Kraftwerk

I'm surprised there hasn't been more dissent. Only one original member, miming, haven't really released anything new in 25 odd years. I wonder how they get away with it really.

I saw Kraftwerk play live in 1981.

Not everyone was around in 1981, gramps.

In 2003 I was asked if we would like to play a support spot for Kraftwerk’s return to Australia. That was great! I’d been working on some new videos and a set and it would be a perfect match, little and big. I said yes. Word came back from Germany – Nein – no videos allowed. That was a bit rough for a video band. The promoter tried a compromise. What if we used our own projector? Nein – no light touching the screens. And no instruments allowed. You will only play a tape. And you must be a specified number of metres away from the main stage.

Yes, I can't believe the headliners didn't cave into the demands of the support act. Fascist bastards.

As the set rolled along it was horrible to realise that they hadn’t advanced in over a decade. The symbol of musical progress, of futurism, were lazily stuck in the past.

Never heard of any group whose main success were in the years from 1974 to 1981 trading in on past glorious over twenty years ago.

Vivid itself being less about a festival of ideas and more about a source of tourist income every year.

To be fair, they're still trying to get over the year when the NSW tourism ministry was accused of wasting money on bring an some unknown bloke called Brian Eno to Vivid.

One look at the pictures and it seems that they might have got a few new Tron suits to wear. Whoever ‘they’ might be these days.

Well, that's why they wear the Tron suits!!

^^ reading that back, I'm being a bit harsh as I do have respect for Tom Ellard but come on, bashing Kraftwerk for being old farts is not exactly earth shattering opinions 4 u

FoI request shows that no tickets at all were sold online for the London run:

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/142165/response/351230/attach/2/tate%20response.pdf

Anyone who went to multiple shows in London or New York - is there much difference in the post-album set from night to night? If we managed to score in the ballot for two of the Sydney Opera House shows, is it worth going to both?

(nb: the albums are Techno Pop and Tour De France, or this question would be moot)

Not much variation ime. I managed to get to 1,2 & 5. Obviously the latter half is dictated by how many hits are included in the album that precedes it, Autobahn and Radioactivity only have one big song each, so the rest of the sets were fairly similar. For the Computer World night they also played all of Man Machine in sequence which was great. I think Neon Lights and Vitamin were the only tracks sequenced in and out of the second half. if it were me, I'd do 2 & 5.

For the Computer World night they also played all of Man Machine in sequence which was great.

oh damn

if it were me, I'd do 2 & 5.

loooool, re-read my post - it seems the first four were all allocated to ppl who live in other countries or states, not locals, so

Ha, I did read the caveat, that didn't stop me from being redundant tho' :)

this new Karl Bartos thing is pretty entertaining

Kraftwerk vs. the Chinese government

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2013/mar/29/kraftwerk-denied-festival-appearance-in-china

Heads up Los Angeles.

http://kraftwerk.laphil.com/

Anyone heard this?

http://www.discogs.com/Florian-Schneider-Esleben-Eberhard-Kranemann-The-Origins-Of-Kraftwerk-History-Of-Music-Soundcheck-19/release/2034569

http://www.discogs.com/Pissoff-Origins-Of-Kraftwerk-Neu-Fritz-Müller-Avantgarde-Music-History/release/2022573

with Joseph Beuys!

I think the way this LA phil thing works it's not first-come first-served.

I think.

I'm not sure why they neglected to ask for my last.fm username because obviously they're going to check listening history before awarding tickets, right?

There will be a date at the Fox Theater in Oakland, March 23. just a 3D concert, not the whole series.

Well the big ticket sale thing is happening. Compared the NYC sale nightmare this was a piece of cake and I got my tickets for TEE as desired.

See you there!

easy indeed. got good tickets for TEE and great tickets for R-A. and on night number three that week, ennio morricone at the nokia. i love LA in the springtime.

Another four-night run now announced in Vienna, 15-18 May.

LA shows have been going great in general by all accounts. Saw the one for Trans Europe Express last night and as I burbled on Facebook, it was a treat and a half; the 3D parts and some subtle changes in the arrangements gave it some variety from the show I last saw eight or so years back. (Including Fukushima in the list of sites in "Radioactivity" along with lyrics in Japanese was quietly horrific; kinda wish they'd swapped out "CIA" for "NSA" in "Computer World" though). And I got "Europe Endless," at last.

omg I have spent years and years scouring the universe for bootlegs w/ live performances of "Europe Endless"; I am so envious

It wasn't the album version as such -- started with "Franz Schubert," then shifted into it, and it was shortened by at least a couple of minutes -- but it was still "Europe Endless" and that was enough. The rest of the night was almost gravy.

>omg I have spent years and years scouring the universe for bootlegs w/ live performances of "Europe Endless"; I am so envious

very interesting pre-album version appears on Kraftwerk ‎– Live In Roundhouse 10.10.1976 - http://www.discogs.com/Kraftwerk-Live-In-Roundhouse-10101976/release/1667907

lo-fi, so fans only, but pretty interesting to hear the song slowly coming together: different sequencer part, and no triplet delay yet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEdRiBeWPm8&list=PL2D5962F68797BACE&index=5

TEE night from LA has just gone up on D1m3adozen.

Why thank you for the tip-off there...

Soundboard?

Nope, but still pretty good.

holy fuck Oakland was so good. Did LA get the 3d experience?

yeah. it was great.

Oakland show so great last night. Much better than the 2004 tour (it's a perverse joke after years of that incredible 91-03 configuration of greatest-hits shows, their first official live album & video was for the tour in support of TDF Soundtracks).

The new video guy is obviously live triggering the visuals in relative sync with the music. Pretty sure the music is no longer printed to the video feed, which gives it some room to breathe. Friends who saw the LA shows confirmed some of the songs were a bit shorter or longer, and sometimes you'd definitely hear a mis-trigger -- but I took this as intentional, and felt reminiscent of their 70's shows when they would occasionally get truly sloppy. Most of the liveness is still limited mostly to live filtering & delay/reverb send levels, but the little dub breakdowns they've worked into most of their numbers are taking over & becoming very prominent.

None of this matters if you haven't seen them yet, it's mainly just this incredible, unbeatable Disneyland ride. You can't stop the concept. I'll go again.

Great summary there and yeah, it definitely feels shaped and played in a way that finds a really nice sweet spot between structure and that variety you described. If the Chic/Moroder show in May is anywhere near as good I'll consider this one hell of a year on that front alone.

If the Chic/Moroder show

screeeeeeechbangcrash

and even if it's not anywhere near as good, it's the hollywood bowl, so it should be a fun time anyway.

yargho

http://dangerousminds.net/comments/newly_unearthed_footage_of_kraftwerk--with_long_hair_and_leather_jackets

that is interesting, 'Heavy Metal Kids' was actually a working song title projected on the screen in this broadcast! I thought that was just a title someone had made up for the K4 boot. although it's pretty clear here it's the same piece they ended up calling 'Stratovarius' for the debut. on K4, with Rother replacing Hutter, the piece is just a sidelong glance on 'Iron Man' for a few seconds before flooring it

top notch, thank you WDR (c) 2014

- Von Himmel Hoch
- Ruckzuck
- Heavy Metal Kids (Stratovarius)
- Improvisation 1 (Tongebirge-esque + extra Dinger)

not all that interesting sonically though is it, you can tell why Hütter is in no hurry to reissue the early albums

mmm, "Ralf and Florian" deserves its place among the rest. I like the first two as well,but.

personally, think it's strange they wouldn't just reissue all of them. I'm all for forging one's own identity, but trying to hide your early albums is futile these days, and it smacks of revisionism a la george lucas. Plus, I like all of those records! Come on guys, do it for me.

>not all that interesting sonically though is it, you can tell why Hütter is in no hurry to reissue the early albums

definitely not for everyone. I'm a pretty big fan of even the lower fidelity boots of this band from 1970-1981, and I definitely respect the people who only find this band interesting from 1970-1973.

wouldn't be surprised if Hutter never puts the first three out, they just don't fit the 'perfect' narrative of the evolving concept albums. my issue is that the ~20 minutes of music that Schneider / Dinger / Rother recorded for Kraftwerk 2 with Conny, then shelved when Hutter returned, has been discovered / archived but can't get green lighted. that's just no fair.

Wasn't there some rumor Ralf was up for finally doing something about it just because even he was sick of all the boots?

i'm surprised they haven't capitalized on it, they'd certainly make some money off them. but maybe that they haven't done that is respectable too. dunno. the boots of those three that are around sound fine to me so I'm not hankering for official releases.

that footage is so great, <3 frozen German teenagers

If nothing else, the official Kraftwerk YouTube channel has the three early albums represented in their entirety (as well as seemingly everything else in their discography)...

https://www.youtube.com/user/KraftwerktheOfficial

"Official" ?

Ralf shd just burn everything

Ralf's hair is just epic in that video. Also, what a fantastic HD rip. So cool seeing these vintage videos getting archived at a nice resolution.

loooooool KraftwerktheOfficial

That clip is abso-fucking-lutely amazing!