I saw them in London in 1991, during The Robots, whilst all the Robots were on stage, I was surveying the crowd, I like to look behind me and see the faces, I was just right of the stage near the front, and a guy looked at me and pointed just beyond me. And standing there watching his Robot was Florian! He looked at me smiled a little conspiratorial smile, put his finger to his lips “sshh” and then disappeared back into the crowd. Hardly anyone around us noticed. It’s a truly treasured memory.
It is worth mentioning that until 1975 the world was infested with rock n’ roll manifestations and so these sounds combinations were extremely innovative.
Its a shame that their pre 1974 recordings don't get played live today. Imagine Ruckzuck played live in 2020,how amazing that would be! The final track hints at tracks past and future. Radioactivity and showroom dummies and more.
I saw this tour in Birmingham, AL in 1975 with the Atlanta Rhythm Section opening the show. There were about 2200 there when ARS were on. I had come to see Kraftwerk b/c the late-night FM station played this often. I was excited that so many people were going to discover this new kind of band. I was 14. When ARS left the stage, all but about 400 stayed. I walked right to the front of the stage. I am a fan for life.
Wow!!! at 01:12:00 you can hear the genesis of 'Showroom Dummies' !! Such a thrill for a die hard fan like me.. I think this is the closest I'll get to hear them experimenting in their Kling Klang studio during their golden era!! Many thanks for uploading this
Magic! Thanks so much!!! Captures that moment between their early sublime experimental rock material and watershed programmed dance pop in a sunset/sunrise organic way perfectly. Arguably the best live album never made. Gentle yet overwhelming. Raw yet enchantingly human.
I love how you look at electronic music today and find so many automated instruments, well this is one fine example of an entire show of non-automated electronic classics performed on stage with the classic Kraftwerk power quartet of the mid-70s, and it sounds so incredible.
That's because the band ethos was very strong in the 70's. Once the 80's came along, even though their instruments were still being played separately, MIDI and more advanced keyboards/drum machines allowed you to partially automate the music, and in some cases Kraftwerk did so to add to the lushness of their sound. I think this allowance was done to great effect.
hate to tell you this but behind ralf under the minimoog are sequencers used for automatically triggering note sequences... its about as automated as it gets in the 70s
@@lucasc5622 well those pictures of them in concert on this video are from 1976 but this concert was from 1975 so I’m not sure if they had sequencers in this concert
@@lucasc5622 Oh come on now, it's obvious just from the audio alone that this whole thing was played live. And, in my mind, this is how it should be. Or at least there should not be so much overuse of automated sequences as there is nowadays in electronic music. I'm now gonna go on a little rant just for fun: It's really not impossible to play electronic music completely live and unautomated, and it never has been. I mean, pretty much all electronic musical instruments can be played manually (I should know; I've been playing on electronic keyboards for years)... so why not at least do some of this in a live electronic music concert instead of 'depending' so much on sequencers? Literally the only reason you'd need sequencers is if you want more synth parts in your music than you can physically play (because you're a solo musician), or more synth parts than their are members of your band, or if you want musical ideas that are deliberately so complex you can't physically play them. Even if you're an entirely solo artist, you could at the very least play a keyboard or drum machine on top of automated sequences in your concerts, and actually put on a real musical showcase. Problem is a lot of today's "EDM" "superstars" are just purely lazy. They just wanna take the "play it safe, cheap and easy" route for their so called "concerts". At least we have some electronic music artists who actually know how to give a proper musical performance by actually playing freaking instruments and truly making music, Kraftwerk included. I'm not saying I'm against sequencers and automation altogether. I am, however, against the complete overuse and over-dependence on them for live shows, because eventually there's absolutely zero human performance at all at that point. Even a 'DJ' is not truly 'making' music when they "perform". When you play an instrument you're actually 'making' music (and this does include reconstructing pre-existing tunes, which is exactly what you do when you play "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" on the piano or whatever).
Beyond perfect analog synths and modulators live in concert performed by Ralf Hutter, Florian Schneider, Wolfgang Flur, and Karl Bartos. The classic lineup of Kraftwerk. (Meaning Power Station).
This is such a more experimental KWerk than now. I like the redone version of Die Söhne, Der Mond, Die Sterne on Katalogue but the one here is so much more natural feeling. The played Bartos rhythms are a treat all over this performance. Can not get enough of Kometen Melodie.
Thanks for posting this great concert. Awesome audio quality! I am absolutely surprised, that such good material from that times exist. I hope, that sometime the original Albums will be released as remastered CDs.
I was born in 1970 and, thanks to my older brother, started to hear Kraftwerk since I was a child, when a was nine or then years old.. But I never heard this concert before. Thanks a lot, Petty , for sharing this amazing jewel with us!
So glad that this concert has been uploaded here. Used to have the bootleg cd, either got stolen or misplaced. Many thanks for this stellar performance.
As great as they have become, I hope they'll always keep some of the simplicity of the 'Ralf & Florian' album, there's something so romanticizing about the material from that one
EN22U Couldn't agree more. So much of that album was just HYPNOTIC, especially "Ananas Symphonie." Listening to that album with the aid of some nice lysergics was always an experience to look forward to. I feel so fortunate that I got to see this tour (Autobahn Tour of America, 1975) when they were just being introduced to and becoming popular in America.
I of course 'got on the next 2 last bus' when I first heard Computer World at 8 yrs old, but truly got hooked as I grew up later, recent years I reached back 2 the earlier albums, glad I did....as a musician I really preciate the fact that they paved the way 4 a growing genre that had no name 4 it other than electronic music, and so much has grown out of their sound, and definitely the hiphop genre owes alot 2 what they've done.....
Saw them four days earlier at the Dome in Brighton on the same tour - been lucky enough to see them another 4 times since - every show a masterpiece. Agree with e comment about the quality of this recording
There's actually a complete recording of the Brighton show from that day. Sadly the quality isn't quite as good as this one. As far as I know these two are the only recorded shows from the 1975 UK tour.
Unlike a lot of people that had the opportunity to see kraftwerk live... it's ok I will still appreciate the music I have of them I have been a fan of them since 1977 will always love them the first track I ever heard by them was radio activity I friend of my brother brought it back from Germany when he came back from the army
when I was 9 years of age I was living in a very remote town in Germany close to the Autobahn. Which was a place in Winter to play in the snow and throw snowballs on the cars passing by...
I was there, with my friend Simon.....we had seen them a few days earlier at the Brighton Dome! FANTASTIC, thanks Si for finding this one :) anyone remember the support?
I was at the Manchester Free Trade Hall concert of this tour. The support was a lady folk singer called AJ Waller. Kraftwerk did not want a full band supporting them due to all the wiring all over the stage floor.
Intersting how in the last track it seems like Ralf Hütter has three hands. He constantly plays the E-Piano, adds Minimoog rhythm and changes its settings all at once.
I think Florian works some of it. Would've love to have video of this concert and others from their KW 1975 UK tour to see what they were doing.. The improvisation parts of autobahn are the best.
A massive thrill for fans, real fans, that supported Kraftwerk from the beginning. Not the £1000 a ticket Tate Modern shows. You know the types. Corporate people and their friends.
Sean.. No don't worry. You found this footage so that means you know what you are doing. Try to check the early stuff. It is far more like Kraftwerk were. I basically think they are doing a greatest hits now before pulling the plug so that's why Schneider left. Search Ananis Symphony on ytube. Stunning early Kraftwek material. Oriental melodic structures and classical music influences. They could have explored that but they went more in a certain direction.
Simeon Banner Don't be a hater, if the Tate Modern shows were such a ripoff, it's because of the venue, probably not the band. I saw them in Vienna, and the ticket prices were affordable, and they even sold standing tickets before the show for €10. The Vienna Festwochen kept a pretty tight lid on tickets and kept scalping to a minimum. The shows were also fantastic.
+Saicon300 Of course, you are a REAL fan. I was born in the 1960s, but I did not know of Kratwerk until I saw their music videos for "Pocket Calculator" and "The Model" on MTV in late-1981. I was even more shocked when I found their album, "Computer World", on sale in our local department store. I bought the audiocassette for "Computer World" (I only had a tabletop audiocassette recorder, and did not own a record player, let alone a stereo system: I got a small one from my mother as a high school graduation present). Once I listened to "Computer World", I was hooked. I had to hear more. I found a nearby record store, and the owner was able to gradually get previous Kraftwerk albums on audiocassette, and the further back I got into their music catalog, the more amazed I was with their work, in the context of the time in which they recorded it. To me, it was like listening to the "Music Of The Gods". It was unlike ANYTHING I heard here in the United States. And from watching MTV, the UK and the rest of Europe was playing "catch-up" to Kraftwerk. It took the New Wave of UK and European music artists on MTV to show how far behind the American music industry was at that time (except for Donna Summer, and the European producers who worked on her albums during the mid-1970s).
Does it really matter who's a "Real" fan? I was born in 1999 and I have a textbook knowledge of this group. We all Just stand in awe of The Man Machine.
The encore is Kristallo from the Ralf and Florian album sandwiched by the hook line of Mitternacht. Showroom Dummies was born out of their live version of this track two years later.
untill 1991 (The Mix ;-( ) they were ever been consequent in their concept, postmodern avantgarde during the punk aera. wolgang flürs electric drum is awesome
@@HOUSEWARMING I feel like this era, with the actual flute and the vibraphone is the best from a sound prospective. they started using sequencers in 1976, and it lost the little nuances that made KW so cool to listen to. Don't get me wrong, the 1976, 1981, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1997, and 1998 tours are all great, but there's just something missing from those shows.
I was never a huge fan of Kraftwerk, mostly because of their deliberate coolness and lack of soul. I knew that was just part of their style, but it was a bit of a turn-off. I recently revisited "Computer World," however, and by just letting it be what it *is* rather than wishing it were something else, I was able to appreciate its creativity and subtle funkiness.
Well stated. It's an acquired taste for most people I think. For instance, I call myself a fan of their work, but even I have to be in a certain particular mood to sit down and enjoy a full album. But when I'm in that mood, there is nothing quite like it. And listening to this is relaxing at the moment, after a tough day at work.
goopah I can agree about the relaxing part. Sometimes when I'm working I'll listen to their longer tracks like Autobahn or Europe Endless. Other activities or moods warrant different stuff though. If I'm playing a video game or something I'll listen to similar music, but from different groups. One I've found a while back is a fairly recent Swedish group called "Slagsmålsklubben". They had a very similar presentation style to Kraftwerk, using all synthesizers and stuff, but their music is different. Some tracks sound like retro video games, others are more minimalistic electronica.
I cant agree with "lack of soul". it's a lack of soul from maybe an American music perspective; of traditional rock n roll. but if you view it in the same way as classical music, there is an abundance of soul.
@@anfrankogezamartincic1161 Just to be very clear, I'd agree that simply red probably should not be considered a soul group. What I'm referring to is Kraftwerk's style, doing everything very low-key, with very little overt emotional expression. That's not a criticism--it was an effective style, and influenced a generation of popular electronic musicians.
The encore of kristallo is purely an improvisation piece and eventually it was recycled in July 1976 during a practice session at kling klang studio to eventually be played as “showroom dummies” in a October 1976 live concert. Then it was released in 1978
Para mim uma das bandas mais influenciadoras de todos os tempos, ninguém fundiu tecnologia com música com a musicalidade deles, melodias e harmonias lindas e marcantes.
I’ve never hear this before. And I love it!!! Was already well into Kraftwerk by this time, a little young to be going to gigs though. I was 10 at the time 🤪
Incredible to hear how they worked in TEE themes into Ruckzuck. It is like TEE was born out of it. They also worked in other parts, but this is the most obvious one. But, not a shread of Radioactivity since it was in the making in the studio.
I'd just looking for early 70's live concerts, which were filmed, because for those who were not there, a live concert, when we could see all the guys playing, it wll be amazing. It is not easy to find, even one of them. Anyone knows anything about it? Thank You.
