck and Madonna, and influencing such artists as Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker, Charlotte Gainsbourg and filmmaker Sofia Coppola – with whom Air would soon collaborate on music for The Virgin Suicides. The record topped the year-end lists of numerous publications, and was named one of the greatest albums of the ’90s by Rolling Stone. Twenty years on, Moon Safari has lost none of its beguiling magic; it’s a mood that invites you to lose yourself in the music forever.

After their sensational shows at Vivid LIVE in 2017, Air are ready to take us to the moon for a once-in-a-lifetime performance.

Presented by Sydney Opera House