Four cultural icons, their electronic classics reworked and performed in a huge ex-power station - what's not to like?
10/10
I'll 'fess up - I am a big Kraftwerk fan so this review is already biased, for which I make absolutely no apology. On the strength of this fabulous concert, the seventh of eight showcasing their back-catalogue to a new generation (and keen oldies), a 10 is the only number worth awarding.
The hype surrounding four older guys performing some of the globe's most revered and influential music has been as big as the venue they have chosen to air it in. London's Tate Modern is an enormous ex-power station and thus a fitting location for a band named after such a building - that's a snippet of German irony and humour for you, right there. Since the early '70s, Kraftwerk have been reproducing the sort of music that has helped steer a multitude of synth-pop wannabes, hip-hop luminaries and latter-day hipsters towards their own place in history. You can only imagine how different things might have been if their earlier electronic counterparts Tangerine Dream had been taken to the bosom of so many. Their plaintive, reflective mix of nostalgia and the future remains essential and, if you're heading to T in the Park this year - they're headlining it - then believe the hype because you really are in for a treat.
Tonight's show is #7 in the run and dedicated to the 1991 double-album "The Mix", a sort of remixed greatest hits that fell on deaf ears at the time - why would you want an album of dance-classics re-worked into, er, dance classics? After a few minutes of the opening track The Robots, it wasn't difficult to see why this concept is a bigger success than first thought. Remixed or otherwise, the actual music itself is still very, very definitive, especially when pumped into a huge austere turbine-hall with enough bass and kick-drum to satisfy the most ardent raver. The 3D visuals were retro but engaging (the free specs came in a swish little case, personalized with tonight's event details) and Kraftwerk themselves even moved to the beat on occasion. By the end, they were even 'chilling out'.
Tonight's show was the perfect choice for the curious as well as for those who might have failed to land tickets to a 'bigger' night, such as The Man Machine or Computer World - after all, many of the 'hits' were here, such as Autobahn (my first Kraftwerk memory), Computer Love and the Trans Europe Express trilogy of the title-track, Abzug and Metal On Metal, music that defined an era. This wasn't a 'gig' in the truest sense, it was an exhibition of man, machine, art and club-culture, without the pretension - it was also fun. The large on-screen animations proved that the Germanic quartet don't take themselves as seriously as some fans do - little nuances such as the KR 74 license plate on the Mercedes Benz saloon in the Autobahn graphics and the garish splashes of 'Boing' and 'Boom' featured during the surprise high-point and evening's climax Music Non-Stop, served to remind us that Kraftwerk are essentially human and much than a bunch of blokes pressing down some special keys to play us little melodies. Oh, and as part of the crowd-pleasing extras during the second half of the concert, they played The Model. Of course.
As the elegiac musical motifs and trademark beats seamlessly cascaded through the hall, bodies bobbed and necks nodded in unison to the digitized throb of Man Machine and the sublime Tour de France medley, before the all-too-short two hours were up and each member of the band was logging off from their neon-emblazoned lecterns, one after the other, waving goodbye and bowing courteously. The biggest cheer was deservedly reserved for the one remaining original member, Ralf Hütter. His peerless creative input, along with co-conspirators and previous members Bartos, Schneider, Schult et al, should never be forgotten.
For information on live Kraftwerk shows, go to Allgigs here
10/10
The hype surrounding four older guys performing some of the globe's most revered and influential music has been as big as the venue they have chosen to air it in. London's Tate Modern is an enormous ex-power station and thus a fitting location for a band named after such a building - that's a snippet of German irony and humour for you, right there. Since the early '70s, Kraftwerk have been reproducing the sort of music that has helped steer a multitude of synth-pop wannabes, hip-hop luminaries and latter-day hipsters towards their own place in history. You can only imagine how different things might have been if their earlier electronic counterparts Tangerine Dream had been taken to the bosom of so many. Their plaintive, reflective mix of nostalgia and the future remains essential and, if you're heading to T in the Park this year - they're headlining it - then believe the hype because you really are in for a treat.
Tonight's show is #7 in the run and dedicated to the 1991 double-album "The Mix", a sort of remixed greatest hits that fell on deaf ears at the time - why would you want an album of dance-classics re-worked into, er, dance classics? After a few minutes of the opening track The Robots, it wasn't difficult to see why this concept is a bigger success than first thought. Remixed or otherwise, the actual music itself is still very, very definitive, especially when pumped into a huge austere turbine-hall with enough bass and kick-drum to satisfy the most ardent raver. The 3D visuals were retro but engaging (the free specs came in a swish little case, personalized with tonight's event details) and Kraftwerk themselves even moved to the beat on occasion. By the end, they were even 'chilling out'.
Tonight's show was the perfect choice for the curious as well as for those who might have failed to land tickets to a 'bigger' night, such as The Man Machine or Computer World - after all, many of the 'hits' were here, such as Autobahn (my first Kraftwerk memory), Computer Love and the Trans Europe Express trilogy of the title-track, Abzug and Metal On Metal, music that defined an era. This wasn't a 'gig' in the truest sense, it was an exhibition of man, machine, art and club-culture, without the pretension - it was also fun. The large on-screen animations proved that the Germanic quartet don't take themselves as seriously as some fans do - little nuances such as the KR 74 license plate on the Mercedes Benz saloon in the Autobahn graphics and the garish splashes of 'Boing' and 'Boom' featured during the surprise high-point and evening's climax Music Non-Stop, served to remind us that Kraftwerk are essentially human and much than a bunch of blokes pressing down some special keys to play us little melodies. Oh, and as part of the crowd-pleasing extras during the second half of the concert, they played The Model. Of course.
As the elegiac musical motifs and trademark beats seamlessly cascaded through the hall, bodies bobbed and necks nodded in unison to the digitized throb of Man Machine and the sublime Tour de France medley, before the all-too-short two hours were up and each member of the band was logging off from their neon-emblazoned lecterns, one after the other, waving goodbye and bowing courteously. The biggest cheer was deservedly reserved for the one remaining original member, Ralf Hütter. His peerless creative input, along with co-conspirators and previous members Bartos, Schneider, Schult et al, should never be forgotten.
For information on live Kraftwerk shows, go to Allgigs here