Kraftwerk, an innovative German electronic band that was formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider, will return to the United States and Canada next year.
The band announced that it would travel to North America to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its monumental album “Kraftwerk” in November 1974 and its first U.S. tour in 1975.
Kraftwerk’s tour will combine electronic music, computer animations, and performance art, the band said, touting its own concerts as an effort to produce what it termed “a true “Gesamtkunstwerk – a total work of art.”
The tour will kick off on March 6, 2025 in Philadelphia at the Franklin Music Hall. It will visit numerous cities including Atlanta, Detroit, Memphis, Montrela, New York, Pittsbugh, and Toronto, among others.
By the mid 1970s, Kraftwerk had achieved international recognition for their self-described revolutionary electronic “sound scapes’” and their musical experimentation with robotics and other technical innovations.
Kraftwerk developed what its members termed a “robot pop” style that combined electronic music with pop melodies, sparse arrangements, and repetitive rhythms, presented in combination with a stylized image that included matching suits.
In 2018, the band played a concert with a performer on board the International Space Station in Stuttgart. German Astronaut Alexander Gerst performed the tune “Spacelab” with the band via a live link. In the course of his performance, Gerst played melodies using a tablet as his instrument alongside Ralf Hútter as a duet, and delivered a short message to those attending.
Kraftwerk was inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 2020. This was followed in 2021 by the announcement of a 2022 North American tour. To begin to celebrate the group’s fiftieth anniversary, the “Remixes” compilation album came out on compact disc and vinyl , the first time the group had released an album on both formats.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)
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