Kraftwerk headlined Saturday night at Bestival. It was a gig of a lifetime – and we loved it. Amazing, amazing, amazing.
Why so much enthusiasm? Well, Kraftwerk’s influence is hard to over-estimate.
If that’s news to you, here’s a little background.
It’s arguable that if Kraftwerk hadn’t ever existed, over half of the bands that played at Bestival might not have existed or sounded like they do today.
They were the first band ever to chart with an electronic single – Autobahn – that was in 1974.
Vast swathes of electro, house and hip-hop would have been different, or in some cases have not even existed.
A seminal track like Africa Bambata’s Planet Rock, a foundation block of hip-hop, literally wouldn’t have sounded the same – as it sampled Kraftwerk’s Trans Europe Express.
The most recent obvious recycling of their sound being the stripped down sounds of minimal electro latterly labeled the Berlin sound
For lifelong devoted fans, it was amazing to hear many people 25 years old and under saying that they hadn’t heard of them.
The gig
What impressed us the most was how Kraftwerk took their work, some of it up over thirty years old, and made it sound fresh and ‘now’.
A clear indication that they music wasn’t just great then, but that they have musical genius.
The sound quality
Where we were, front right of the stage, the sound was phenomenal. Not only the high end sounds – as crisp as you like, but the bass was spectacular.
You can see/ hear a demo of that with their last track of the night, “Music don’t stop.”
“Just standing there”
We’ve been amazed at those who have thought it was boring, as they were “just standing there.”
It’s bleedin’ Kraftwerk! What do you think you’re going to get with them? We’re lucky to get humans and not showroom dummies.
The comments on them being largely static belies the fact that they had an amazing display projected on to huge screen behind them.
Long and the short of it – couldn’t have been more pleased to have been at the gig.
Nafoute has some other great Bestival videos up on YouTube too – and they tell us all shot on a little pocket camera
