Kraftwerk

The MoMA set is going up now in the museum

My guess is tha number is far far less than 10,000. I would the number is prolly around 3500.

**guess the number is***

Looks small:

http://preview.tinyurl.com/7m5lyld

i'd think if they wanted more money they'd just do more shows, these guys sell out everywhere

don't really think they need more money exactly, do think that they and their fans are obsessive audiophiles

The exhibitions at PS1 and not MoMA, right? I think I'll be up to see it next week

Set List:
"We Are the Robots"
"Autobahn"
"Kometenmelodie 1 & 2"
"Mitternacht" / "Morgenspaziergang"
"Radioactivity"
"Trans-Europe Express"
"The Model"
"Man-Machine"
"Numbers" / "Computer World"
"Computer Love" (The Mix version)
"Home Computer" (The Mix version)
"Tour de France" / "Aerodynamik"
"Expo 2000"
"Boing Boom Tschak" / "Techno Pop" / "Musique Non-Stop"

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/12/arts/music/kraftwerk-retrospective-at-the-museum-of-modern-art-review.html
http://www.spin.com/articles/kraftwerk-invade-moma-residency-byte-museum

Kraftwerk revisited the “Autobahn” album rather than reproducing its exact timbres and proportions. It held on to its instrumental passages and the generally somber melodic lines of the album’s other tracks but played them from a changed perspective — for instance, trading the album’s upbeat hints of 1950s and ’60s rock for something more steady-state. The most transformed track was “Morgenspaziergang” (“Morning Walk”), which in 1974 juxtaposed synthesized burbles and tweets — oscillator birdsong — with its tune played on a wooden flute. Now the tune came from a keyboard, true to the latter-day Kraftwerk.

I really, really hope someone is recording these

my ex is going tonight; i am not the plus one
:/

Got my copy of the box in today's mail. #0052 of 2000.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xN44hS1_AmU

Whoops this one is much better

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4j2V8bng6Zs

I'm so curious as to what they'll do to Radio-Activity tonight... It's such a strange and singular record in their catalog. I still cannot believe I'm going!

autobahn & radioactivity were the two I was most interested in going to precisely because they're the ones likely to sound the most different

seriously you guys, if any of you get a lead on even the most sawed-off room recording, drop me a line

Awesome couple of videos, but the first one demonstrates what it would be like to have a burst eardrum at a Kraftwerk gig.

milt, if you get one, hook up your old pal Xerox

so, my gf won tickets and I'm going to TEE... :-D

Apparently VW hung onto 25% of the tickets, wtf

Hung onto? That's sponsorship. MoMa and Kraftwerk and VW must have agreed on that, so your wtf should be aimed at all parties.

Went last night. Very well done by the MOMA. Ticket pick up was easy, the room wasn't crowded in the least (could have fit at least 100 more folks in there, if they wanted.) Radio-Activity pasrt of the shwo was the highlight (naturally) and they followed it up with a nice lengthy version of Autobahn where, I think, they mixed things up a bit from the original. Trans Europe Express was a standout as well.

Even though it was a great event I can't help thinking that there will probably be an SNL skit making fun of these shows. The teutonic seriousness in which they were presented could easily be seen as comic by some.

sorta been done

http://www.popscreen.com/assets/thumbs/v/original/5661102ngO_o.jpg

Yeah but if any of the SNL writers were there they have some new material to work with.

The teutonic seriousness in which they were presented could easily be seen as comic by some.

yeah but Kraftwerk have always had a sly comic element to them. "The Robots" is really funny especially when the robots themselves appear onstage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD5P7RsC9TI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K2bdJb_ewY

Fred Armisen was there last night, so maybe!

One original member. This is like Wings performing the works of the Beatles, with Linda and Denny Laine squeezed into John and George's old Beatles suits.

i'd argue that Kraftwerk and the Beatles have kinda different aesthetics at play

At this point they're essentially a tribute band to themselves ... which could only really work with them. They are machines after all. I would bet Ralf has plans to have himself replaced in the band eventually.

I can deal with the absence of Bartos and Flur but it's really not the same without Schneider, who I always thought was the soul of Kraftwerk. That ghost of a half-smile that he always carried was synecdoche for the sly humour I referred to above.

Totally agree. Without Schneider it's not Kraftwerk. And Bartos and Flur are under-appreciated I think - after all, both were in the band for 15 years. Schneider and Hutter have done practically nothing without them.

that's basically OTM, it's always been about Hutter and Schneider for me, though I'm reasonably certain that Bartos is responsible for a lot of their more brilliant melodic stuff, hence why I don't think new music coming out of these guys is going to sound like their glory years

but in a performance...ehhh, no biggie

Yeah impression I got was that Techno Pop was really the last gasp, since Bartos wrote the catchy melodies. Once he was gone there's only increasing production values. What Ralf can manage now is to tour a greatest-hits show in perpetuity - which I think is a bit sad when you consider that there are tons of younger people who would love to write pop material in a Kraftwerk style. Ralf doesn't have to be the sole writer in the band (along with his manager). But this is all just hope since I would love to have a new record that's better than Soundtracks.

I say all this but I'm still really excited about soundboard from these leaking!

there are tons of younger people who would love to write pop material in a Kraftwerk style.

yes there are, and plenty of them have released stuff too, but IMO what Kraftwerk did at their peak isn't easy at all to replicate

Just saying that Ralf doesn't have to do it all himself. A vague hope really, I know it's impossible to capture some past glory

the other thing, which I'm sure has been discussed upthread, is that the departure of Bartos and Flur more or less coincided with their live sets losing the elements of improvisation that they used to have and basically becoming reproductions of the records. there are bootlegs from 1981 and earlier that veer far away from the studio versions. this would also coincide with the stage set being reduced to laptops/workstations rather than keyboards.

Flur was the techhead who was largely responsible for designing and constructing their studio gear and stage equipment. Apart from facilitating the recording of these albums, the aesthetic that he created is a massive part of the band's reputation.

I was never too comfortable with the post-1990 idea that Kraftwerk=Ralf, Florian and two goons in costumes but went along with it as the concerts were still good. But as decades passed by without almost nothing new creatively it became obvious that Kraftwerk were, and always will be, the four members from the classic line-up.

some great footage here (incl. the band dancing) and a recent interview with Flur:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3yRXCnQvL4

xxpost - this is a good point, and it's interesting that a lot of times, the mid-70s albums actually sound like a live band - Radioactivity, side two of Autobahn and chunks of TEE for example. But later they got stuck in the "robot"-schtick, which they really did not acquire till late in their career. But it excused a lot of things, such as replacing members, not playing live at concerts, and using machine-like "perfectionism" as an excuse for what was really procrastination or lack of creative inspiration over the last 25 years.

yeah, I feel like there's some revisionist history going on with these guys, but really, how concerned with music do you feel Ralf has been the last three decades? you've got Electric Cafe in 1986, a self-remix album in 1991, a single in 2000, Tour de France Soundtracks in 2003, then a live album in 2005. I mean I don't think Kraftwerk has really been a big priority for the guy for a while has it?

yep, cycling is what he really cares about these days

I'm really surprised at the universal boner regarding these shows. If they want to blow my mind ever again it would look something like Ralf playing (actually PLAYING) a keyboard, Florian on the flute and performing something (anything!) new. Accompanied with an excellent drummer. And wearing normal clothes.

those boners are justified - as "unexciting" as their live shows are, hearing the music played on those huge speakers w/ the video backdrops is really something

The music will always be good. But it was done better, decades ago. Here we have a 66 year old man on a stage squeezed into a luminous suit accompanied by three actors pretending to replicate the work of others. If people can convince themselves that it's worth it then who am I to contradict them. But really, it's bullshit.

At least when Sir Paul does his Beatles medleys, his band are not miming, nor are they dressed as the Beatles.

And it's really saying something when you cash-in on your legacy more cynically than Paul McCartney does.

a) kraftwerk > beatles
b) it sounds like you've never seen them live

The Beatles, no. Kraftwerk, yes.

as these live shows are literally designed as a museum piece, I think they're somewhat immune to most traditional forms of criticism

at the end of 1998 SF show at the Warfield, after the third encore, people applauded for nearly 15 minutes, pretty much at full blast; despite nearly everyone knowing that there was no more material for them to play, that there was no fourth encore available in the sequencer, people just stood there with all the lights on and cheered, even though they knew it would have been out of character for them to reappear for one bow. I don't ever expect to see an audience response that devoted on that scale ever again.

2004 show was markedly less amazing and diluted by Soundtracks songs, and you could kind of tell Florian was not as into it. and I do hear you; this is not even close they were when they were a genuine live band from 70-81, critical things have gone missing and it's not really true Kraftwerk without Florian. but the concept being presented here is beyond the individuals, so it's very difficult for me to feel too cynical about this