Meu, os caras sao fodoes!
Cheguei uma hora antes, a fila dava volta no quarteirao. Um publico muito
ecletico - prova que os quatro influenciaram muita gene. Consegui, contudo,
um bom lugar, ao centro como voce aconselhou. O teatro eh enorme. Uma
ampla pista, plateia e tres ou quatro andares de camarotes dos lados. Tudo
lotado! De fato o show eh cheio de sacadas. Videos duca, sincronizadissimos
com o som. Estou certo agora que Kraftwerk nao eh simplesmente uma banda, eh
um estilo de vida. Um culto a maquina! Eles sao politicamente corretos, mas
anarquicos ao mesmo tempo. Isso eh o grande barato. Os tres bis foram
fenomenais. "Pocket calculator", "We are the robots...", "Boin, bum, chak,
chak...", "Music, non stop." Tudo de foder. E voce deixa o lugar ainda
ouvindo os ecos da frase se repetindo por todo o sempre. Muito bom. Deu pra
viajar bem no lance, mas devo dizer que nem um minuto pude parar de pensar
"Cade o cuzao do Neco?!"
William
Date: Sun, 14 Jun 1998 01:40:06 +0500
From: Christopher Gross <cgross@pop.erols.com>
Subject: (kw) NYC showJust a few comments about the show tonight:
Very well performed! Sounded better than most live recordings I've heard. No
feedback on Aetherwellen this time.Nice little movies on the background screens. I especially liked the picnicers
in "Autobahn", as well as the dog with its head out the window!Return of the guy with the laser pointer! I don't think Florian got zapped
this time, but the Pointer Person did target someone standing behind the
curtain.Only one technical glitch that I could notice: the curtains had trouble
closing after TEE.Florian was still "having trouble" with his MIDI box, though I think that's
just part of the act. He kept clumsily jabbing at the thing and missing,
tossed it up in the air and caught it, and did the duck walk with it as the
curtains closed. The others joined in a bit; Ralf and Henning were holding
their boxes up to their ears as if they couldn't hear them... And Florian
almost bounced off the stage at the end of the show; like John Cleese running
from Mr. Creosote in "The Meaning of Life"...Good audience response, although there seemed to be very little dancing. I
think people were too mesmerized by the show. Or packed in too tightly. There
was a huge line, too-- all the way down to Ninth Ave., around the corner, down
the block, and around the other corner. But it moved quickly. Dang, I probably
could have brought my tape recorder after all-- the guy next to me did!I'm going to bed now. Hope everyone else enjoyed the show, and that the folks
waiting for the upcoming shows enjoy them as well. HEUTE ABEND-- ICH GEHE
JETZT ZU BETT. ZZZZZZ...
- --
Chris Gross
Date: Sun, 14 Jun 1998 10:30:29
From: "Scott M. Barnhill" <nebulous@erols.com>
Subject: (kw) NYC concert (6/13/98)Time for - guess what - another concert review! =)
I arrived at the Hammerstein Ballroom around 6:50 pm following
dinner, and I waited on the end of a fairly sizeable line of people. This
was the same line that I waited on when purchasing tickets last month,
only I was slightly further back this time. Over the course of the next
hour, the line grew and trailed all the way down the entire block (which
is quite long to begin with!) and wrapped around the corner to the end of
that block too. While waiting on line, I noticed people of all ages and
lifestyles, as well as some of the most orderly ticket scalping I've ever
seen. :)
Around 7:55 pm, the doors opened and people began filing in.
As soon as I got inside, I headed straight for the t-shirt booth which
was selling 4 designs that I noticed (robot on black, robot on white,
autobahn on blue, and wifeframe suit on black). I threw down $26 for
a black robot shirt and then scurried inside, heading straight for the
stage which surprisingly wasn't too mobbed yet. I lucked out in that
I somehow managed to secure a standing spot against the stage railing
right in front of Ralf's console.
People continued filing in over the next hour, and by the time
it was 9:10 pm or so the entire house was full to capacity.
the show
- --------
As far as the concert itself goes, I don't want to take up too
much space reiterating what was already said, so I'll try to stick to
highlights. They played the same setlist from all the other gigs mentioned,
and technical errors were kept down to a minimum to create a seemingly
flawless performance.* The only glitch I noticed was during "Radio-Activity" : while
flashing the radioactivity symbol, the background color of the screen behind
Ralf was white while the other three were yellow. I'm not sure if that
was an error or not, but it certainly did not detract anything from the
performance.* The car at the beginning of Autobahn started up on the very first
turn of the key, not like the faulty engine KW played around with prior.
* As Chris Gross mentioned, a rather unruly curtain did not want to
close quickly enough at the end of "Trans Europe Express", so Florian darted
out from behind his console and grabbed the curtain, running with it across
the stage until it was closed.* "Pocket Calculator" was terrific, the four band members appearing
to be in excellent spirits. Florian did his routine, pretending that the
calculator had a mind of its own, tossing it into the air, and doing the
Chuck Berry guitar bit with the calculator as the curtain closed on them.
Henning was fun to watch during this one too, as he was the lucky chap who
got to "press down a special key to play a little melody", and indeed he
did so with a look of confidence, smiling at individual people in the
audience. Ralf danced during the whole song, smiling occasionally, closing
his eyes and digging the groove at times.* The second to last song ("Tribal" a.k.a. "Luton Hoo song") sounded
far superior in person than it did previously from the recordings of the
Tribal Gathering, ZKM, and Linz. It sounds like they've fine-tuned it and
smoothed over the edges a bit more to give it a more polished and professional
sound, the bassline more refined and slightly muted to create more of a groove
rather than an all-out sound assault.
* At the end of "Music Non Stop", Florian was the first to leave the
stage in his neon-lit wifeframe suit, and the way he ran offstage reminded
me so much of The Riddler (Frank Gorshin) on the old 1960s Batman tv show.
The outfit also added to this comparison, and it's somewhat coincidental
that I thought that since people tend to associate the "Boing!" "Tschak!"
"Peng!" video screens with the Batman fight scenes from that show (POW!,
ZAMM!, BONG!, etc..). I also noticed that they're spelling it "Boing BUMM
Tschak" this time, rather than "Boing BOOM Tschak".Well, after many years of waiting, this was my first experience
seeing my favorite band live and it was definitely worth it all. Easily
the best concert I've been to, and I've been to too many in my time! Even
my girlfriend who admittedly is not a huge Kraftwerk fan, wouldn't stop
talking about how amazing the show was after we left, proclaiming "Oh my
God, that was the best show I've ever seen!"
My personal favorite of the evening was "Home Computer" (I love how
they reworked and segmented the bassline on this one, beautiful stuff). I
also loved how Ralf performed "Airwaves", and his voice was in tip-top shape
for it. I was really glad to see them do this type of number, because it
reminded me of the innovative way they used to rework "Ohm Sweet Ohm" during
the 1981 Computer Tour. They've proven that they still love to experiment,
and I think it's fantastic. My girlfriend's favorites of the evening were
"The Robots" and "The Man-Machine".Great lighting, heart-thumping bass, intriguing and in-sync videos,
pocket calculators, moving robots, klingklang studio right there on stage
just feet away, and the conceptualism of 3 decades of revolutionary sound
still going strong. What can I say, this was Kraftwerk and it was amazing!!- --
Scott M. Barnhill
Date: Sun, 14 Jun 1998 18:01:10 -0400
From: kyushin <kyushin@erols.com>
Subject: (kw) Review and Opinion (LONG)Well, after a 16 hour round trip to see Kraftwerk I had to take the time
to write my opinion of the concert last night in New York.....I got to the Hammerstein Ballroom around 5 o'clock and already there
were a handful of people standing in line. Not wanting to stand for 2
to 3 hours I opened my book, found a corner and took care of some
reading. I made the journey to NYC by myself from Norfolk, VA since
none of my friends even knew who Kraftwerk were or the magnitude of this
show. As time for the show drew close and the line longer, my
anticipation did not. This was odd.Every big concert I had been to in the past was always accompanied by
butterflies in the stomach, that small dose of nervous anticipation that
greets many concert gores at the thought of seeing their musical idols
on stage. However, no such nervous anticipation existed this evening
for me. I didn't quite no why. Maybe I was tired from the long
exhausting drive, maybe the burger I ate at Micky D's was not too good,
or maybe I just couldn't fathom the thought of actually seeing Kraftwerk
live on stage in 1998. In retrospect the latter was true.As I got situated in my seat in the first row, center stage of the 2nd
mezzanine, I was still lacking in nervous anticipation. At that moment
I really didn't care! Bizarre to say the least. I attribute it to
fatigue and perhaps a little fear that I would be let down by the show
if it wasn't phenomenal. As the crowds made their way to their seats, I
continued to read my book.....Finally, the lights went off and the vocoder enhanced voice boomed
throughout the concert hall....yes, my friends the butterflies hit FULL
FORCE!! My palms got sweaty, my heart raced, and the nervous excitement
gripped my body, the robotic voice literally sent chills through my
entire soul..I couldn't believe I was about to see the legend that was
Kraftwerk!!! As the first notes of Numbers boomed through the hall,
dare I say a tear almost welled in my eye (this from a 27 year old male,
who wouldn't dream of shedding a tear over anything). I couldn't clap
fast enough or shout loud enough as four black silhouettes took to the
stage and positioned themselves behind their respective computers.The Show: I'm sure the set list has been included by many in their
reviews. I'll only add my personal favorites. Numbers and Computer
World were phenomenal, much better IMO than the album versions, Tour de
France was absolutely beautiful, the slow intro a nice touch,
Radioactivity was probably the highlight for me even though it is one
song which I never rated at the top of my list, but the Vocoded voice
telling of the horrors of radiation added a haunting aura around an
already eerily prophetic song. Pocket Calculator was another great
performance, more so to me because I never really liked that song, but
seeing it done live was great. The ending of the show with Musique
Non-Stop was also fantastic! The pure energy and sound of that musical
masterpiece just highlights how great Kraftwerk really are.Observations on old and new stuff: I heard several people in the line
argue that no matter what Kraftwerk did they were in danger of becoming
parodies of themselves and forever retro. I think after seeing this
show such nonsense can be discounted. If anything, Kraftwerk showed all
in attendance just how far ahead of everybody their music was and is.
Each of the old "classics" from the Kraftwerk catalog STILL sound more
modern and futuristic than 99.9% of the prepackaged electronica that is
on the market today.I was less impressed with the two new songs. Kraftwerk if you are
reading this please do something to these songs. Yes, they were
danceable, yes they were good, BUT bleeps and beeps do not make a
Kraftwerk song. I am sure many of you may disagree, but I believe what
makes each of the Kraftwerk songs classics is that they have tremendous
personality! It is the personal character shared by all of the songs
from TDF to PC that give these songs the necessary quality to survive
the test of time. Frankly, the two new songs will not. Who will pay $30
to hear songs like those two new ones performed 10 years from now? Not
many, but we'd all pay to hear Numbers or TEE 10 years from now because
they are timeless. A vocoder might help these two songs, it couldn't
hurt. Even today that instrument adds a feel to songs that most
electronica is lacking. Kraftwerk, we know you have it in you to give
these songs personality, don't let us down, please.NOW to critics who charge that Kraftwerk are not "performers" or are
even boring to watch, I say you are nuts. What I witnessed last night
was pure artistry. Far from being just men behind a computer station,
these four individuals are analogous to a lion tamer who through shear
physical and mental toughness is able to keep an unpredictable animal in
check and have him perform the tricks he wishes. What do I mean? Well,
last night Kraftwerk looked like four technological experts, using their
entire intellectual and physical know-how to tame the "wild artificial
intelligence" that existed and was harbored inside the massive computer
bank behind them. They not only tamed this machine-beast, but would
allow it emit sounds and samples only on command, as such that took
something that in the hands of someone like me would sound like complete
trash and formed it, molded it, and coach it into the most masterful
piece of aural magic I've ever witnessed.I only hope I don't have to wait another 15 years to see them again.
Regards,
Kyushin
Date: Sun, 14 Jun 1998 16:02:58 -0700
From: "Jeff Young" <j-m-y@mailexcite.com>
Subject: (kw) NYC commentsA few humble notes re: last night's NYC show. I will try not to duplicate what's been written umpteen times.
For a group which ranks very high on my list of favorite groups (probably third behind Madness & the Kinks), last night's concert was beyond a doubt the best overall show I've ever seen. I say show not concert because it was much more of a visual event than audio, I felt.
For an 8:00 scheduled door we were pleasantly surprised to be let in at 7:45. I was speculating that it looked like the line reached around the corner at 9th Avenue. Someone posted that it reached up to 35th Street and then some. Klassisch.
I disagree about the www.kraftwerk.com t-shirts' quality (all 4 were $26 in NYC). My friend and I both pounced on that one immediately. It's simple and elegant--like KW. Also it's the only "current" shirt--after all, it's not the "Autobahn" tour and this may wind up being the next album cover for all we know. BTW I only had about $28 on me by this point, but I would not be denied my t-shirt. I briefly thought to myself, "Oh, they're coming back next year and I'll get one then." Then KW reality set in....
I was about 30 feet back from center stage and for my dollar the sound was absolutely perfect (apart from Ralf's "Computer World" vocals being a little too hard to hear).I couldn't help but be fascinated all night staring at Ralf as he sang over so much programmed stuff. He looked either a little intimidated by the power of their own setup or he's just that good at being cool and detached (probably the latter).
All you polyglots out there: did anyone notice the Russian text during "The Robots" was off? They had a "u" instead of the Russian equivalent to "i," which is identical to the letter "N" written backwards. Yes, in script the Russian letter is written like "u" in English, but these were block letters! Not their first Russian trasngression either, of course. On the cover of "Die Mensch-Maschine," the Russian is equivalent to "person-automobile," not "person machine."
I too thought the crowd was remarkably restrained, as concerns dancing or lack thereof. When "TDF" came on, I figured the place would explode and it just didn't. The crowd seemed too involved in watching the videos and the band. I spent a lot of time just trying to accept the fact that those most elusive Duesseldorfers were right THERE in front of me, as was the whole Kling Klang studio!
The videos were fantastic, especially the litle humorous touches like the dog on "Autobahn," but I thought the traffic scenes used for that depicted traffic moving too slowly and that they could have just sped the film up a bit to match the music.
The encores have been described already and they just blew us away. I had forgotten about the laser suits until they came out.
I doubt that I'll ever see a better show than this, even if and when the come around next year. I'll be there though.
Kraftwerk, das Warten hat sich gelohnt und Ihr muesst naechstes Jahr zurueckkommen!
Jeff Young
Date: Mon, 15 Jun 1998 12:51:59 -0400
From: Adam J Weitzman <Adam.J.Weitzman@newsedge.com>
Subject: (kw) NYC showDrove five hours through blinding rain from Boston on Saturday to catch
this concert. It was incredible, well worth the trip. I had mistakenly
left my earplugs behind, but the sound was so clean that my ears weren't
even ringing the next day.I have to be honest, though, I thought the new songs were just OK. The
second one was better than the first, but it also had the distinction of
reminding me a *lot* of "Cubik" by 808 State. I hope they have better
stuff up their sleeves. Even my wife, who doesn't know Kraftwerk
chapter and verse like I do, but still likes them plenty, thought they
were by far the two least entertaining tunes.I loved the video stimulation as well, esp. "Numbers" and
"Radioactivity" (would it really be that hard to make different films
for each screen so that they're not identical 99.9% of the time), and
the robots were very entertaining. I think that the one non-conformance
of video, during "Radioactivity," was intended to reflect the idea of
"mutation." Did this happen everywhere or not?Since I was in the mezzanine, I wasn't able to get to the T-shirt place
until after the show. That was a serious mad crush. I seriously
considered not buying one, but my wife made me rethink it, and I got one
of the white "robot" shirts. I have to agree with whoever said that the
www.kraftwerk.com shirts were disappointing. The Orblivion shirt I was
wearing to the show had a much more intense green on it. And would it
kill them to put stuff on two sides?But that's minor griping. The show was everything I expected and more.
Bravo. Encore.
Date: Mon, 15 Jun 1998 13:25:04 -0700
From: "John A. Kloepper" <kloeppej@ccmail.orst.edu>
Subject: (kw) New Album Info. from NYCI was able to get in the SF, LA, & NYC shows before they all left for
europe. The other day at NYC was a bit different compared to what I had
experienced before. After the three shows I always made it to the back
stage door looking for a photo or a sig. I eventually got all but
Florian to sign my Autobahn shirt. I did get pictures of all of the
band after the LA gig and will be putting them on line (watch for the
URL)
At NYC, Fritz came out and was talking to the small group of us for
about 10 minutes. I asked him if there were any plans for a new album
any time soon. He jokingly said somebody will have taped tonights show
so I should look for an album tomorrow. Not getting the answer I wanted
I pressed for more info, and asked about the album "Concert Classic
Live" which is supposedly to be released on the 25th. He said that he
had never heard of it and thought it must be a bootleg.Those are my two cents for now.
- -J
Date: Tue, 16 Jun 1998 22:27:57 -0400
From: altrnote@sprynet.com (Joe Schepis)
Subject: (kw) Miracle on 34th Street (NYC Review) (long)Here's another take on the NYC concert. Sorry if it's a little long.
Miracle on 34th Street
For most of us, it's a very rare day indeed when you wake up and
realize you will see Kraftwerk perform in concert sometime before the
day is through. Thanks to a whirlwind US tour, many of us have had such
mornings for the past two weeks.My morning was Saturday. My girlfriend and I had floor tickets for the
New York City performance at the Hammerstein Ballroom (on 34th Street).
I had nothing else planned for this day, as we were driving a good
distance to a train station and then taking a train into NY City. I
wanted to arrive early to the venue for a variety of reasons. At
Tribal Gathering I learned that while waiting all day by a deserted
metal railing can be a dull way to spend seven hours, it does lead to
certain payoffs at the conclusion of those hours. Of course when I saw
Kraftwerk in NY City in 1981, it was pretty much my first concert and I
was not wise to the way things worked. Thus my view then was pretty
modest.A monstrous rain storm passed through the area, causing me to leave
late and to battle a lot of traffic to get to the train. Then we found
the trains were running 20 minutes late. But we managed to get to the
Hammerstein by around 5 PM. I expected a significant line to be formed
by then but there were only about eight of us there. I went inside and
met the manager for the venue, and we got to chatting about the band
and the concert. He knew of Kraftwerk but was not very familiar with
their music. He told me he was there when "they" walked in, his
expression turning to one of paranoia, illustrating their expressions
no doubt. He said one of them had the backstage and press passes
clasped tightly with both hands.We went outside to wait on the meager line, but I decided to walk
around the block to see if I could find the stage doors and if anyone
was around. Directly opposite the main entrance on the next street
over was a small metal door with a metal ramp leading down from inside.
Parked outside was a moderately large unmarked freight truck with Ohio
plates. Behind this was a certain tan colored power generator, which
had been spotted at previous concerts I read about on this list. So
this was Kraftwerk's kraftwerk. How appropriate.I wanted to strike up a conversation with the men waiting outside the
door since I knew some of the crew members were reasonably
approachable. As a sort of ice breaker, I asked if they knew how to get
into the theater. I first posed this to a large man wearing a black
t-shirt with the robot logo on the front and "Technik" on the back. He
only gestured to the other gentleman, who answered us. However this
was the man who drove the truck and was not a long time associate of
the band. Our conversation ended I realized he could provide no
exciting insight.When I got back to the front doors I could hear music faintly from
within. I met the manager in the lobby again and asked if they were
doing the soundcheck and that if it wasn't too much trouble could I
peek inside for just a few seconds? He agreed to this, and we walked
to the doors leading into the theater. Inside I saw the stage set,
with Ralf standing at his keyboard playing (and singing) Autobahn. The
video screens were lit with a static graphic of "KGB" from the Computer
World sequence. It was hard to see a lot from where we watched, but it
was cool indeed to see a Kraftwerk soundcheck especially given the
reports of strict security at the other venues while such soundchecking
was in progress.The timing for this was good, as soon after I went back to stand on
line, the security people for the venue had arrived, and they made us
move along the building and stand behind railings. By 6 PM the line
was starting to grow and was about 40 feet long. I didn't keep track
much after that. We heard more music from outside, this time at much
louder volume of course.While on line I was making idle conversation with the fellow die-hard
fans that had arrived so early. I expected some of us from this mail
list would be in attendance but the only way to tell was to ask. I did
meet Roger from Montreal, who joined the list a while back. He was
waiting for friends and it was great to pass the time talking about
Kraftwerk and the mail list and such.Eventually the hours passed and just before 8 PM they let us file into
the theater. Security was moderate. They just looked inside my jacket
but I had no contraband. My girlfriend got in unscanned. (Tip for
tapers: let the ladies smuggle your recorders :^)We filed in and due to our early arrival we found a spot at the front
of the stage. I had wanted to stand near Ralf this time since I was in
front of Florian at Tribal last year. It was divine intervention
perhaps but the only spot left at the rail was in front of Ralf. I
clung to the black metal barricade with anticipation.The crowd was excellent. Everyone was smiling and talking and even as
the concert progressed no one pushed or made loud noises. The
interlude music began, quietly at first, just as it had in 1981. This
gave way to the vocoded introduction. The miracle was to begin.Since much of the factual details of the NYC concert have already been
posted, I will focus on my observations. I thought the concert was
flawless. I need no video or audio reminder of how this two hour
performance impressed me. It would only pale in comparison to having
experienced it. As always, there was just the right amount of variety
in the performances that it didn't sound like the same thing over
again.I was mostly looking forward to The Man Machine and the Antherwellen
tracks. I slightly preferred the version of The Man Machine at Tribal
Gathering than this version, but only slightly. What was the best two
minute eternity of the whole show, however, was Ralf singing
Antherwellen. There was a certain vocoder-like sound following Ralf's
live vocals, remarkable given that the vocoder is traditionally
Florian's domain. It was a light, distinct effect on his voice. And
Ralf sung the words in perfect tune, in German and English alternately.
A bluish light from above lit his face as he looked out to the
audience, giving an almost spiritual quality to this moment. He
licked his lips and blinked slowly between the phrases. The words left
his lips with all the precision of things Kraftwerk. It was only him
and I for those two minutes.I very much enjoyed watching Ralf. He doesn't look down at the front
row very often, preferring to look out to the whole audience. He is
concentrating a great deal on the operation of his equipment as well,
and the pedals are used artfully (he presses the sustain pedal with his
heel, btw.)Ralf's lips were silent when we heard him count off the intro for The
Model. It seemed like the audience enjoyed this song a lot. My
girlfriend most liked this one, and she asked if it was new, having
never heard it before. "Twenty years old," I said into her right ear,
amazing even myself at that statistic. I have to play her some more
older albums.One song passed into another and the band werked their kraft to our
delight. Before I knew, Trans Europe Express had ended, and the
curtain difficulties began on cue. I saw growing nervousness in Ralf's
eyes as he held the last notes of the song until the curtain eventually
was closed manually.The encores went on equally well. Pocket Calculator was its usual
treat, and the new Tribal song was showing signs of improvement since
the concert for which it was named. I must add my name to those who
feel the new songs are not quite finished. They have not yet added
that certain charm or flair which makes the song so uniquely theirs.
But I believe they soon will. The solos during Music Non Stop meant the
final curtain was soon approaching. As it closed, the words Music...
Nonstop... kept repeating for quite some time as the audience got up.
It was a nice effect, sort of a mantra for going outside to the rainy
streets with memories of the concert in your head.We left the theater and I said goodbye to the theater manager and
others I had met on line. It was raining lightly and we went to get a
bite to eat nearby. But it was not terribly late and the trains would
be running all night, so we went back to the stage door to see if we
could see anyone from the band or crew. It was nearly an hour since
the show ended, and before long an assortment of black road cases with
the words 'Kraftwerk', 'Heavy' and 'Fragile' were being rolled into the
streets. I even find their road cases fascinating, so we waited on the
sidewalk as the crew members rolled the various cases into the waiting
freight truck. There was a bicycle on the truck, and though I could
not tell if it was a good one like the band members might use, I had to
presume it to be one of theirs. There were about a dozen or so fans on
the street, most of them quite young, waiting to see who they could see.
I never would have waited by the stage door expecting to meet the band,
but after the stories on this list about how reasonably accessible they
are about signing things and chatting, I had to give it a try. It was a
little surreal waiting there past 1 AM, with Klingklang all boxed up on
a rainy, otherwise deserted Manhattan street.The time ticked on and we eager fans were growing tired. Several of
the others left. I was contemplating doing the same when Florian made
a brief appearance in the doorway. He was wearing a white rain slicker
with the hood up, but we all recognized him immediately. Some of the
fans shouted his name, but I think he got scared and disappeared again
inside. We waited some more, and this time Fritz Hilpert came walking
out with a silver attaché case in hand. He stopped and looked at me (I
was standing pretty much by myself) and I waved to him to indicate my
recognition. He did a sort of double-take, not knowing why people
would be there on the street, and further, waving to him. He too
disappeared inside. I was beginning to get disgruntled with their
reclusive behavior on this night, but once again Fritz came out and
hopped up onto the truck to talk to one of the crew. I wasn't sure if
anyone knew who he was, so I walked to the truck so if he walked by I
could speak with him. He eventually walked by and myself and the
remaining collection of fans had an impromptu press conference. We
asked for autographs and he shook our hands. He was very personable
and friendly.This encounter has been described in a previous post, but generally we
spoke for a few minutes and he signed my ticket (I didn't want to bring
any CD booklets out in the rain!). We asked if any other members were
inside and he said Ralf was still there but two others had left (which
meant Henning and Florian). They must have gone out the front doors.I would have stayed longer but I could not be sure Ralf would ever come
out to talk to us, and it was growing quite late. I was more than
happy to meet Fritz and it was sort of a bonus after such an engaging
evening. With that my girlfriend and I made our way back to the train
station to head home and discuss all we had seen and heard.Music... Nonstop...
Joe Schepis
Date: Wed, 17 Jun 1998 21:26:44 +0000
From: jbv <jbv.silences@wanadoo.fr>
Subject: Re: (kw) Miracle on 34th Street (NYC Review) (long)J Talbert wrote:
>
> Just a bit of curiousity here:
>
> Why do many people seem to have the impression that these
> concerts are simply a CD or tape playback? This is simply not true.
> The entire stage setup is controlled from a master MIDI clock which
> sends data out to the bank of sound modules that is kling klang. The
> only things that MIGHT actually be audio playback are the electronic
> vocals. I watched Fritz quite closely with binoculars and saw his entire
> setup. There is a control for every single aspect of the rhythm from
> MIDI faders to pitch controls to dynamic effect sends. These are all
> controlled in real time. No tape/CD/DAT playback. What get loaded
> during each song is all the MIDI information which includes program
> changes to tell each sound module which sound it should play.
> This is just the way the technology works nowadays.
Sorry my friend, IMHHHO, much more than that is pre-recorded material.
In Autobahn, for instance, it was clear that they all waited for the
few moments during which they could do a few Tschhh and Vrrrms (when
the video shows a highway from above with cars driving). And those were
of poor quality most of the time.The fact that they stay in the dark most of the time (except for the
Model or PC) is another clue that they barely play. And don't tell me
it's because spotlights could spoil videos on screens...What you saw was only Fritz moving his hands. I watched him closely too,
and never noticed any movement matching musical events.
You just saw what you wanted to see.
On the other hand, watching meters levels on various consoles and
gear gives a much better idea of how much material is pre-recorded.And that mysterious notebook Florian is always carrying on stage
might be indications about gestures to do on stage (how and when) to
pretend he's playing... May be because he's quite tired of the KW
thing and skiped most rehearsals at KK... Furthermore, he's always the
last one on stage and the first one to leave...And btw, I know very well how music technology works nowadays.
I don't deny that there's a master MIDI clock (or SMPTE actually)
driving video and tape/CD/DAT playback. There might be a few sounds
from modules sent at times in the mix, but very few...> Of course, back during the 1981 tour, it was quite obvious they used tapes on
> the second half of TEE. Yet no one ever mentions that! :-)Actually, IMHO again, TEE is 100% pre-recorded on a limited number of
tracks. What is done live is a simple mix of those tracks (and in some
gigs, that simple mix was of mediocre quality : a few Boooms missing
when wagons bump into each other).And as for the 1981 tour, as I remember clearly seeing an analog
multi-trk
tape recorder running backstage, I'm wondering if they actually weren't
already playing tapes during the whole gig, instead of recording it
for their archives as I thought in the first place...
- ---------
Actually, seeing a KW gig these days is similar to visiting Lenin's
mausoleum in Moscow : no camera, soviet-like search at the entrance,
robots / dummies, and some old things on stage surrounded by a lot
of sophisticated machinery to pretend they're still alive...jbv
Date: Wed, 17 Jun 1998 19:06:33 EDT
From: <TPURE@aol.com>
Subject: (kw) Actually, seeing a KW gig these days is similar to visiting Lenin's<<Sorry my friend, IMHHHO, much more than that is pre-recorded material.
In Autobahn, for instance, it was clear that they all waited for the
few moments during which they could do a few Tschhh and Vrrrms (when
the video shows a highway from above with cars driving). And those were
of poor quality most of the time.>>I also believe they don't use tape. Stuff like the car starting are samples.
Samples do take some time to load (especially if they're using anything with
32 mb or less). I'm not saying someone is always playing something, but the
computer is.<<The fact that they stay in the dark most of the time (except for the
Model or PC) is another clue that they barely play. And don't tell me
it's because spotlights could spoil videos on screens...>>During any concert, it's quite common to bring the stage lights down between
songs. Cheap drama.<<What you saw was only Fritz moving his hands. I watched him closely too,
and never noticed any movement matching musical events.
You just saw what you wanted to see.
On the other hand, watching meters levels on various consoles and
gear gives a much better idea of how much material is pre-recorded.>>I saw them in SF, LA, & NYC. Fritz was ABSOLUTELY matching slider moves with
musical events. He was practically running the show by himself. In fact, I
found myself watching him because of this.<<And that mysterious notebook Florian is always carrying on stage
might be indications about gestures to do on stage (how and when) to
pretend he's playing... May be because he's quite tired of the KW
thing and skiped most rehearsals at KK... Furthermore, he's always the
last one on stage and the first one to leave...>>I'd bet Florian is the one loading samples or patch changes. Then again, it
could be poetry.<<And btw, I know very well how music technology works nowadays.
I don't deny that there's a master MIDI clock (or SMPTE actually)
driving video and tape/CD/DAT playback. There might be a few sounds
from modules sent at times in the mix, but very few...>>The video is synching to the computer running their sequencer. One computer
monitor was showing the set list in the seq.'s song mode, & rack units were
indeed changing #'s.<<Actually, seeing a KW gig these days is similar to visiting Lenin's
mausoleum in Moscow : no camera, soviet-like search at the entrance,
robots / dummies, and some old things on stage surrounded by a lot
of sophisticated machinery to pretend they're still alive...>>I've never been to a show in the USA where you were allowed to bring in
cameras, recorders, etc. The only group I know of who allowed that was the
Grateful Dead.tIMPURE
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 1998 17:55:05 -0400
From: Frank Moriarty <frankm@voicenet.com>
Subject: (kw) NY Impressions of lapsed subscriber (longish)Having subscribed to the Kraftwerk list during the long months of no
activity, no news, and just sporadic rumors, it’s amazing for me to see
the activity now. For some unknown reason, I stopped receiving my
digests some time after the Luton show, and due to chaos and business
never got around to re-subscribing until Sunday, the day after I saw
Kraftwerk at Hammerstein. In a way not getting the digests was good,
because I went into the show with no idea of what the set list would be,
the set design would look like, etc. I found it to be an awe-inspiring
show, and I don’t think my wife and her friend who came with us imagined
what they were in for. They left the show solidly converted to the
Kraftwerk cause. I left the New York performance with a couple of
impressions about Kraftwerk that I’d like to offer for your
consideration.One is that Kraftwerk has been very successful at creating music that is
not dated or rooted to any specific pop music context. This is
particularly amazing considering they are a band so reliant on
technology. So many artists are quick to jump on the latest sounds --
keyboards, effects, whatever -- and ten years later anything they
recorded at that time sounds terribly dated. Think of all the horrible
dance records made in the 1980s with sampled voices pitch-shifting up
and down the keyboard! Kraftwerk has always seemed to have the ability
to use the technology in a way that doesn’t tie their sound into a
specific era of music technology. In fact, I think that’s why Electric
Cafe is my least favorite Kraftwerk recording, because it seems to me
that too many of the sounds used on that recording are common mid-1980s
electronic sounds. Electric Cafe sounds like when it was recorded.
Fortunately that’s not the case with the overwhelming majority of their
work. Watching Kraftwerk perform on Saturday, I was struck by the
timelessness of the tones and music I was hearing. Like the Bowie/Eno
work on Low and Heroes, this is music that could be from almost any
time.And speaking of passing time, my other main impression was how wonderful
Kraftwerk looked on stage. If anything, their maturity contributed to
the scientific aura of their live performance. It was refreshing to see
modern musicians whose work isn’t tied into a transient trend, or even
the traditional rock and roll youthful image. While the Rolling Stones
look more ridiculous with each passing year and each additional layer of
makeup as they try to keep that spry rock star illusion, the age of the
musicians is really irrelevant to Kraftwerk’s music or image. Kraftwerk
touring when they’re in their 70s or 80s? Hey, why not?At any rate, let’s hope this recent concert action is just the beginning
of a lengthy active period for Kraftwerk. Things are certainly off to an
exciting start!Regards to all -- Frank
Subject: New York Review
Date: Fri, 3 Jul 1998 18:00:46 -0700 (PDT)
From: rhodri kasperbauer <kasperbauer@yahoo.com>
As with the previous two shows, I arrived early in the day. The
Hammerstin ballroom was devoid of signs, and, the street was full of
yellow school buses. Later I would find that their was a mass wedding
occuring (Rev. Sun Moon?). So, the day was not without massed brides
posing for photographs outside the 24 hour post office, and, a counter
rally by protesters at his 'mind control' programming. Manhatten was
not particularily inspiring, I did find myself next to some elderly
german tourists at one stage, but by now I was used to finding that
nobody semed to have heard of the band! Ironically, I later saw them
at the show- maybe relatives of the band?Once more I got in line early, this time there was a pleasnt change in
finding that I was joined by a girl down from Boston. As with other
waitings-in-line, time flew quickly. As I had travelled by bus I had a
slight problem. Unlike other bus terminals, New York has no 24 hour
lockers. So, I had to hold on to my bag, which contained a variety of
barbie dolls I'd bought(these are for my day job, honest!). As we were
let in, I was struck by the tought of being delayed by bag inspection.
However, no bag inspection. Alles ok?Nein! Got to hand over my ticket, but it's not acceptable. Now those
Canadian Ticketmaster folks had assured me that there would be no
problem. It's a Canadian ticket for a U.S. Kraftwerk show...they do
not understand. I am sent aside, as 1000's of people appear to pass
through. The band's photographer sees me, comes over and asks what's
the problem. I tell him, and, he says he'll come back to check if the
problem continues. Some minutes later, he's back and says, "Come with
me", we walk straight up to the door and with one show of his pass,
we're in, "He's with me".
Many, many thanks if you ever get to read this! There is, however, a
large crowd in front of the stage. Luckily, I spot Girl From Boston,
which gives me a rationale to slowly work my way forward to second row.So, what of this performance. In Man Macine all the pewer went dead
for a fraction of a second...but nothing crashed. The sound was not as
good, there was some slap-back echo, but once again the (very) stereo
mix was present (at one stage Fritz checked via headphones). Pocket
Calculator was the best of the 3 nights I saw, Florian fell over on
leaving, he also had to hold curtain shut earlier on. Regarding the
band dynamics, Fritz gestured very strongly at Florian at one point to
turn up something! There was also a strange point at which Henning
seemed to be using a pen to erase something on his workstation.Once more, after the concert, I talked to the german photographer. He
said that "On Friday they did nothing, but the Cafe on Thursday was
very good", he asked me why I hadn't gone and I explained that I'd had
to return via Toronto. At New York he was shooting, "Just for fun",
speed "1600", colour. At one point in Pocket Calculator, Florian
smiled at the photographer, gesturing for him to stop. What else?,
apparently the reason that one dummy was always out of sync. (it
changed each night) was the motors of that body..the heads being changed each time.
All in all, 3 superb performances. Best sound that mix, an incredible
unity of sound and vision. Now if they could only fuse some
visual/auditory concepts to those new songs...