![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Mensch-Maschine im Seattle
Wow, the Kraftwerk concert in Seattle was GREAT. I have been listening to them for 22 years, ever since high school, and this is the first chance I have had to see them in concert.
The concert was at the Paramount Theatre, a huge old palace that must have been one of the great movie theatres of Seattle back when people made movies part of their lives. It was all made up like a Vienniese opera house inside, all gilt and gingerbread. I had a seat on the second mezzanine, almost in the nosebleed section but we still had a pretty good view of the stage.
The show itself was not much to look at - just the four of them behind their keyboards and laptops, barely moving, with a video screen playing simple films or displays of the lyrics behind them. I can't remember the set list in order but here is what I remember them playing:
The Man-Machine
We Are The Robots
The Model
Neon Lights
The Man-Machine
Computer World
Computer World
Numbers
It's More Fun to Compute
Electric Cafe
Boing Boom Tschak
Music Non Stop
The Mix
Autobahn
Radioactivity
Trans Europe Express
Calculator
Tour de France
Tour de France
Vitamin
Aero Dynamik
Elektrokardiogramm
After playing for almost an hour they stopped and the curtain fell. Many people thought that was the end, so they clapped and cheered for more. Instead of lighting lighters and waving them around, everyone waved the lit panels of their cellphones and PDAs, which I thought was quite appropriate for Kraftwerk! After a short wait the curtain went up and the four members had been replaced by the robots you see pictured on the cover of The Mix. They played a few songs and after another break, the four humans came back onto a dark stage wearing suits made of electroluminescent (EL) wire.
It was one of the best concerts I had ever seen, and Betty loved it. Kraftwerk fans are very serious - there was lots of applause between songs, but as soon as they started playing everyone became very quiet and intent. There were truly people of all ages in the audience, from 18 year olds to 50 plus. But Kraftwerk has been around for almost 30 years, so no surprise there.
The concert was at the Paramount Theatre, a huge old palace that must have been one of the great movie theatres of Seattle back when people made movies part of their lives. It was all made up like a Vienniese opera house inside, all gilt and gingerbread. I had a seat on the second mezzanine, almost in the nosebleed section but we still had a pretty good view of the stage.
The show itself was not much to look at - just the four of them behind their keyboards and laptops, barely moving, with a video screen playing simple films or displays of the lyrics behind them. I can't remember the set list in order but here is what I remember them playing:
The Man-Machine
We Are The Robots
The Model
Neon Lights
The Man-Machine
Computer World
Computer World
Numbers
It's More Fun to Compute
Electric Cafe
Boing Boom Tschak
Music Non Stop
The Mix
Autobahn
Radioactivity
Trans Europe Express
Calculator
Tour de France
Tour de France
Vitamin
Aero Dynamik
Elektrokardiogramm
After playing for almost an hour they stopped and the curtain fell. Many people thought that was the end, so they clapped and cheered for more. Instead of lighting lighters and waving them around, everyone waved the lit panels of their cellphones and PDAs, which I thought was quite appropriate for Kraftwerk! After a short wait the curtain went up and the four members had been replaced by the robots you see pictured on the cover of The Mix. They played a few songs and after another break, the four humans came back onto a dark stage wearing suits made of electroluminescent (EL) wire.
It was one of the best concerts I had ever seen, and Betty loved it. Kraftwerk fans are very serious - there was lots of applause between songs, but as soon as they started playing everyone became very quiet and intent. There were truly people of all ages in the audience, from 18 year olds to 50 plus. But Kraftwerk has been around for almost 30 years, so no surprise there.
no subject
I'm glad to hear you had a good time, and that the cellphone/PDA thing is too funny!
no subject
I have no idea how often Kraftwerk tours but it can't be that often as their output of albums is quite low (the set list I posted above spans their whole career, almost). But I'm sure you will get your chance.
There was more than one fellow in the audience dressed in a red shirt and black tie, mimicking their getup on the cover of Man-Machine. The musicians were dressed in black suits and ties with red shirts too!
no subject
no subject