live review Kraftwerk in Livorno (2009)

Borrowed my dad’s car and got my friend Bonaventura at the station. Few kilometers of autostrada (that’s the italian autobahn) and the engine suddenly had some hiccups. I started to name in a not so nice way some saints from the italian calendar, because we were already in a hurry. Called my dad while driving in the first tunnels that connect Emilia Romagna to Tuscany, no answer. I thought to the possible outcome for those hiccups and I took the risk. Two hours later we were in Livorno, heading for the stadium and in the middle of a traffic hell. We found a strange parking near some trees and followed the confluence of many weirdly dressed people.

We went in, and on time for the concert beginning, well… about 3 hours before the actual Kraftwerk’s concert. The Livorno stadium’s food stand offered kebab and pizza, that’s a simple way to make me happy. While listening to a sad girl singing on a electronic base on the stage we searched for the place with the best acoustic. On the grass, just in front of the stage the sounds were terrible, too many bass frequencies, almost no middle frequencies and loud volume. On the right tiers we found a nice and perfectly balanced place. Then I heard the speaker announcing a famous Emilia Romagna band: Offlaga Disco Pax. My heart started to bump, and I rushed near the stage: he was him! Max! So many years since last concert and he’s still that young serious middle aged man. I appreciated his songs from the latest great delusion album “bachelite”, they were sung with passion and nice execution.

When Max finished I looked to the crowd, so many nice girls.

We got back to our listening place in the high tiers. I felt just like in the mountains, silence and looking to all these small people far and chaotic I felt better. Bonaventura is a nice quiet guy, and he’s a perfect companion for a listening concert. All these people on the stadium’s grass were not so quiet and for sure not interested to the audio quality. Then the night arrived, a white curtain appeared on stage and a strong synth voice announced “man machine“. Same old chills up my spine, feelings of cold metallic human beings on stage. Then we got into “tour de france” and I started to look at the animations in the mega screen, they were simple but very meaningful, I understood that I couldn’t just listen to the concert, the images were an important part of the communication. I felt that those 4 people on state wanted to say something to me, so I tried to understand. In “tour de france” the beginning was very similar to the album version, then they got through an evolution of sounds and rhythm that seemed very creative and soft, but also the kind of sounds changed to more “modern” ones, and the images followed. The strong idea of evolution came to my mind. Then a storm like sound announced the epic beginning of “autobahn“. The screaming voice game me once again chills and I felt in a small paradise. So much love, for such a common thing amazed me, and made me think. I wish I could put so much attention and passion to a thing in my life like they did, I deeply admire those guys.

“das model” had mostly black and white retro style movies on the screens, the song was slightly different from the album version and I was amazed from their polite and humble way of making music. Then the sky felt, a voice strong like a tornado broke the stadium. I was the beginning of “radioactivity“. The voice was subtitled with a huge green font on the main screen. It announced just like god would have spoken an horrible warning:

Sellafield-2 will produce 7.5 tons of plutonium every year. 1.5 kilogram of plutonium make a nuclear bomb.

Sellafield-2 will release the same amount of radioactivity into the environment as Chernobyl every 4.5 years.

The remaining part of the song shook my environmental soul more than I thought it were possible. When the 4 robots came on stage to play “the robots” I didn’t have the mood to dance anymore, I felt so lonely and so grateful for hearing that broadcast communication on the mistakes about atomic energy that I found difficult to concentrate on the next songs.

I felt so sorry for myself listening to “computer love” and relieved and calm during “computer world“. Then we got through a very dark mood with “trans europe express” that came to my hears with some kind of uncritical acceptance.

I enjoyed so much all the other songs (like “aerodinamic“), but I don’t remember well. I think I’ll wait for Bonaventura’s review.

Kraftwerk’s concert ended with “music no stop“, I felt it just like a big wish for my future.

There was also Aphex Twin on stage, after the Kraftwerk, but he was just a bunch of schizophrenic noise compared to the masters, and I couldn’t enjoy him.

Today I just feel the need to cry, and then hours of silence to think and remember.