AIR Enchant San Francisco with “Moon Safari”
French electronic duo AIR delivered a captivating performance on Sunday, September 28, 2025, at The Masonic in San Francisco. Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel presented their legendary 1998 debut album “Moon Safari” in its entirety, complemented by a carefully curated selection of their later works.
The stage design was deliberately minimalist. The iconic White Box, an almost completely enclosed space with mirrored walls, dominated the venue. Synthesiser stacks flanked both sides, with guitars for Nicolas Godin and a modest drum kit for drummer Louis Delorme positioned at the rear. When the three musicians took the stage in white outfits, crisp white lighting bathed the entire scene in a purist atmosphere.
Opening with “La femme d’argent”, the duo began their musical journey through “Moon Safari”. The album, whose title stands for “Amour, Imagination, Rêve” (Love, Imagination, Dream), is considered a milestone in late-90s electronic music. The characteristic blend of electronic sounds, film score influences, and disco elements proved equally powerful in the live setting.
The audience response was particularly notable during the more recognised tracks such as “Sexy Boy”, “All I Need”, and “Kelly Watch the Stars”. “Surfing on a Rocket” emerged as one of the evening’s highlights. The quieter moments, including “Talisman”, “Remember”, and “Ce matin-là”, showcased the album’s full emotional range.
The White Box proved to be a sophisticated technical concept. The walls functioned as projection surfaces that visually interpreted each song. This minimalist yet effective staging enhanced the cinematic quality of the music without overshadowing it. The vocal passages originally performed by Beth Hirsch were handled by the duo themselves or via playback.
Following the complete presentation of “Moon Safari”, the musicians returned for a second set featuring highlights from their later catalogue. This included “Cherry Blossom Girl”, “Highschool Lover”, “Dirty Trip”, and “Don’t Be Light”. The selection effectively demonstrated the duo’s stylistic evolution over more than two decades.
The encore consisted of “Alone in Kyoto” and the closing “Electronic Performers”. This combination of melancholic tranquillity and electronic intensity reflected the range that has characterised AIR since their beginnings.
“Moon Safari” has lost none of its relevance 27 years after its release. The album continues to influence electronic music artists and reaches a broad, multigenerational audience. AIR proved in San Francisco that their sound remains timeless, continuing to resonate with people of various ages and backgrounds.
The diverse audience at The Masonic left with the certainty of having experienced an extraordinary concert that demonstrated why AIR’s atmospheric, cinematic approach to electronic music remains as compelling today as it was in the late 1990s.
Photos (c) Christophe Dehousse
