A full rendition of ‘Moon Safari’ framed by nature and minimalism.
Photo credit: Victor Moreno Photo
On Tuesday, June 26th, 2025, French duo AIR delivered a striking live performance at Madrid’s Noches del Botánico, a concert series known for combining music with the natural setting of the Real Jardin Botanico Alfonso XIII.
As the sun dipped behind the trees and the crowd settled into the leafy surroundings, the scene was set for an immersive evening where music, light, and memory blurred into one.
The experience began even before entering the main auditorium. With a diverse food and drinks offering nestled among the garden’s trees and plants, the venue provided a relaxed and refined atmosphere. Guests wandered between shaded paths and lawn spaces, creating an almost dreamlike sense of intimacy and expectation. Toward one end of the garden, light struck the grass stage area, hinting at what was to come.
Before the main show, local artist Juan Melov performed a live set accompanied by saxophone in the festival’s Alhambra Moments area, setting a laid-back and soulful tone for the evening.
As AIR took the stage, the visual clarity of their setup came into full focus. Minimalist and immaculate, the stage was framed by a stark white rectangular installation. Jean-Benoît Dunckel and Nicolas Godin emerged dressed in white, completing the tableau. From the first note to the last, every sound and light cue served a clear purpose, delivering a precise, sensory-driven performance.
The 90-minute set was built around a complete performance of ‘Moon Safari’, but AIR also revisited other iconic moments from their music catalog, expanding the experience beyond nostalgia into a broader reflection of their sonic identity. With each track unfolding in sequence, waves of nostalgia washed over the audience. For many, it was a personal, time-traveling experience — revisiting moments across decades through iconic tracks like ‘La femme d’argent’ and ‘All I Need’. One standout moment came as the words “Remember together / Remember forever” echoed through the venue, imprinting themselves into collective memory.
The performance navigated peaks of introspection and celebration, channeling the essence of French touch without overstatement. At times meditative, at times buoyant, the full-album experience reaffirmed AIR’s place in the canon of electronic pop innovators.
Since its inception in 2016, Noches del Botanico has hosted a wide range of international icons like Kraftwerk, David Byrne, Phoenix, Bob Dylan, James Blake, PJ Harvey, Pixies, Moderat, and Wilco — steadily building its reputation as one of Madrid’s most beloved summer events. The 2025 edition, running from June 4th to July 31st, continues this legacy with a diverse and genre-crossing lineup featuring artists such as Parcels, Kool & the Gang, Molotov, Parov Stelar, Empire of the Sun, Morcheeba, Santana, and more. AIR’s return to the stage with ‘Moon Safari’ stood as one of the season’s highlights, blending sonic elegance with natural surroundings in a performance that felt both intimate and timeless.
Closing the night under stars and trees, AIR left behind not just sound, but something felt: a moment marked in memory.
Check the Noches del Botánico website for more information.
