for neophytes and fanatics alike, the visual and electronic epic Kraftwerk electrifies the pit

9 p.m. Night has taken hold of the second day of Rock en Seine. The last vocals of Hannah Reid, singer of London Grammar, fade away. Nick Cave’s rock storm shouldn’t hit for a good hour. Then, a stream of curious (or knowledgeable) ears gently pours down to the Cascade stage. The eyes widen. In less than 24 hours, the DC Fountains guitars and amps were erased from history. Only four rectangular consoles remain, and four crosses of white pixels embedded in a bright red screen. The German machine Kraftwerk (“power station”) is just waiting to be activated.

Arctic Monkeys cap screwed on her red curls, Chloé only knows the pioneers of electronic music by name. Perhaps because the first productions of the formation precede its birth by three or four decades. “But we know it’s something to see.” To a few people apart, the mood changes dramatically. Sophie made the trip to Saint-Cloud largely for Ralf Hütter’s group. About forty years ago, she discovered them through David Bowie’s praise of them, then ran to see them in Lille. “In 90 or in 91.”

9:15 p.m. “Meine Damen und Herren” (“Ladies and gentlemen”). Greetings ring out in a robotic voice. Checkered combinations, four silhouettes with the gait of automatons glide up to the four consoles. “Eins, zwei, drei, vier…” (“One two three four…”). With a rain of green numbers in the background, the disturbing count of their piece Numbers opens the electronic epic. hovering over Radioactivityalmost dancing on The Modeldazzling on Tea robots… Straight out of the 70s and 80s, the ever-hypnotic tones of Kraftwerk’s synthesizers and drum machines are catching the pit.

“Autobahn! Autobahn! Autobahn!” In the audience, some aficionados are even clamoring for some of the tracks that permeated late 20th century electro, techno, pop and even hip-hop. “Let’s choose, we prefer to listen to pioneers of electronic musicsmiles Eddy, a fan in the making. Especially since my friends would kill me if I missed it.” More than four decades after breaking the codes with their synthetic melodies, the Dusseldorfers are hacking and reprogramming the rock DNA of festival-goers. Already conquered, Fred has only one mischievous wish: “I hope they will slap James Blake” (thirty-something electronic multi-instrumentalist who preceded them on stage).

Alongside Fred, Majid has already been transported by the universe of the group to the Transmusicales in Rennes in 2004. And for him, the show goes far beyond a simple musical odyssey: “Kraftwerk is also all there will be behind it, this exceptional and harmonious scenography”. On the noses of a large majority of the audience, white cardboard glasses distributed beforehand were put on. Because to qualify their “3D” performance, the Germans chose one word: “Gesamtkunstwerk”. Translation: a total work of art.

A highway straight out of a Windows XP wallpaper for Autobahnthe wandering of a flying saucer to the domain of Saint-Cloud to spacelabcyclists in a frantic black and white for Tour de France… The retro-futuristic graphics projected behind the quartet fascinate neophytes and fanatics alike. Sometimes perplexed by the music, Alex lets himself be carried away by the visual journey. “Looks like the saucer is really flying”, marvels the young woman. After an hour and fifteen minutes of musical experiences and/or virtual diving, each spectator was able to keep the fraction of art that attracted them the most. And that is surely the talent of the Kraftwerk machinists.

Rock en Seine in Paris from August 25 to 28, 2022 (see the complete program), with a selection of (re)broadcasts of concerts on the france.tv platform with Culturebox at this address.