Kraftwerk – Multimedia Tour 2026 @Bregenzer Festspiele

Band:	Kraftwerk
Date:	15th September 2026
Location:	Bregenzer Festspiele
Promoter:	Barracuda Music
Photos:	Patrik Transcended

The great David Bowie once said: “Without Kraftwerk, all the music of the ’80s and ’90s would not exist in the form we know it today.” And he was right. Without Kraftwerk, electronic music in all its different forms and facets would probably not exist as we know it today. But there is more to it than that: As paradoxical as it may initially sound, the four white, cool and almost stiff-looking musicians from Düsseldorf played a significant role in shaping the development of African-American street culture in the South Bronx from the 1970s and, particularly, throughout the 1980s. Kraftwerk’s visionary use of drum machines and synthesizers had a profound influence on the emerging sound of hip-hop. To this day, countless artists continue to use samples from Kraftwerk songs in their own music.

Why am I writing all of this? Because I was absolutely thrilled when I heard that Kraftwerk would be playing practically right around the corner from where I live. And not just anywhere, but at one of the most beautiful venues for art and culture on Lake Constance: the Bregenz Festival stage, which some of you might recognize from the James Bond movie Quantum of Solace. And when you consider that Kraftwerk has existed since 1970 and that Ralf Hütter is now a remarkable 80 years old, it was clear to me that I simply had to seize the opportunity. Who knows whether I would ever get another chance?

One thing that positively surprised me even before the concert began was the incredible diversity of the audience. There were elderly people with walking sticks standing alongside visitors whose clothes immediately revealed that they came from all kinds of different subcultures. I even spotted a guy wearing a full metal battle vest. Young and old, smartly dressed and alternative, die-hard Kraftwerk fans and probably more than a few curious newcomers – they had all come together. Just in time for sunset, the band finally took the stage.

Going into individual songs or moments would, in my opinion, do the concert a disservice. Kraftwerk has to be experienced as a Gesamtkunstwerk – a complete work of art. Few bands manage to merge music and imagery into such a seamless unity. The visual effects accompanying “The Man-Machine,” the use of colors and symbols during “Radioactivity,” or the audiovisual treatment of “Tour de France” in Kraftwerk’s unmistakable style all added another dimension to songs that are already iconic in their own right.

The sound was excellent as well, while the lighting was perfectly synchronized with the music and elevated the entire experience to another level. But perhaps it was the most human moment of the evening that will stay with me the longest: During the final twenty minutes of the concert, a small group of people from the diverse crowd I had described earlier began moving together directly in front of the stage and eventually started dancing. To “Tour de France,” “Music Non Stop,” and “The Robots,” people of different ages and from completely different walks of life danced together – in front of an opera stage in Bregenz.

Simply wonderful.

And I even had the feeling that, beneath their robotic and stoic personas, the four musicians couldn’t quite hide a little smile.

In the end, there is only one thing left for me to say:

Thank you, Kraftwerk.

Thank you for everything.