Much robotic dancing in SOURCE towers broke out when Düsseldorf’s electronic pioneers Kraftwerk added a Brighton Centre show, their first in the city since 1981, to this summer’s otherwise sold out UK tour. Having remastered the core of the band’s catalogue (the peerless eight album run from 1974’s ‘Autobahn’ to 2003’s last studio release ‘Tour De France Soundtracks’) in the past decade, founder member Ralf Hütter has turned his group into a continually touring, multi-media music machine.
Fulfilling the German concept of ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’, the “total work of art” of Kraftwerk’s concerts combines their forward thinking techno pop with three-dimensional projections (complimentary 3-D glasses included), light-rippling body suits and their endearing robot duplicates. Purists may lament the absence of Hütter’s original partner Florian Schneider but if it’s Ralf and the robots, it’s Kraftwerk.
Photo: Peter Boettcher/Kraftwerk
Brighton Centre, Wednesday 7th June 2017
