Reviewed by Jeffrey B. Remz
When long running musical pioneers Kraftwerk labeled their tour, "MULTIMEDIA TOUR 2025 - 50 Years of Audobahn," it was with good reason.
The quartet – only Rolf Hutter remains as an original member of the synthesizer Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band – more than met the promise of the title in a two-hour display of engrossing, thought provoking and often danceable, techno pop music.
This was a night where the music merged effortlessly with the stupendous graphics and presentation. Hutter, who was joined on stage on individual computer banks by Henning Schmitz, Falk Grieffenhagen ad Georg Bongartz,was dressed in black pants and shirt with intersecting vertical and horizontal lines in white on the upper body. The coloration of the lines would often change over the course of the evening.
The overwhelmingly colorful graphics themselves only enhanced the music without ever overwhelming the musicians. The band loomed small in stature compared to the wall of graphics behind and around them, but the often rapid-paced songs, many with a thumping bass, brought the attention back to the musicians.
Starting off a bit slowly with "Numbers" – there just wasn't enough going on there melody wise, although the use of numbers in green on the backing screen upped the ante a lot – Kraftwerk quickly picked up the pace with "Home Computer/It's More Fun to Compute" and "Spacelab."
Yet, one left wondering if Kraftwerk really believed the title of the former. With songs like "Man Machine" and particularly "Computer Love," it would be easy to assume that Kraftwerk has questions about technology taking over the world – even though they, ironically, only play synthesizers (and yes, they do play them live).
What is the role of technology and computers in the modern world? The songs coupled with the multi-media on the screen led one to believe that technology can only take humans so far.
It could be argued that Kraftwerk took it up a notch on "Radioactivity" with concerns about the supposed advancement of nuclear plants wreaking havoc. The words "Tchernobyl, " Harrisburg," "Hiroshima" and "Fukushima" flashed across the screen.
Hutter would often sing the words flashing on the screen, although "The Model" was one of the few songs with full-fledged lyrics.
When Kraftwerk wasn't worried about the impact of technology, they focused on transportation. Their biggest hit "Audobahn," remains a joy with the use of the longstanding animated video featuring a lot of Volkswagons and Benzes (you have to support the local economy, after all).
They closed the regular set strong with songs from "Tour de France" and finally "Trans-Europe Express."
And sometimes Kraftwerk didn't have a message per se. Just music for the sake of music. How else to explain the closing "Boing boom tschak" with those words repeated over and over along with "Music non stop, Techno pop?"
It was easy to see why Kraftwerk had such a profound effect on the subsequent EDM scene.
But – and it's a big but – Kraftwerk still has something to say five decades later.