Karl Bartos

.. was very good last night at everything except timekeeping!

Kraftwerk once arrived on stage early, said "We start at eight!" and stood around doing absolutely nothing for a couple of minutes before they started playing.

This was meant to be 'doors at 7, main act at 7:30'. In fact, they were just finishing the support act's soundcheck at 7:30… They went on at 8:30, with the man himself at 9:30.

From a couple of reviews of the gig I missed at the ICA (grrrr) this one was structured better – couple of KW classics, one from his new album, couple of KW, one new one etc. My only moan is that there was nothing from his earlier solo albums, and with an eighty five minute set, there was plenty of room for this.

The lighting crew probably had their easiest ever evening – it changed slightly between songs, but the main visuals were provided on a couple of large screens: a mix of computer graphics and webcam shots of Karl and the other keyboard player.

The sound was excellent, with bass you could feel right through you, but not painfully loud in the treble.

I took along my mini digital video camera, and rested on the back of the sound and lighting area to get a good visual record, but unfortunately the audio proved to be completely thrown by the bass 🙁 Still, the sound crew were recording it on DAT, so who knows, it may come out officially or otherwise.

Slight update: Oh, I was particularly amused to see him cater for both the general public and the purists by alternating singing the verses in English and German for most of the songs!


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