Kraftwerk uncovered

I can't remember where I first heard about this gig but I was immediately intrigued. Icebreaker's interpretation of Kraftwerk tracks sounded like it would be interesting and a bit more leftfield than the fairly linear interpretations by the Balanescu Quartet. I was also immediately aware that this might stress test the Minx's 'yes' policy to destruction but in the end she seemed happy enough to come along.

Then a couple of weeks ago, I had an email from the Liverpool Philharmonic to say that there would be a free event beforehand for ticket holders: a lecture by Dr Richard Witts. Now, by strange coincidence, Dr Witts was once known as Dick Witts and fronted a band called The Passage, which I'd played on my radio show a few days beforehand.

On the day, we got the ball rolling by meeting up with my very lovely chum, Bob, having a couple of drinks with him in the Philharmonic pub, just across from the hall where the gig was to take place. After that we went across to listen to Dr Witts.

The lecture was excellent and had me quite literally on the edge of my seat. I won't try and repeat it here but I will just tell you one fact that bowled me over and that is that Gilbert and George were in Düsseldorf in 1972. Whereas in the past I've heard casual comparisons between G&G and Kraftwerk, this is the first suggestion of a causal link that I've ever heard and suddenly the influence was very clear. OK, it might not sound that exciting but I was riveted!

After Dr Witts had finished I went over to chat to him and that's when I unashamedly asked him for his autograph, which you can see in the picture. We then had an hour to spare before the concert, so we took Bob's recommendation and went along to Host, which was lovely, before returning for the main event.

The concert itself was really interesting. In the first half, Icebreaker played four pieces, the second of which was based on Michael Nyman's 'Think Slow Act Fast' and the third and fourth were based on songs by Nick Cave's erstwhile bassist Barry Adamson. All of the pieces were beautiful, intricate, frenetic in places, and quite stunning, although I was struggling to work out time signatures and to follow the arrangements and interplay between the twelve instruments.

At the interval, I spotted OMD's Andy McCluskey, so I went over and introduced myself and, in a fit of optimism, gave him my email address in case he fancied coming on #electronicears. He was, I have to say, incredibly polite and far friendlier and indulgent than I had any right to expect.

For the second half of the show, the pieces were based on Kraftwerk but rather than being clear interpretations of any one song, they seemed to take elements from the originals and work them into something new. At first I was a bit irritated by this but, actually, I did enjoy the music and perhaps anything more literal would have been dull.

Ultimately, it was the Kraftwerk element that attracted me to the gig but the Kraftwerk content was limited. However, having seen them once, I would definitely go and see Icebreaker again.