It was a warm July evening at the base of the Pont du Gard just outside of Avignon, France. The crowd assembled for a magical and epic performance by the legendary Jeff Mills. Sharply dressed in casual button-downs with their sleeves rolled up, the Montpellier Philharmonic Orchestra settled on the stage just to the right of Jeff and his equipment. With rise of conductor Alain Altinoglu's baton, the orchestra began the majestic performance featuring 14 tracks adapted by the accomplished French Composer Thomas Roussel.
From the onset, the chemistry between the organic sounds of the orchestra and Mills' synthetic percussion beats is astonishing. Ranging from the dance floor mega-hits "The Bells" and "Sonic Destroyer" to the movie soundtrack masterpieces "Entrance to Metropolis" and "Keaton's Theme" and including the melodic jewels "Imagine" and "The March", this album encompasses unmatched musical genius and creativity.
The DVD effectively captures the ambience provided by the setting as allowing the viewer to relish the potent enthusiasm of both the orchestra and the audience as they both watched outside under the stars. Jeff works his electronic equipment furiously as the musicians behind him swiftly and assuredly play to the spellbound spectators.
The "Blue Potential" is a must-see for any music lover. For electronic music fans, the DVD extras featuring interviews with Jeff Mills and a tutorial with Thomas Roussel are worth the purchase on their own. For classical music enthusiasts, this album will pleasantly surprise you as well as expand your horizons and increase your awareness of the difficulty and technical skill involved in producing good music, electronic or not.
