I do! Hearing about the same set list is ok, hearing
about eye contact with the KW lads, talking to the
roadies etc is much more interesting...
pat
--- Geert Lemmens <gele_skylined(a)yahoo.com> wrote:
> don't we all just love hearing those little details
> :-)
>
> patches to get through security, they still got
> it...
>
> g
>
> Pat Slade <findesiecle99(a)yahoo.com> wrote:
> Rhodri,
>
> I really enjoyed your write up, glad there was more
> info of your interaction with KW and the fans.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Pat
>
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>
>
> http://www.dertaschenrechner.tk
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>
>
>
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While Cathay Pacific airlines were featuring 'Tour De
France' on their in-flight entertainment audio service
at the start of this year there was no Kraftwerk music
on the flight to Tokyo this February. 5pm seemed an
unlikley time to start the Tokyo concert - especially
given that the Australian and Japanese dates from 2002
and 2003 seemed to show the band now happy to merge
their own performance with supporting dance (d.j.)
culture and ambience (and was the band's hearing of
X-Press 2's "Lazy" at Electraglide an unconscious
influence on T.D.F '03)? Firstly we travelled on the
Tokyo subway system, with its many criss-crossing
lines, with each station playing its own "special
little (musical) melody", then it was on to the
monorail towards Aomi - and it seemed very appropraite
to be travelling in this futuristic driveless train.
The destination station was unmissable because of the
large "Sky Wheel" (that's what the Japanese call it)
towering above + we headed down to the Zepp venue,
which is part of Palette Town. To quote from the 'Town
Guide' you learn that, "Zepp Tokyo is one of the
world's largest live hall with a capacity of 2709
poeple. Owing to the standing-up-style hall, the
audience could share sense of togetherness with an
audience and enjoy dynamic play and live performnace".
...ok.
We knew our tickets were 1/F standing (rather than the
seated 2/F) so were optimistic that we'd get close to
the stage. However, arriving outside we found lines of
people all behind various alphabetlical signs
stretching around the building - decoding the ticket
we found that we would be in 'Section E'. So, we
found ourselves waiting as the minutes passed and
various lines continued to gather and congregate.
After close to an hour of waiting, our line was
allowed to enter, and we passed on the merchandise -
presuming it would all be there the next day. But here
we also found that the same rules applied - inside the
hall were barriers to seperate each section. While the
barrier could easily have been slipped under - from
one 'section' to another - not one person was doing
so. Would people have stayed in their section in any
other country in the world? In Tokyo they certainly
did! There was then plenty of time to wait in silence,
with no music, to consider the audience and wonder why
the curtain was no longer black - now a shade of grey.
It seemed that many of the audience were twice the age
of the Tokyo Elecrtraglide 2002 all-night dance
audience, also here almost equal balance of masculine
and femanine. And so 5pm...that advertised start time
approached.
And at 5.19... 19 seconds late it began - that antenna
call sign from ther website - slowed down, a vague
reminder of those opening sounds of the song "Electric
Cafe". 4 minutes of that decsending call sign
certainly acted as a contrast to the way that D.J.s at
Kraftwerk concerts have built up audience enthusiasm
and expectations. Being a polite audience it was only
near the end of this time that one lone person felt
the need to shout out!
And as the familiar introduction began the first image
to appear was black shillouetted figures with what
appeared to be bald heads and a red background (so the
curtain has to be transparent enough to let light
through) - it's the same image that appeared on the
German 'The Model' 12" single in 1978! And as the
curtains open it's a reminder of those publicity
photos that used bald Showroom Dummies wearing suits
(a Brazilian picture sleeve and a U.S. cassette case)
in the 1970's and 1980's. But on further refelction
it's a reminder that 'Wearing A Suit' were part of the
image further back to the 'Ralf + Florian' sleve. Was
this current choice made by one band member? Starting
with 'Man Machine' is definitely in contrast to the
pace generated by 'Numbers' and the more subdued pace
does give much more emphasis to how the sound is
filling the space. it also meakes it more noticible
what each member is doing. Henning's feet move - but
what's it doing to the sound? Once we're on to Expo
2000 it's more clear that Fritz is using a sliding
fader to bring in the reverb sound at specific points.
As TDF 03 starts it seems that this song has not had
the graphics treatment - for we are back to the 'bar
graphic' graphic eq. visuals in blue (as used on 'Home
Computer' before?)... for several minutes before the
'new' video is used. And after 25 minutes it's time
for Ralf to make a quick adjustment on his head
microphone before starting his singing. He seems to be
using his right hand to shield the mic., while the
left hand is used to alter level a control on his
console. It's good to hear that his voice sounds
better than ever, one reason that it's so clear being
that it's clear that the overall sound level continues
to be very very low. As Vitamin is about to begin
Florian has a quick drink and then it's on to a new
song and new visuals live. What is clear is that it's
certainly not a 'filler' song, Ralf is dancing!
The concert continues, but being in the middle of the
hall it's still not possible to see quite what's
happening - for suddenly there's someone walking on to
the stage to speak to Ralf. It's hard to see if
Florian is using his microphone from this distance,
but being in the centre of the hall does at least
serve to illustate that in Autobahn there seems to be
some sort of quad sound system be used... it's also
very clear that in 'Aerodynamik' the sound is being
panned left-to-right to complement the song's theme.
After the concert we talked for 30 minutes to several
of Kraftwerk's sound and production people. These are
the largely unsung people who keep the machine running
efficiently - and it's interesting to talk to them
...but let's all remember that these people have jobs
and it wouldn't be fair to bring them hassles. Anyway,
here's a few bits of infoprmation that hopefully don't
get anyone into trouble - an example of what is
expected of the crew is that the Kraftwerk logo that
appears on jackets has to be covered up with a piece
of velcro when going through customs and airports (to
avoid attention)! We checked regarding the sound +
learnt that while not strictly quad the sound system
used at some venues such as Tokyo - but not Osaka -
uses rear speakers to give the impression of throwing
the sound forward and backwards during Autobahn. The
stage messanger had been trying to convey the message
that the sound was too quiet (it had been turned up
during Radioactivity). One explanation given of the
stage roles was as follows: Ralf = melodies/singing,
Henning=bass lines/filtering, Fritz= rythmes, Florian=
f/x. Some other opinions - the best audience was
Copehagen, while audiences tend to get better as the
concerts move south. Key people who've been touring
with Krafwterk since 1998 were contacted about this
tour in May 2003 apparantly. Every concert is
recorded by the band, but then perhaps that is
obvious? It was now time for the crew to eat and
checking in with the merchandise stall we found that
the one item that had sold out was the 'mobile
phone/mp3 player strap' - the one item not yet on the
Klingklang merchandise site. The local staff promised
that if we got there at 3:30 they's have about 20
left. We could at least get our 'Aerodynamik' t-shirts
(a.k.a. "the teletubbies shirt" to one child we know,
or, "the cable cars t-shirt" to a certain adult).
After we left the hall and wandered round to the main
street, there standing alone in the darkened doorway
and talking on his mobile phone was someone wearing a
3-piece suit and hat: Florian. After waiting patiently
for his call to end
( wishing that we had a better command of german) it
was time to remind him of the advice he gave when
meeting in Detroit 1998. As with Ralf the signature
certainly does seem to change over time! Finally
Florian was ushered over to the waiting vans. A few
fans were present and so there a chance to talk to
Fritz and Ralf about the concert (Henning remained at
the back).
On the following day we had a clearer idea of when we
needed to be at the Zepp and decided to investigate
the surrounding area. Next to the Zepp we found 'Mega
Web Future World' and the 'Toyota City Showcase', but
what was more interesting was 'Venus Fort' - a
shopping plaza devoted to women, of which the ceiling
projections change from blue sky to sunset to night
sky...a simulated reality. Apparantly it is the place
for dating couples and it also seemed to be the place
for women to take their toy dogs (which reminded us
that there's a Kraftwerk video that features just such
dogs). Checking back in with the merchandise stall we
found that the promised mobile strap was not now
available - but fortunately somone in the Kraftwerk
organisation gave us one on the condition that we
didn't show it to anyone outside the hall..thanks!
While the various alphabetical lines had not yet
formed, we found ourselves approached by another
visitor of this mailing list - it was good to share
experiences and as our colleague had an 'A' (front)
Section ticket we decided to keep talking. As Section
A entered, we found that the numbers inside a Section
also determined who went in first. It was time to
weigh up the best time to try... and 3 checks of
tickets later we found that our Section C tickets had
not been sufficiently scrutinised to stop us entering
Section A. One of us is a big fan of Fritz and so we
decided to go for the front of that side of the stage.
While waiting we noticed that the band - not
bootleggers - had microphones directed at the audience
from either side of the stage - so we decided to sing
a quick rendition of "15 Minutes of Fame".
Because of the use of the 3 background projectors
(overlap of images slightly evident in Tokyo) there
still isn't that much light on stage. This contributes
to the band really noticing those audience members who
are at the front. Earlier on this list someone
mentioned that Fritz acknowledges specific people -
but is that just our ego? The lesson of Tokyo is that
it's certainly not. Fritz does signal to those he
recognises, and, if you're a girl and remove clothing
just see if he reacts! Henning seems to oscillate
between appearing mildly amused and grumpy on stage
(when someone cuts off his bass part in Radioactivity
especially?). Florian is obviosuly studying the
audience, but if your eye catches his he will
immediately look in another direction. Ralf seems to
be continually reading the crowd, with a slightly
surprised or puzzled look on his face. Ralf was
definitely the one who's dancing most - interesting
that it's particularily so on
"Vitamin" and 'Electrokardiogram". Just to remind us
that there are humans on stage, Florian had his first
drink after 'Vitamin" of the second night. He's also
the band member who slips the most
candies/medicine/vitamin pills in his mouth as the
evening progresses (he's not the only one!), but it's
done so discreetly that you might not notice. During
the 2nd Tokyo Coincert there were alot of subtle
changes in the sound,less 'mistakes' which ironically
are often very interesting in their own way. It sounds
strange to say it, but Florian really is doing backing
vocals on 'Autobahn' - they are not quite in sync.
As to quite what's going on, when one band member (or
more) look at another it's often because something
unexpected has been done by that other person. One of
the most memorable moments came in "Pocket Calculator"
when Ralf started pointing at his video screen and
then looking at the other band members. He continued
doing this several times...but nobody seemed to be
taking any notice of him! Meanwhile, as with the
previous night, the volume was increased during
'Radioactivity" which led to Florian to give and then
repeat hand signals to lower the volume during "Pocket
Calculator". It was also Florian who left his screen
up during 'The Robots' performance - he really is
human! As the band left the stage on this second
Tokyo night they also all gave a sort of traditional
Japanese salute (?) before leaving (other than
Henning, who seems to be practising the 'Florian
Run').
We decided to see if we could speak to the band again
+ went round to the same location as the night before.
Rather appropriately the security guards placed
traffic cones to cordon off the area surrounding the 2
vans and car. After some time a guard passed carrying
The Case - the one that carries the most essential
equipment/data - which left first via the car. While
waiting we talked to the Japanese fans/musicians
present. It was good to share experiences and we were
very happy to accept a copy of their CD tribute to
Kraftwerk. Standing next to a busy road it seemed
rather absurd when a security guard came over to tell
us to be quiet! So, what do you do? The area has been
cordoned off by security- do you get a great photo or
hope that the band will come over to speak? Deciding
on the latter we called out + found that Fritz,
followed by Ralf, were happy to come over to talk
rather than leave immediately. Fritz's opening
question was, "was it loud enough for you tonight?"
(following on from our converstaion the night before).
Asked about the 'Elektrokardiogram' radio mix, he said
that it was intended only for German radio promotion.
I commented that it was a pity that the remastered CDs
weren't on sale and asked if the artwork would be
changed on T.E.E. (apparantly so - but one lesson from
Tokyo is that band members do have different opinions
- so we shall wait and see). Also, given that
Japanese CD releases in the past could have "Dentakau"
or more recently the TDF 034 videos as bonuses surely
that should be so elsewhere. Keep reminding them of
this at following concerts! And with a tip of his hat
Florian, and the band were on there way. Looking back
to 1978, specifically that German sleeve to 'The
Model' 12", showing that 'Showroom Dummies' image
it's amazing that a quarter of a century later that
same image came to life on a Tokyo stage. Hopefully
there will be plenty more times after 2004 when
Kraftwerk's inspiration and ideas will "beam into the
future"!
__________________________________
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Yahoo! Search - Find what youre looking for faster
http://search.yahoo.com
Forgive me for asking this, but do you know of any mp3 search engine that
carries this?
All I've seen so far is the Helsinski concert (about 130 Mbs) from 2004
available at Morpheus.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: twingo [SMTP:twingo2@xs4all.nl]
> Sent: Tuesday, March 09, 2004 9:21 AM
> To: kraftwerk(a)activerecord.com; Music, non-stop.;
> kraftworld(a)yahoogrupos.com.br
> Subject: RE: [KRAFTWERK] More bootlegs for sale in Japan :)
>
> the first mp3 rip emerged (at least it seems so, 19 tracks, 192kpbs: total
> time 2h14m24s, incl 5m51s pre-show sounds)
> qualitu of these mp3's is indeed, very very high fidelity! (the jap-fans
> know how to use electronics)
>
> /twingo http://www.xs4all.nl/~twingo/kraftwerk
>
> (p.s. thx to those who know)
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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> http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kraftwerk
they are asking 8400 YEN for this.. (15000 for the both) nice price eheh
http://www.xs4all.nl/~twingo/kraftwerk-japan-bootlegs.html
/twingo http://www.xs4all.nl/~twingo/kraftwerk
-----Original Message-----
From: kraftwerk-bounces(a)activerecord.com
[mailto:kraftwerk-bounces@activerecord.com]On Behalf Of twingo
Sent: Wednesday, 03 March 2004 11:23
To: kraftwerk(a)activerecord.com
Subject: [KRAFTWERK] Bootleg for sale in Japan
seems there are already bootlegs for sale in Japan from the 28 and 29 feb
gigs.
any japanese fan can rip them?
/twingo
Hello to all,
Marianne, a french fan send this message to us. If any member of the
list are interested, contact her at the address below:
hei i have two tickets to sell for the
krsaftwerk show in paris the 22of march I am
stuck in canada and i can t go there the
tickets are already in paris if you are
interested just email me please!
I sell them the same price as they were sold
!the concert is sold out so it would probably
interested you!
jac-et-marianne(a)netcourrier.com
Best regards,
Marcelo Duarte
Dante de Conti
http://kraftwerk.technopop.com.br
Brasil
Austrian mobile phone privider "A1" did a 'SMS ticket' advertisement in today's "Kronen Zeitung" (print edition) for the Kraftwerk concert at 15.05.2004. I took a scan and put it on my website:
http://members.blackbox.net/georgie/kraftwerk/WienKonzert2004/KronenZeitung…
Greets from vienna,
Georgie
===>
"Now you listen to me, I'm an advertising man, not a red herring. I have two ex-wives, a mother, and several bartenders depending on me. And, I don't want to disappoint them all by getting myself 'slightly' killed."
( Roger Thornhill / 'North by Northwest')
Hello,
I went to the excellent 5days shows in Tokyo.
I really wanted to buy a grey neck strap with www.kraftwerk.com logo.
but already sold out... :(
It was 1500yen/@ at the shows. Did someone buy?
Is it new item from the KlingKlang Konsum Produkt?
But it has not appear on the web catalogue yet.
Regards,
KAORU
----
... KAORU ... v2kaoru(a)mac.com ... Tokyo,Japan ...
I have trade with Edukraft a videocd copy of my Paris 2002 DVD. Now I have
seen that he is selling a DVD version on Ebay,but it's definetely taken from
my videocd ! Just me and who taped the show own a digital DVD copy. So I am
suggesting not to buy his DVD copy.
Best regards
Brega Alex
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