I'm glad to read that some of the people on this list made it to the concert in Gent. I was there too and it was amazing.
The 'classic' Kling Klang stage image has been stripped down to just the four people with one-bar-music stands, everyone with a laptop. Ralfs kit contained a synth, you could clearly see (and hear) him play some stuff. The stage looks very minimal and very good.
The show open with the curtain routine and the 'Meine Damen und Herren' voice. They start with a version of Expo that's very close to one of the Underground Resistance remixes (if I'm correct). The four people are dressed in black (no fluostripe suits here). The person next to Ralf looked familiar, the person next to Florian didn't (not to me at least).
The lighting is exquisite, the sound baffling (that bass!), the visuals are largely what's on the official website, with some bits redone, modernized or reshot. TEE has some new visuals, and Musique Non Stop is featured in a video that contains no images of Karl or Wolfgang (no surprise there). One of the three screens had a few temperamental fits along the way.
Radio-activity has a new arrangement for the first few minutes, one I liked a lot. One of the TG tracks was played, also in a more elaborated, arranged version. This track is evolving.
And yes, there were technical problems. The Robots stopped somewhere in the intro for a very uncomfortable few seconds. It also had a very peculiar ending. During Autobahn a lot of the programmed material faded out quite suddenly and I could see the guy behind the mixing desk fading up the back up. TEE stuttered occasionally, sounding a bit like a hard disk with hiccups. Still, the crowd didn't mind, took it all in, loved it and went mad. My personal opinion is that these small accidents are irrelevant. They even enhance the 'live' aspect of the gig.
No more robots here, no more whipping out the smalll hand held devices for Pocket Calculator. Some of the tracks are updated as far as arrangments and sound go.
On the whole a very good, very worth while concert, living up to expectations and a lot more. The emphasis of the show has shifted from Computerworld to The Man Machine.
What is wrong with that curtain? It fails to open correctly at exactly the same time as described in the TG concerts. I'm starting to think this is 'part of the show'.
Souvenir hunter will drop by the merchandising stand that has everything from the website but the skateboard. They carry a nice 10 euro poster. A tour programme would have been nice.
I could see two microphones on stands picking up crowd response, so it was recorded. I now at least of one person who made a dat-copy, sadly enough, I don't know him.
No reviews in the papers today. Could still be on the way.
Good concert, loved it. (And I quite like Tuxedomoon too,BTW)
Kind greetings,
Paul
