We have been unable to get into any of the Kraftwerk shows at MoMA this week. Did you? Please tell us about it in the comments, then go die in a fire. Adding insult to injury, local newspaper New York Times didn't have a problem getting in, and as humiliating as this is for us, here's an excerpt from their report:
The performance was held in the museum’s atrium, but the whole place seemed to be prepped for what the program called “the first synthetic retrospective of Kraftwerk’s oeuvre.” There were robots in the lobby, and dim mood lighting everywhere. Audience members sipped German beer and discussed the audio quality of the space. (Mr. Weed said he recognized at least one person from the listening party.)
When the show started, with the familiar beats of “The Robots” and a video with the lyrics in spinning text, people stood gaping with their 3-D glasses on. Reverence eventually gave way to rapture, even a little head bobbing and swaying. Fran Drescher was there — she posted a photo of herself in her 3-D glasses on Twitter — and Michael Stipe was spotted in the gift shop later.
Times rock critic Jon Pareles was also in the house for the first night of the eight-night retrospective (that's two tickets wasted on the NY Times that could have gone to fans, but who's counting). Pareles notes that "only Mr. Hutter remains from Kraftwerk’s original lineup; the other current members are Henning Schmitz, Fritz Hilpert and Stefan Pfaffe." Here's video:
Pitchfork was there too, and has the set list. If you're curious about what the quartet is doing at those podiums, Pitchfork's Jenn Pelly inquired after the show, and leaned that there was "at least one iPad was hidden back there, as well as a number of laptops and, according to a Museum staff member, 'some old ass keyboards I haven't seen since the 80s.' "
MoMA's "Kraftwerk Retrospective 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8," continues through next Tuesday, with a performance nightly centered around one of their albums. Only 450 tickets were sold for each show, and all are sold out. As an alternative, consider bitterly blogging about it! In addition, a special Kraftwerk visual & sound installation opens today in PS1's Performance Dome.
