The moon hung low, a pale, indifferent witness to the spectacle unfolding beneath it. A full Worm Moon eclipse, a century-old theatre, and a band that once built the future, now celebrating five decades of synthetic precision. Kraftwerk, currently in the throes of their 50 Years of Autobahn Multimedia Tour, arrived at Brooklyn’s Kings Theatre, a decadent relic draped in red velvet and gold leaf, an odd yet fitting contrast to the clinical, calculated brilliance of their digital domain.
The 50 Years of Autobahn tour is an incredible immersive audiovisual experience, where Kraftwerk’s groundbreaking soundscapes meet pulsating visuals, resonating with the same innovation that transformed them into icons of electronic music. With Autobahn as its beating heart, this tour is both a celebration of legacy and a forward-facing acknowledgement of Kraftwerk’s timeless influence.
The sold-out crowd in Brooklyn was a cross-section of subcultures and decades: goths in black lace, hip-hop heads nodding in quiet reverence, senior citizens in turtlenecks, and a lone punk whose mohawk practically scraped the ceiling. Yet all stood transfixed, gazing at the glowing podiums, the synchronized suits, the rhythmic stutter of light and sound.
The set began with Numbers / Computer World / Computer World 2, a mantra of machine logic, green digits flashing in rigid sequence. Eins, Zwei, Drei, Vier… the chant filled the cavernous space, bouncing off carved balconies and rococo flourishes. From there, the machine marched on through Home Computer / It’s More Fun to Compute, Spacelab, Airwaves, Tango…each wrapped in its own hypnotic visual pulse.
No flashing cameras. No interruptions. Kraftwerk demanded presence. The light show, the synchrony, the precision – this was an experience meant to be lived, not frozen. A half-century later, the music remained as sharp, as sleek, as strangely human as ever.
Red draped the stage like an electric curtain, a cold glow cast over the podiums where Kraftwerk stood—statues of circuitry, frozen in time yet forever in motion. The stark, bold lettering of Man/Machine flickered across the screen, a pulse of pixels echoing the album cover’s precise symmetry. Die Mensch-Maschine, the title track from their 1978 opus, rolled forward with the steady certainty of an assembly line, a hymn to the fusion of flesh and function, where man becomes mechanism, and the machine hums with something eerily close to life.
Photo: Alice Teeple
The tempo shifted, the future unfurled. Electric Café beamed in, sleek and sterile, its rhythms clipped and coded, its melodies strung like digital neon across a landscape of endless transactions. Cold vocoders whispered, circuits sighed, a chorus of machines muttering in measured tones about a world where conversations blink through screens and desire is compressed into signals.
Then came Autobahn, the sprawling highway hymn from 1974, where movement meets meditation. The beat clicked like tires over asphalt, synths stretched long and smooth like highways rolling toward an unreachable horizon. The crowd, bathed in pixelated projections of a Kraftwerk-branded Volkswagen, hurtled forward into a digitized Deutschland, a motorway of ones and zeroes stretching endlessly into the ether.
The stage pulsed with cold fluorescence, a digital heartbeat echoing through the cavernous theatre. Computer Love followerd: a delicate yet detached, a song spun from circuits, longing buried beneath clean, calculated precision. A cascade of glassy synth arpeggios stretched across the expanse, the robotic pulse steady, unfeeling, the melody winding like an unanswered phone call in an empty room. The lyrics, sparse as an unread message, spoke of a soul adrift in an electric void, searching for connection through flickering screens and blinking cursors. What once seemed futuristic now felt eerily familiar, a mirror reflecting the modern world’s quiet desperation.
Photo: Alice Teeple
The night charged forward, a parade of precision, each track a monument to melody and machine. The Model strutted with synthetic swagger, Neon Lights bathed the room in electric glow, Radioactivity hummed with eerie warnings of an irradiated world. The rhythmic breathlessness of Tour de France unfolded, giving way to the mechanical locomotion of Trans-Europa Express. Then, the encore: The Robots, their cold precision marching in mechanical lockstep; Planet of Visions, a hypnotic pulse of future dreams; and finally, Boing Boom Tschak / Techno Pop / Musique Non Stop, a final, relentless charge into the heart of the machine, a never-ending rhythm spiraling into infinity.
Formed in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and the late Florian Schneider, Kraftwerk initially experimented with avant-garde approaches as an art collective. By the mid-1970s, they achieved fame with their innovative electronic style, influencing electro, hip-hop, and techno.
Kraftwerk’s lyrics intricately wove themes of post-war European urban life and technology, encapsulating experiences like car travels on the Autobahn, train journeys, and the use of home computers. Deeply influenced by the modernist Bauhaus aesthetic, they viewed art as fundamentally intertwined with daily life. Their lyrics, often minimalistic, skillfully balanced an innocent appreciation and a subtle caution regarding the modern world. This lyrical approach not only played a key role in the rhythm of their songs but also delved into the paradoxes of modern urban existence.
Kraftwerk’s songs frequently highlighted the simultaneous sense of alienation and the joy that modern technology brings, presenting a complex, multifaceted view of contemporary life. Their use of synthesizers and drum machines, in turn, revolutionized music. In 2019, Kraftwerk were nominated into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and were finally inducted in 2021.
Wir lieben dich, Kraftwerk. Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Jubiläum!
Catch Kraftwerk on the 50 Years of Autobahn Multimedia Tour as they make their way to DC, Miami, Atlanta, New Orleans, Memphis, Nashville, Detroit, Chicago, Vancouver, Austin, and more!
March 14, 2025 New York, NY Beacon Theatre
March 16, 2025 Washington, DC The Anthem
March 17, 2025 Charlotte, NC Ovens Auditorium
March 19, 2025 Orlando, FL Steinmetz Hall
March 20, 2025 Miami, FL Adrienne Arsht Center
March 23, 2025 Atlanta, GA The Eastern
March 24, 2025 New Orleans, LA Orpheum Theater
March 25, 2025 Memphis, TN Overton Park Shell
March 26, 2025 Nashville, TN The Pinnacle
March 28, 2025 Detroit, MI Masonic Cathedral Theatre
March 29, 2025 Chicago, IL The Auditorium
March 30, 2025 Minneapolis, MN Orpheum Theatre
March 31, 2025 Kansas City, MO The Midland Theatre
April 2, 2025 Denver, CO Ellie Caulkins Opera House
April 6, 2025 Portland, OR Keller Auditorium
April 7, 2025 Vancouver, BC Queen Elizabeth Theatre
April 16, 2025 Salt Lake City, UT The Union
April 23, 2025 Austin, TX Bass Concert Hall
April 24, 2025 Dallas, TX Majestic Theatre
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The post Kraftwerk: “50 Years of Autobahn” Tour at Kings Theatre in Brooklyn — Review appeared first on Post-Punk.com.
