Kraftwerk 3D Tour

Kraftwerk performed in the Waterfront Hall here in Belfast on Sunday Night. The concert started out well and the rendition of Man Machine was impressive. Then they started to experience dropouts with their sequencer. Tracks became disjointed with some of the sound streams out of sync and tune. Autobahn was a disappointment as the bass and the drum machine were competing and the bass line was not in the same key as the rest of the track. The result was a muddy rendition of the track and I was pleased when the racket ended. The sound quality never really picked up. Neon lights was drab, and the Model dull and plodding.

The much vaunted 3D show was, well, mediocre and blurred for the most part. I accept that was probably caused by not being directly in front of the screen. My seat location too may have had some influence of the sound quality, but I think it was more to do with the faltering sequencer and the activities of the sound engineers. This was not the Kraftwerk I had heard on the Minimum-Maximum album. To be honest whilst I was pleased to see them in concert, I came away disappointed with the sound quality. On reflection I wish they had stopped the concert to reboot their system(s) and start again rather than carry on with grim determination.

At least I can now say that I have seen the robots “live”; I had no real expectation of them as they were there for nostalgia purposes, not to impress with the technology. The robots did good.