Kraftwerk In Auckland

[vortex]

Who'd a thunk it? Got my tickets

To be honest I'm not sure what being there will have to offer over just watching their live DVD.
Perhaps I could sneak a peak at their screens and checkout if they really are just playing minesweeper.

Any thoughts?

And for the newbies now would be a great time to read Dubbie's unique Kraftwerk story. (posted some time around the origin of dubsounds) ;D

[Tokyohunter]

Maybe they could have a peak at a John Foxx gig, while Kraftwerk's visuals and sound are great live , you don't get the feeling they are really doing anything "live" even if they are.

[vortex]

Went to the gig on Wednesday. Bit of a scare earlier as they cancelled one of the Australian gigs due to a Kraftewerkian being hospitalised due to "heart failure" (very odd- thought cycling was good for you. For the record heart failure is usually a consequence of some other pathology i.e. a heart attack or a dysrythmia, so theres more to the story).
Any way the Auckland gig went ahead and there were 4 on stage. I was stood behind the sound desk and with the soft focus of many pre-gig drinks I couldn't honestly say who 3 of the 4 were. The singy fellow stayed behnd the sony vaio and the only observed movement was his trade mark cupping of his hand to his head mike. I really missed the boogeying he used to do when I saw him on the computerworld tour, which in my drunken youth I used to emulate, much to the embarassment of my clubbing chums. Of course the video screens made up for things.

I was semi surprised that Auckland turned out en masse. The gig looked sold out and probably represented the broadest cross section of NZ I've ever seen. Everyone was well chuffed.

The biggest highlight for me was finding out the gig was surround sound or quad sound at least. This was stunning for Trans Europe Express, Autobahn and an all too brief version of Neon lights. Encore was "The Robots" - with the robots on stage and then the dudes coming back on in their numan-esque jumpsuits with flourescent piping. Pretty much the gig you see on DVD really.

I warned Mrs Vortex beforehand how the gig would play out and to let the music wash though her and bless her she got it and loved it, as did I.

Yes for all the apparent inactivity and the German subversion of what a gig is I would say if you get the chance to see them live ..do so!

I can't help but wonder if they were a little more subdued than normal though, perhaps their ECG's or as they would say elektrokardiograms were telling them to take it easy.

[Dubsounds]

Great review. Enjoyed reading that ;D