At around 5am, 8 hours since the start of Elctraglide, we were watching Andy Weatherhall, when my wife noticed someone smiling at her. It was Fritz and Henning, who were both watching the dj from the back of the hall. They turned out to be thoroughly friendly and talkative (we think they are a little shy around girls, less so with boys... maybe it's part of the pact you make when you join Kraftwerk). Out of courtesy, it was just as much a conversation in which they were asking us questions, as we were of them. What's of interest to you readers is Kraftwerk, so be it: Fritz used a great combination of hand and facial gestures when discussing the audience's reaction to the concert. He gave the impression that it was not the greatest of audiences, but was ok given the context. They were taking the train to Osaka, as it was "faster", then it would be back to Germany for Xmas before Australia. They play 'The Model' in Japan because of Ralf, it's his decision, he likes to play it here; it seemed that they were amused by this, maybe that it pointed to the dyanmacs in the band. The new stage design (i.e. under stage lighting) is, in part, to make it easier to tour...which led on to discssing past canecllations... The US/Canada Tour in 1991 was something they really wanted to do, that it was cancelled was because of the prohibitive cost of moving equipment then. Fritz Hilpert first met Ralf + Florian when they were doing the English-language version of 'The Model' The Robots, the wire-frame suits...haven't necessarily gone for ever, these things go in cycles. I pointed out that the suits and robots were part of the publicity, so there was a certain expectation that they would be present... We also talked about their pre-kraftwerk sound work... They are obvioulsy very keen and enthusiastic about the constantly-evolving developments that have gone into the mulit-format video projections and Doepfer controllers, etc. They are very much part of Kraftwerk, something that isn't clear from the anonymity that surrounds being part of The Organization. They were happy to sign the 3-D Expo 2000 sleeve we'd brought. Henning at first studied the sleeve, wanting to know how much it cost and where it came from, then ponderig where to sign it. When we get access to a scanner, we'll post the photos taken with Fritz and Henning. As someone mentioned, just to confirm, it was not the usual voice intro. at the start of the concert. There also seemed to be a very brief segment of 'the new song that they have been playing before Music Non-Stop (1997-1998)..it could be heard playing just as the curtains were about to open - then it disappeared (did anyone record the show via their moibile, who can confirm this?) . Talking of disappearing, Ralf had to help to get the curtain closed at the end. I may have given an incorrect impression before - we met some very friendly Japanese people - be they those organisers who gave us their Kraftwerk-related memorbilia, and, those working on the food and drink stalls - throughout the 9 hours of Electraglide. But it would have been good to have spent some time with other enthusiastic true fans...however, meeting Fritz and Henning was a very pleasant and special bonus! Wishing you all what you wish! __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com