This story is featured in CityBeat's May 1 print edition.
Electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk will bless Cincinnati with their robot pop music this May ahead of a nine-date residency in Los Angeles. With just two U.S. dates outside of their residency — one at MegaCorp Pavilion in Newport and one in Columbus — Ohio fans have an unusual chance to catch this elusive quartet live.
Formed in Germany in the ‘70s, Kraftwerk was born from the experimental krautrock scene. They incorporated electronic instrumentation, like synthesizers and drum machines, landing on a sound that pairs poppy hooks and melodies against sparse, robotic compositions. The band is credited with influencing multiple modern genres, from post-rock to ambient music. Pieces of their songs “Trans-Europe Express” and “Numbers” were recreated in one of the earliest hip-hop hits, “Planet Rock” by Afrika Bambaataa.
A 2014 article in The Telegraph by music journalist Neil McCormick pondered whether Kraftwerk could be “the most influential group in pop history.” The British music website NME once declared that The Beatles and Kraftwerk are “the two most important bands in music history.”
Kraftwerk has received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a Grammy for Best Dance/Electronic Album for their live album, 3-D The Catalogue. In 2021 they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
The group, which has had multiple lineups over the decades, is notoriously evasive, offering little insight into their process or potential new work. Nevertheless, their music and mysterious persona continue to draw people in. In a rare 2017 interview with Ralf Hütter, the only original member still with the group, The Guardian calls their work “prophetic, gleamingly futuristic” and “overflowing with melodic genius.”
Hütter says that despite the cold, electronic undertones of their image, Kraftwerk’s music “is emotional.”
“People a long time ago had difficulties finding the sensitivity of electronics,” Hütter says. “But when you go and see your doctor and he does a heart test, it is electronics that are very sensitive to this. It’s the same with an instrument.”
Kraftwerk plays MegaCorp Pavilion on May 16. Doors open at 7 p.m. More info: promowestlive.com .
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