Kraftwerk, Glasgow review: 'enigmatic legends'
Kraftwerk continue to serve up a magical mixture of revelatory sounds and immaculate visuals, writes Fiona Shepherd
Kraftwerk, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall ★★★★★
Who would have thought four uniform podiums could generate such anticipation? But this familiar austere set-up promised so much as it is the visual shorthand for Kraftwerk, the most influential electronic band of all time, enigmatic legends whose music didn’t just influence but predicted the direction of cultural travel, and which sounds revelatory in any era.
It was tricky to discern the mensch responsible beyond the neon lights of their signature grid suits but Ralf Hutter, the sole original member, remains the monotone MC on the left, with Henning Schmidt, a mere 35 years in post, on his immediate right and two new members, Falk Grieffenhagen and Georg Bongartz, controlling the immaculate visuals from the lurid green of early computer graphics on the simple but irresistibly wiggy Numbers to the TV test card livery which accompanied the elegant ascending scales of Home Computer.
Next, they launched space station Kling Klang, orbiting above Glasgow before landing beside the Donald Dewar statue to bring us the Giorgio Moroder disco stylings of Spacelab. Other forms of transport were available. They got their motor running for the most pacific Autobahn journey ever, including a tribute to the car radio, delivered the sleek pedal power of a suite of Tour de France tracks and marked the age of the train with the hypnotic chug of Trans Europe Express.
Across a two-hour show, there were prescient anthems to new technology in the minimal melodic magic of Computer Love and The Man Machine, the atomic intimations of Radioactitivy and Geiger Counter, the sheer sophistication of The Model, still their biggest UK hit and gateway drug for fans of a certain age, and a tender cover of the Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence theme tune in tribute to their friend and peer Ryuichi Sakamato before they returned to unleash the Teutonic prophecy of The Robots.
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