KRAFTWERK

Take your mind back to 1981, if you can, I certainly can, and memorably heading over to what was then still called the Hammersmith Odeon. Excitedly I was going to see Kraftwerk, and what a show. I was no newcomer to seeing live gigs, in fact my musical taste had seen me at gigs as wide ranging as Black Sabbath and Deep Purple to The Carpenters Iggy Pop and The Jacksons. But on that night I was witness to something very special, electronic pop delivered by four German guys in red shirts, black ties and shiny slicked back hair. Visually it was extraordinary, the lights, the stillness and the intense volume and rhythmic insistence… it was so impactful.

Almost fifty years on and I am sat in the Brighton Centre pondering what brings me back time and time again to see this iconic act. Yes of course I love the music, I love their use of powerful graphic imagery, the pounding beats and strange vocals, all that. But on top of that, all these years on I think it is the realisation that their music was so innovative and so influential, without Kraftwerk would we have had OMD, Depeche Mode, Donna Summer and certainly the huge wave of club music, the digital dance music that to this day apes this pioneering German band.

This was a sell-out gig, and under strict instruction not to film on our phones, a few did of course, but on the whole the atmosphere was not spoiled by a sea of glowing smart phone screens. God knows why people spend huge amounts of money to see live music and watch it through a phone.

This time around the visuals were as good as ever and as sharp and precisely delivered. Given that only one of the original members remains is irrelevant as their static un-lit presence remains robotic and anonymous, it matters not. And the set list is a history of their best work, Man Machine, Autobhan, Tour de France… fans are delighted, and in a quiet moment a tribute to Ryuchi Sakamoto, a touching delivery of the theme to Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence, a delicious evening of musical memories for real fans topped off with an encore of The Robots. At 70 years old I felt  25 again and then realised that if I am that age the only remaining member of the original line up, the legend that is Ralf Hütter,  must be 80 proving that great pop is not the domain of the very young, a fact confirmed by the demographic of the audience last night.

Andrew Kay

30 May

The Brighton Centre

[rating: 5/5]