Kraftwerk

The Catalogue 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Concert 2 of 8: Radio-Activity

Paradiso
Amsterdam
The Netherlands

17th January 2015 (2015-01-17)


RECORDING:

Type: Audience master, recorded 2 metres back from the front of the stage,
dead centre, between Henning Schmitz and Fritz Hilpert.

Source: Factory-matched pair of Schoeps CCM 41V microphones (DINa mounted) ->
Marantz PMD661 recorder with Oade Concert Mod
(-18 dB gain/44.1 kHz/24 bit WAV)

Lineage: Audacity 2.0.6
* Applied Bass and Treble Tool (-1 dB Bass, +6 dB Treble)
* Independently normalised channels to 0 dB.
* Amplified left channel by 1.1 dB.
* Applied Click Removal effect to attenuate applause:
+ 1st pass: Threshold 500/Max Spike Width 40.
+ 2nd pass (selected passages): Threshold 200/Max Spike Width 40.
* Some further manual attenuation of applause.
* Applied variable envelope amplification across recording for
consistent listening experience.
* Added fades.
* Split tracks.
* Converted to 16 bit.
-> FLAC (compression level 8) [libFLAC 1.3.1 20141125]

Taper: Ian Macdonald (ianmacd)


SET LIST:

01. [00:40] [intro]
02. [00:30] Geiger Counter
03. [06:28] Radioactivity
04. [05:12] Radioland
05. [06:36] Airwaves
06. [00:24] Intermission
07. [01:19] News
08. [00:49] The Voice Of Energy
09. [03:45] Antenna
10. [02:09] Radio Stars
11. [01:27] Uranium
12. [01:13] Transistor
13. [03:14] Ohm Sweet Ohm

14. [08:53] Autobahn
15. [05:28] Spacelab
16. [03:51] The Model
17. [05:14] The Man-Machine
18. [03:12] Numbers
19. [03:17] Computer World
20. [06:06] Home Computer
21. [06:05] Computer Love
22. [04:16] Tour De France 1983
23. [00:27] Prologue
24. [03:53] Tour De France Étape 1
25. [01:05] Chrono
26. [05:31] Tour De France Étape 2
27. [03:20] Trans-Europe Express
28. [00:46] Abzug
29. [03:24] Metal On Metal
30. [01:27] [encore break]
31. [07:54] The Robots¹
32. [01:30] [encore break]
33. [04:51] Planet Of Visions
34. [02:33] Boing Boom Tschak
35. [02:45] Techno Pop
36. [07:53] Musique Non Stop

Total running time: 127:42

¹ Band off-stage, replaced by robots. Music pre-programmed.

NOTES:

It's the second night of Kraftwerk's eight night residency at the Paradiso, in
which they will perform their entire catalogue of eight studio albums
integrally.

I'm here at doors time again in order to secure pole position. After last
night's little hiccup, when the curtain went up and revealed that the venue's
house PA had been removed, so that my microphones were now directed at thin
air, I know exactly where I need to stand for the rest of the residency.

I obtain my wristband and 3D glasses from the tent next to the Paradiso and
make my way inside. The wristband and envelope containing the glasses are
printed in a different colour each night, broadly matching the colour of the
album artwork.

Several of the faces down at the front are familiar to me from last night.
What's notable, however, is that hardly any of the voices are Dutch. This is
Kraftwerk's hardcore following, comprising a large contingent of English and
Germans; and there are probably more of them tonight, because it's a Saturday
and travelling is easier.

During the two hours that follow, the Paradiso slowly fills to capacity for
another sold-out show.

The lights go down at 20:30 sharp and the band's vocoder intro pipes up. When
the curtain is raised this time, I couldn't be better located.

'Radio-Activity' is played out in full. It's nice to finally hear 'Airwaves'
performed live.

We subsequently settle into the 'best of' segment of the show. It's tempting
to refer to this as the 'greatest hits' section, but it would be less
accurate, since Kraftwerk have never had much in the way of hits, with the
notable exceptions of 'Autobahn' and the belatedly successful 'The Model'.

Notable differences from last night's show are that 'Autobahn' is 5½ minutes
shorter this evening, but yesterday's show spotlighted that album, so that
makes sense.

And although 'Autobahn' is a longer album than 'Radio-Activity', last night's
performance of it shaved a third off its length, rendering it shorter than
tonight's live version of 'Radio-Activity'. 'Neon Lights' is therefore dropped
from the 'best of' section to make space for the longer spotlight album.

Apart from these differences, it's more or less a repeat performance of the
previous night.

The 3D graphics and film fragments projected onto the screen behind the band
provide a welcome distraction from the static figures of Hütter, Schmitz,
Hilpert and Grieffenhagen. There are only so many facial expressions to go
around before the sight of four old Lycra-clad blokes in their sixties loses
its magnetism.

Unfortunately, the video material is quite literally a stretch to watch at
such close proximity to the stage, requiring one to peer upwards at quite a
sharp angle. It's a sacrifice I'm happy to make, however, because it's the
audio recording that will persist, long after I've witnessed and largely
forgotten the accompanying film clips.

'The Robots' is again 'performed' without a band at the controls, die guten
Herren having been replaced by their robotic counterparts. I'm told by another
fan that the song is pre-programmed (as opposed to somehow being controlled
from backstage).

For the sake of consistency, I've applied the same EQ to this recording as to
the first night's. The microphones were slightly better aimed on this
occasion, however, so the raw recording is better and the improvement yielded
by the EQ isn't as dramatic.

I was also better positioned tonight, dead centre stage between Schmitz and
Hilpert, resulting in an optimal stereo image.

The net result is once again an excellent recording, but I think this
one has the edge on last night's.

As always, samples are included to assist you in determining whether the
recording is worth your while.

Scans of the ticket and both sides of the glasses envelope are also included.

Images for all shows as well as full size images for this show.

Images for this show: