Kraftwerk, originally formed in Germany in 1968, is one of electronic music's most legendary groups, a band that can lay claim to playing a role in the development of techno, industrial and hip-hop. Nearly 50 years later, Kraftwerk is still going strong; an ambitious "3D tour" of North America.

Kraftwerk returns to the “D”, wows fans with Techno sights and sounds at the Masonic Temple

By Cliff Samuels/Tell Us Detroit

DETROIT (Tell Us Det) - It has been a decade since the iconic electronic music group toured Detroit. Their last tour date was June 3, 2005 at the State Theater and it’s been even longer since the “Electrifying Mojo” introduced Kraftwerk to the Motor City on WGPR 107.FM back in the 70’s.

But the wait was over when Kraftwerk performed Monday evening at the Masonic Temple before a packed audience, wearing 3D glasses. Known for their multimedia performances Kraftwerk brought their Detroit concert into the third dimension.

With the techno computer sounds thumping, graphics, film clips, and 3D computer graphics were displayed on a theater size screen directly behind the group.

As you might expect from the German engineers who designed the show, the music and graphics were in perfect sync, the effect was impressive. Objects appeared to float from right out from the screen and into the audience.

The show started off with the classic “Numbers” with the all familiar counting in different languages, with 3D numbers rotating and flying of the screen. Kraftwerk performed almost all their catalog including hits such as “Computer Love”, “Man Machine”, “Trans Europe Express”, the protect song against nuclear weapons “Radioactive” and “Tour De France”

The best 3D performance was Kraftwerk’s rendition of Spacelab. The interior of a space ship framed the screen with a portal view of outer space looming into the auditorium. The audience cheered when the contours of Michigan appeared on the screen and a flyover of Detroit appeared with the image of the Masonic Temple coming into view. Flying over the audience in 3D a space ship landed in front in front of the Masonic Temple. It was as if the Electrifyin Mojo’s Mother Ship had finally landed!

Just when you thought the show was over, the curtain came back up with a performance of “The Robots” -- remoted operated human automatons that look like Kraftwerk. They ended the night dressed in glowing grid pattern costumes (think of Tron back in the 1980’s) exiting the stage one by one taking a bow before leaving the stage.

After playing for almost two and half hours, it was over.

It was a night of great music and a visual treat for all the fans of Kraftwerk. For the fans of all ages who came out, this may be the last time Kraftwerk visits Detroit since several members are in their 70’s but Kraftwerk left us with a show to remember in sight and sound. Danke Kraftwerk, Danke. http://www.kraftwerk.com/