Richard Hawley

Kraftwerk are playing The Luggalla House Estate in County Wicklow on Sept 13th. Would absolutely love to see them live as I have been a fan for many years but my brother is getting married so it's defo out for me. It is being advertised as their only European show this year. Tickets on sale Fri if anyone is interested.
This was also the venue that Morrissey was rumoured to be playing at a couple of weeks ago. It is outdoor and supposed to be a great setting.

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Richard Hawley Rocks

I bought Kraftwerk tickets for my partner a few years ago. They were very well organised. Someone in the audience did a countdown to 8.00 and they came on when he got to zero. It was quite freaky actually.

Only heard one LP of theirs, years ago, Radio Waves - have I got that right? Thought it was brilliant.

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The heartbeat doesn't change, only the faces surrounding it.

Kraftwerk are great, my uncle's a great fan and made me go and see them.
So for those who think they might not be much of a show (4 men stood behind keyboards) then they are in for a surprise.
Lots of great songs, fab visuals, and they don't take themselves too seriously. the countdown to 8pm is typical.
I loved the homage to the ties with LEDs that they first wore in the 80s, the illuminous cycling outfits are a treat and the encore with the robots (as they head home to the hotel i presume) is a real crowd pleaser.

Isnt it not the original Kraftwerk anymore? Thought I read somewhere that 2 of the originals stormed off in a huff??

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http://www.reverbnation.com/davesleney

There's 2 founder members (yes, i am a Kraftwerk widow, but he is a Hawley widower) Ralf and Florian and they sort of tried to act like Karl Bartos and Wolfgang Flur weren't real members. They stopped being 'requested' around 1986. There was a lot of inactivity in the band, which caused problems. Karl Bartos wrote some of the best songs, including 'computer love' which is one of my favourites. According to Flur, he rang up Ralf and Ralf said 'Wolfgang who?'
Also, the cover of Tour de France which used to have defined faces of all 4 members was reissued with Ralf and Florian defined and the other 2 faces were more generic.
There's another anecdote which i'll let 'Jason minus the argonauts' recount.

My tip is to read "I was a Robot" by Wolfgang Flur. He explains how he invented the drum machine, and it became Kraftwerk copyright, and they sold on to a Japanese company for $$$. They treated him and Bartok as session musicians. The two main men seem to come across as total control freaks, and are obsessed with the Tour de France and cycling in general.

Having said that, I will prob go, Onion, isn't this in your neck of the woods? They are also doing three nights in Krakow.

Tour De France is a cool obsession

where Krakow ?

ohh sorry Clapper I see what you mean, well its not megafar, about 28 miles from Dublin. So I presume if you were coming over you'd be staying in Dublin and getting a bus out there, if this is the case we'll have to arrange to meet again for cocktails.

Its a really awesome part of the country and judging by the pics on their site an awesome setting for a gig too, take a looky...

http://www.luggala.net/index_files/photogallery.htm

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http://www.last.fm/user/strumms
I saw an elsebound train, on the overpass
In the driving rain, every ticket costs the same
For where you can't go
Mustang horses, champagne glasses
Anything frail anything wild
It's the price of living motion, what's beautiful is broken
And grace is just the measure of a fall.

You won't be disappointed. In characteristic efficiency the Teautonic foursome will be on stage to the very second as advertised. A robot annoucement (in German) welcoming one and all then cue 'Mensch Machine'.

I've read the book myself. Naturally dimissed by Ralf as a bitte(r) (couldn't resist the pun) and bonkers tirade, I found it highly thought provoking and amusing. There's a bit when he calls them up to complain about the way they portrayed themselves during 'The Mix' period (manniquin heads with severe expressions, trunk and robotic arms, no legs). I think he says something on the lines 'What about all these victims of landmine's? And why the severe expressions!'

I think there's a lot of urban myth that surrounds them but they do put on a decent spectacle whether or not you could doubt whether it's performed live or its a laptop run through the mixing desk. I kind of like the way the backdrop and images and words are used to punctuate some of the key words in their songs. Far from behind cold and removed there's some subtle humour in there too. Enjoy.