Kraftwerk

The Catalogue 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Concert 5 of 8: Computer World

Paradiso
Amsterdam
The Netherlands

20th January 2015 (2015-01-20)


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).
* Amplified left channel by 0.3 dB.
* Applied Click Removal effect to attenuate applause (Threshold
200/Max Spike Width 40).
* 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. [00:43] [intro]
02. [03:10] Numbers
03. [03:17] Computer World
04. [06:05] Home Computer
05. [05:56] Computer Love
06. [02:59] Pocket Calculator
07. [03:22] Dentaku

08. [08:48] Autobahn
09. [06:23] Airwaves
10. [00:22] Intermission
11. [01:09] News
12. [00:31] Geiger Counter
13. [06:27] Radioactivity
14. [05:28] Spacelab
15. [03:51] The Model
16. [05:28] The Man-Machine
17. [04:20] Tour De France 1983
18. [00:27] Prologue
19. [03:53] Tour De France Étape 1
20. [01:05] Chrono
21. [05:30] Tour De France Étape 2
22. [04:05] Electric Cafe
23. [03:20] Trans-Europe Express
24. [00:46] Abzug
25. [03:15] Metal On Metal
26. [01:38] [encore break]
27. [07:32] The Robots¹
28. [01:22] [encore break]
29. [04:58] Elektro Kardiogramm
30. [02:33] Boing Boom Tschak
31. [02:46] Techno Pop
32. [07:48] Musique Non Stop

Total running time: 119:30

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

NOTES:

We enter the second half of Kraftwerk's Paradiso residency with the 'Computer
World' show.

The queue outside the Paradiso at 18:30 is shorter for the first time since
this series of concerts began. It's sold out like all the others, though, so
it'll be just as busy inside once half past eight approaches.

Another day, another wristband and another pair of 3D glasses.

Of course, the real geeks keep their wristbands on from night to night, so
they're sporting five of the things now, like military ribbons. I find them
uncomfortable. They're scratchy and they make my wrist sweat, so I cut mine
off every night when I get home. I could be wrong, but I don't think that
dedicated concert attendance actually wins you much admiration, anyway.

The live execution of the 'Computer World' album omits 'Computer World 2' and
'It's More Fun To Compute'. 'Computer World 2' is basically just a reprise, so
it's not really missed, but 'It's More Fun To Compute' is arguably a more
substantial omission.

One could contend that 'It's More Fun To Compute' and 'Home Computer' are
actually seamlessly blended together nowadays, but I have chosen to credit
only the latter to remain consistent with 'The Mix' and 'Minimum-Maximum'
albums, both of which also feature the segued version of the two songs, but
include only 'Home Computer' in the track listing.

The live playing order is once again not that of the album, and some of the
songs are again abbreviated, so that even with the addition of the non-album
'Dentaku' (the Japanese version of 'Pocket Calculator'), the live performance
of the album is almost a third shorter than the original.

Again, this is not an implicit complaint, but merely an observation. 'Pocket
Calculator' is a great version, even though it's been shorn of two of its five
minutes.

Moving to the 'best of' section of the show, 'Airwaves' is slightly botched
tonight when Hütter fails to end the intro on time. This breaks his
concentration and he then accidentally turns a dial and wipes out the synth
beat. It's a momentary lapse, however. Control is immediately recovered and
the song continues.

'Spacelab' never fails to get a cheer when the 3D film depicts a spaceship
flying over the Netherlands before landing outside the Paradiso. The spaceship
appears, of course, to be flying out from the screen, into the audience. It's
a great effect.

'Electric Cafe' vacates its second encore spot and moves into the main set.
'Elektro Kardiogramm' takes its place, marking its first appearance this
residency.

Regarding the music of 'The Robots' being pre-programmed, you'll notice when
listening to these recordings that the song's intro is actually slightly
different each time. The explanation is that Fritz Hilpert apparently plays
the intro live at his console, unseen behind the curtain that comes down at
the end of the main set. When he's ready for the main song to kick in, he hits
a button and then scuttles off stage as the curtain is raised.

The final noteworthy detail this evening is the show's length, clocking out at
just under two hours, the first in the residency to do so.

Once again, the recording was made under the same conditions and with the same
parameters as the previous ones. The mastering is again almost identical, as
is the resultant quality of the listening experience.

As always, samples are included to allow you to try before you buy. If you've
downloaded any of the others in this series so far, however, you already know
what to expect.

Scans of the ticket and both sides of the glasses envelope are also included.
And yes, the envelope really is that sludgy colour. It's not a scanning
anomaly.

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

Images for this show: