Kraftwerk Night Two

OMG…Oh my god. I have never heard a band work the 930 Club sound system so perfectly before in all my years of concert-going there. If nightclubs have sweet-spots then in the time between Monday’s show and tonight’s Kraftwerk have found the 930 Club’s.

While last night’s sold-out show was amazing, tonight’s was a thousand times better and thanks to my wonderful wife I got to see them both.

To compare the two shows, last night’s was wonderfully mechanical while tonight’s was a lot more…human? Perhaps organic is the better word choice, altho I feel weird calling Kraftwerk organic.

The band and the 930 Sound crew really tapped in to the full potential of the Club’s system creating an incredibly loud yet perfectly crisp and deep well of sound. A soundscape which sent classics like “Radioactivity” and “Trans-Europe Express” into the stratosphere. The industrial trains colliding jam in the middle of “TEE” followed by the discordant keyboard symphony sounded brilliant tonight. Meanwhile the radio sound effect in “Radioactivity” was so peircing you could feel the center of your brain throbbing along with its eeire beat.

The crowd was much more fun tonight as well – either because they were a younger crowd or maybe because they were reacting to the amped up sound that Monday night’s show lacked. I feel almost silly saying there was anything lacking at last night’s show because it was so damn good. However tonight’s re-rigged sound really put this show over the top.

Yet again “Home Computer” makes my high-point of the show list. Where it sounded beautiful last night, tonight it was a powerhouse that got the whole crowd moving.

The same can’t be said for “Neon Lights” which was the weak song tonight. Weak because somewhere in the beginning there was a missed cue and the pace of the song got a tad jumbled. But then it is that human error of the Man-Machines that also added to tonight’s show beeing the bees knees.

It seemed that Kraftwerk were jamming more tonight, mixing the songs up a little more. While the set-list was identical to last night’s, it felt like the band were having more fun tonight – comfortable in the Club and tossing little sound effects and beat spoilers at each other to see who could keep up. Bloody brilliant to hear really, especially on sound system as sweet as DC’s own 930 Club.

Originally published on June 1, 2005.