It’s been nearly fifty years since Kraftwerk celebrated their first worldwide success, Autobahn back in November of 1974, and lucky for Los Angeles, we are in the midst of nine-night retrospective celebrating and showcasing that very album along with many of the brilliant ones that followed. Including, their 1986 long-player, Electric Cafe which I had the pleasure of experiencing this past Sunday evening.
Later re-named as its original working title, Techno Pop, the 35 minute album used only a sliver of the two hour performance towards the very end. The “Electric Cafe” track was seemingly left off of the evening program. Purists in attendance likely had issue with this but for most of the casual fans in attendance, including yours truly. We were treated to a wide array of their groundbreaking dance music that spanned three-plus decades.
Kicking off things promptly at 8:00 PM, the German foursome burned through a block of Computerwelt. Starting with “Nummern,” followed by by “Computerwelt” and closing with “It’s More Fun To Compute.” From the perspective of someone who grew up in Los Angeles in the ’80s, these were the edgy tunes that soundtracked many house parties so it couldn’t have been a more fitting intro to the night.
The next block included a pair of Techno Pop tracks that were preceded by none other than “Man Machine.” The title track of their landmark ’78 album which was introduced to me when it served as the backbone of MC Lyte’s “Cha Cha Cha” back in 1989. Crowd favorites, “Autobahn” and “Computer Love” helped round out the hour but the “The Model” garnered the loudest approval and reasonably so. The visual, black-and-white montage in the backdrop of 1950s and ’60s models walking the runway, posing, and relaxing was a welcome juxtaposition of neon, LED that illuminated most of the night.
Kraftwerk promptly shut the door on their early era with ’91s “Radioactivity followed by driving underground techno that was worth getting up and dancing to. Pro-tip: Pick a back row seat if you prefer to dance at this venue.
1983’s “Tour de France” and the magnificent, “Trance Europe Express” were the designated closers of the regular set. While, the very end of the night was reserved for the remaining tunes from Techno Pop. More specifically, the A-side which Included, “Boing Boom Tschak,” “Techno Pop,” and a fantastic, improvised rendition of “Musique Non Stop.”
Each of the four members finished individually with a solo, followed by a graceful bow. A classy end to a sophisticated night which showcased a band that has disrupted modern music more than anyone else in the last fifty years.
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