![\"image\"](\"https:\/\/www.itwriting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/image-0.png\" "\\"image\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nWe move on into the concert space. Black pillows are handed out; essential if you plan to sit on the cold concrete floor. The hall is not huge, but it is exceptionally high. It is a relatively small crowd, and not entirely composed of middle-aged men as you might expect. The iPad-using guy next to us is 29, he says.<\/p>\n
The concert starts at 9.00pm sharp. Everyone stands; forget the pillows then. Four men stand behind desks and barely move; the sounds of Numbers fill the hall, and 3D images pass across the screen.<\/p>\n
The images are integral to the show. The effect is more that of an animated slideshow than a film, with many loops and repeats. The images are iconic; watching the show is like walking round an art gallery, with one carefully composed image following another.<\/p>\n Lead man and co-founder Ralf H\u00fctter is on the left and does vocals; I am not sure you can call it singing. What are the others doing? Are they playing real or virtual keyboards? Running programs? Tapping out percussion? It is all part of the mystery.<\/p>\n Next it is Pocket Calculator. I love this song. \u201cI am adding. And subtracting.\u201d it says. It is about delight in technology. It is about doing things that would otherwise be impossible. It is about dehumanisation, no more pen and ink, columns of numbers, mistakes and crossings out, but just a few keys to press.<\/p>\n We no longer have pocket calculators so the whole thing is decidedly retro. Can you be simultaneously retro and futuristic? Apparently you can. The main car in Autobahn is a VW Beetle.<\/p>\n Autobahn as it happens comes rather quickly, after around 23 minutes according to my watch. That\u2019s odd, since Computer World the album is over 34 minutes.<\/p>\n We did not get the whole of Computer World and I want my money back.<\/strong><\/p>\n Well, maybe not. The concert was stunning and I would not have missed it for anything. But I was surprised.<\/p>\n Autobahn seemed to go on endlessly, which is as it should be of course. Then the VW took the exit slip and it was over.<\/p>\n Radioactivity. This song has been updated and now features Fukushima alongside other nuclear incidents like Chernobyl.<\/p>\n This is a disturbing song. \u201cRadioactivity is in the air for you and me \u2026 contaminated population\u201d The jolly melody is at odds with the subject matter, but it works; does it represent the PR machine?<\/p>\n Trans Europe Express. The train song is perfect for Kraftwerk. The train rushes towards us. Travel. Communication. Engineering. Cold steel. Kraftwerk.<\/p>\n Two songs which are particularly striking live are The Robots and the Man Machine. The Robots come first.\u00a0 This is where the band performing in front of the visuals works so well. What is more true, that the robots are human-like, or that the band is robot-like?<\/p>\n Are we, in fact, machines ourselves, making the whole question moot?<\/p>\n I have skipped over a few, songs in fact which touch on the more human side of Kraftwerk\u2019s art. After Space Lab, The Model is performed to a backdrop of black and white glamour girls, retro, unreachable.<\/p>\n Neon Lights is a short, refreshing interlude. The melody is stark and beautiful. If Hutter ever sings, he sings here.<\/p>\n A note on the sound quality. In general, good, and not ear-splittingly loud for which I am grateful. It did get louder as the concert progressed, and I felt there were times when it distorted; but improved again towards the end.<\/p>\n There was true chest-shaking bass at times, something you had to be there to feel.<\/p>\n Tour de France is rather good. We see human endeavour, more black and white footage for the retro feel, and followed by Vitamins, making a point perhaps.<\/p>\n Vitamins give rise to some strange 3D effects. Giant pills seem to float out over the audience, but as they fall, they fall behind the band, breaking the illusion.<\/p>\n The Techno Pop section is the last in the concert. There is Boom Book Tschak, and another song I think, then Musique Non Stop, just as the concert is in fact stopping. The musicians leave the stage one by one, until only Hutter is left.<\/p>\n He moves to the right of the stage, he bows, \u201cSee you tomorrow”. Unfortunately I will not. Then he is gone.<\/p>\n No encore. It is not the Kraftwerk way.<\/p>\n That was Kraftwerk. Repetitive, yes. Perplexing, yes. Beautiful, yes. Unique, yes.<\/p>\n Everything is ambiguous. Perhaps we are participating in an elaborate joke. It does not matter. Wonderful.<\/p>\n Setlist<\/strong><\/p>\n Numbers Yesterday I journeyed to London to hear Kraftwerk perform Computer World at the Tate Modern. A cold night, and I was glad to reach the warmth of the Tate Modern. We picked up our green armbands, and 3D spectacles, were instructed that no re-admittance was possible, and move on into the concert foyer where vaguely … Continue reading Kraftwerk at Tate Modern, London. Computer world. 11 February 2013<\/span> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\nPocket Calculator
\nComputer Love
\nIt\u2019s more fun to compute
\nAutobahn
\nRadioactivity
\nTrans Europe Express
\nThe Robots
\nSpacelab
\nMetropolis
\nThe Model
\nNeon Lights
\nMan Machine
\nTour de France
\nVitamin
\nPlanet of Visions
\nBoing Boom Tschak
\nTechno Pop
\nMusique Non Stop<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"