Kraftwerk fans have long been used to the group pushing boundaries and breaking new ground, but nothing would have prepared them for the intriguing collaboration that was waiting in Stuttgart on Friday night.
Performing a the 2018 Jazzopen Festival in Stuttgart, Germany on Friday evening, Kraftwerk were joined by a real-life astronaut to help them perform their 1978 track, fittingly-titled ‘Spacelab’.
As the Associated Press reports, German astronaut Alexander Gerst joined Kraftwerk via video chat during their performance, accompanying them live from the International Space Station (presumably because he couldn’t make the commute to be there in person).
Using a tablet to perform via a virtual synthesiser, Gerst’s musical contribution lasted only a few minutes before he had to head back to his regular space duties, but his appearance on the 1978 track from Kraftwerk’s Die Mensch-Maschine album was warmly received by the crowd.
As noted by the Associated Press, this isn’t the first time an in-orbit astronaut has made a musical contribution here on Earth, with Chris Hadfield performing a cover of David Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’ and teaming up with the Barenaked Ladies back in 2013.
Likewise, American physicist Ronald McNair was set to contribute saxophone to Jean-Michel Jarre’s Rendez-Vous album, but sadly passed away in the Challenger disaster just a handful of months earlier.
Speaking of rather wild musical collaborations, following on from DZ Deathrays’ performance with Murray Cook (aka The Red Wiggle) at Splendour In The Grass, it seems as though the only thing that could make Splendour any better is if they scored an appearance from an in-orbit astronaut. There’s still time.
Check out Kraftwerk’s original version of ‘Spacelab’:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH0Js8qdnyA
Kraftwerk @ Jazzopen Festival, Stuttgart, Germany 20/07/18 Setlist
‘Numbers’
‘Computerwelt’
‘It’s More Fun To Compute’
‘Computerliebe’
‘Autobahn’
‘Geiger Counter’
‘Radioaktivität’
‘Trans Europa Express’
‘Metall Auf Metall’
‘Tour De France’
‘Tour De France Étape 2’
‘Tour De France Étape 1’
‘Planet Der Visionen’
‘Das Modell’
‘Play Video’
‘Die Mensch-Maschine’
‘Spacelab’ (with Alexander Gerst live from ISS)
Encore:
‘Die Roboter’
‘Boing Boom Tschak’/‘Techno Pop’/‘Music Non Stop’
