Kraftwerk last night at the Royal Albert Hall. I have to say that I wasn’t brimming with enthusiasm about my seventh KW concert – would we get the same old setlist played the same way, the same 3-D glasses silliness, the familiar dated visuals etc etc… but I had to go anyway.
What we got was something else entirely. The best Kraftwerk show I have been to since I first saw them back in 1981 (40 years ago! I had just left school!) at the Lyceum, when the set up was decidedly analogue, and definitely primitive by today’s standards (even though it seemed so futuristic back then).
A brief summary as to why:
1. Brilliant seats - 15 rows back, arena floor, dead centre
2. Fantastic sound
3. Massively updated (and mesmerising) visuals, with no 3D bollox
4. A rejigged setlist which saw the boring cycling stuff trimmed down and the addition of the rarely-played “Tango” plus a touching tribute to Ralf’s buddy Ryūichi Sakamoto (“Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence”)
5. A lot of tunes rearranged – and for the better. Fewer dated techno tropes, for a start – and the result was something much more powerful, a full-on sonic and visual assault. It was HEAVY – if Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath did bleeps and bips instead of guitar riffs, this I what it’d sound like.
6. Sitting this close it was possible to see what Ralf and The Other Three were up to – and the old boy was enjoying himself, especially when he was doing the panting sounds on “Tour de France” (yep it was live, not samples) and grinning wryly during “The Model”. Taking his bow at the end, he seemed genuinely touched by the reception.
7. There was some improvisation going on! Yes improvisation!!!
8. A small point not related to the group other performance, but the audience was respectful, remaining seated throughout, and not filming the whole thing with their iPads. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen so few phones out during a major London show. Also, the staff at the RAH are always so lovely. I really enjoy going to this venue, any event there feels special.
9. An evening comprised entirely of highlights, but if I had to pick a few, it’d be a pummelling “Man Machine”; a gorgeous, shimmering “Neon Lights”; a powerful “TEE” whose forward momentum was aided by some superbly stark B&W visuals; and the all-out assault of “Heimcomputer/It’s More Fun To Compute”
In conclusion – the best Kraftwerk live experience in 40 years. Before this show I was thinking, “I won’t bother any more after this one” but now I think I will have to. Dammit!
