May 31, 2022

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Kraftwerk, 2021 inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, made a stop at Connor Palace on Sunday night while on their 3-D Tour. 

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The German synth-pop/electronic band features original member, Ralf Hutter along with Fritz Hilpert, Henning Schmitz and Falk Grieffenhagen.  Kraftwerk has not played in Cleveland since1981, so about 2,000 fans came to see these Hall of Famers, many I'm sure for the very first time.

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Patrons were given Kraftwerk 3-D glasses upon entering the venue.  The large screen behind the four performs projected several very cool and sometimes interactive 3-D images and videos.

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The band themselves remained stationed behind their respective keyboards and barley moved at all.  There was no interaction with the crowd, whatsoever and only occasionly would Ralf Huttler sing/talk in a computerized voice.

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But the fans absolutely loved it.

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During "Spacelab,"  the greatest 3-D effect that I've ever seen in a live setting was displayed.  The band looked as if they were in a space station traveling around the Earth.  Then a satellite appeared on the screen and it looked like it was coming right toward you.  Later in the song, a satellite image of North America appeared with a pin placed on Cleveland.  Space ships then appeared on the screen and it looked like they were flying right over your head.  "Ohh's' and "wow's" rang out from the audience as the Cleveland skyline appeared on the screen.  Then a shot of the Connor Palace appeared as the space ship finally landed.

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Several classic songs such as "Autobahn" and "Trans-Europe Express" were intermixed between some newer material like "Tour de France."

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The  first set ended as the band left the stage and the projection screen lowered.  However, the music kept playing and appearing behind the screen were four "robots" dressed in the bands iconic red shirts and black ties and danced/moved to "The Robots" and "Robotronik" that was being played.

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The band returned to their keyboards to play a four song encore that included "Pocket Calculator," "Computer Love" and "Non Stop."

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This was not your typical rock show.  

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But then again, Kraftwerk is not your typical rock band.

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Photos and review by Greg Drugan

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