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Illness forces Kraftwerk tomiss Melbourne GlobalGathering

Sun 23rd Nov, 2008 in Local News

The first ever Global Gathering tour of Australia kicked off yesterday in Melbourne, but all did not go to plan with German electro godfathers Kraftwerk missing their headline set to due a sudden and very serious illness.

“Last night at the Melbourne Global Gathering event Kraftwerk band member, Fritz, was very unwell and was attended to by our onsite medical team,” read a statement, issued today by Future Entertainment. “On advice of the doctor, he did not play at the event as was transported to hospital for observation. Subsequently, Kraftwerk did not perform and the Gorillaz were moved to the main stage to play the closing set.”

“Rhymefest, one of Mark Ronson’s MCs, made the announcement to the waiting crowd,” the statement continued. “We’re happy to announce that Fritz has been cleared to fly and will be playing at the Perth event today. Kraftwerk and Future Entertainment apologise to Kraftwerk fans who missed out on seeing this legendary outfit perform in Melbourne.”

Stay tuned to FasterLouder this week for updates.

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grattan

grattan said on the 23rd Nov, 2008

Robots don't need medical attention... something's odd here maybe the weekend's torrential rain did something to his circuitry.

brownie-ll

brownie-ll said on the 23rd Nov, 2008

"We’re happy to announce that Fritz has been cleared to fly and will be playing at the Perth event today"

How fortunate.

mooney88

mooney88 said on the 23rd Nov, 2008

oh no!
he couldnt play solitaire why their music played itself!

asmithy_87

asmithy_87 said on the 23rd Nov, 2008

it was some sort of heart attack or something.
the original stage for GSS was just a little bit bigger than the Totes and even with the upgrade to the bigger stage they still werent that great. the kraftwerk guy stage changing meant GSS were running about 20mins late and as soon as 10pm hit (after only a couple of Gorillaz songs) they had to stop or the cops would get involved!
kraftwerk said theyll try fit a gig in at the end of global gathering, think i'll pass.

...mark ronson was awesome though..

grattan

grattan said on the 23rd Nov, 2008

If Kraftwerk did a solo gig the Global Gathering folk might actually make some cash with this thing... word is the Music Bowl was a ghost town - even after the price got slashed.

nicowen

nicowen said on the 24th Nov, 2008

A Crude and Dirty Review of Perth Global Gathering

When we arrived, locals Micah vs Damian John had a very strong tight set which was worth the odd bit of rainfall for a fun stomp in the grass. The Stafford Brothers were very what you see is what you get. They weren’t bad, they are good at what they do, but their type of performance could never be a headlining act. Dirty South was a little disappointing and dull however still served what was to be expected. Felix Da Housecat pulled off a great little set with a charismatic infectious smile and some very proficient tight mixing. He did stuff up one beatmatch and jokingly gave an obvious hush to Dirty South still partying on stage which reflected his funny engaging DJ persona which was nice to see. We left Felix shortly into his set to see the first act I was excited about for the day, The Orb. Whilst they took a bit to get the crowd going, they were very infectious and their more chilled dub sound was very well received and very rewarding. These guys loved what they were doing and their was nothing pretentious or sterile about it like DJs and electronic acts sometimes come across as. Mark Ronson and the Version Players was the biggest surprise of the day for me with an amazingly diverse funky, poppy, soulful, hip hop set with a strong huge band and a barrage of guest vocalists. One of the highlights was when Alex Greenwald of Phantom Planet came on to perform; crowd surfing and then performing with Mark Ronson Phantom Planet’s awesome song California (of OC fame) which was a fantastic surprise moment. The charisma of performers; diversity and proficiency made this one of the instant highlights. After dinner pit stops, Kraftwerk were very quirky and amazing to watch even with all members just standing relatively still on stage. It was very special and a lot of fun. However after 30 minutes, all of us were really excited about Gorillaz Sound System after hearing great things and really admiring the Gorillaz project for its amazing diversity and music. GSS had a very exciting opening; to discover a sound system which included a band with percussion and vocalists made things very exciting. They dropped the Demon Dayz Intro which went (expectedly) straight into Clint Eastwood which was obviously the right choice as the crowd went nuts. Things were going well until the emcee yelled loudly “yeaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh” over the top of it quite frequently which just destroyed the song a little. However then GSS dropped Roots Manuva’s Witness The Fitness which was such a fitting choice and I really thought we were in for a treat with some really clever mix ups between Gorillaz and it’s affiliates. However then came 50 Cent’s In Da Club, Kanye West’s Gold Digger, utter shite from Jay Zee and anything and everything unrelated to Gorillaz and at the same time ignorant and insulting to Damon’s project. To also discover each mix involved a tacky, piercing turntable effect and minimal beat matching mainly cuts, with horrible over dubbing vocals, poor off timed percussion, and the most ignorant poppy selection possible. Not that there was anything wrong with dropping stuff like Basement Jaxx and Groove Armada, but all the set became was a Nova 93.7 or 92.9 churning out hit after hit with the occasional more popular Gorilla number to tie in with their title. So this, and a really tense aggressive vibe brought us (rather quickly) back outside, very immensely disappointed and being very thankful Damon didn't have to bear witness to that utter shit. So we returned to see the rest of Kraftwerk which was now such a small crowd so you could dance freely, which was amazing. At the same time as it was awesome, it was very depressing to see a band which was up there with Groove Armada, Air and Daft Punk’s recent performances. It was nostalgic, quirky, funny and a great end to a great festival with some really rare lucky to see acts. I look forward to the real Gorillaz coming though because as far as I’m concerned, they are yet to have been.

brownie-ll

brownie-ll said on the 24th Nov, 2008

Rumour is that they drew about 3000. I looked at eBay the morning of the show and tickets were going for $30. Would of got one but then I looked out the window.

JackT

JackT said on the 24th Nov, 2008

I would've been gutted to miss Kraftwerk, having endured those kind of conditions. Good thing he's okay.

peng said on the 24th Nov, 2008

Gutted is one way of putting it. A disaster of a weekend - blew $110 on a ticket (to see Kraftwerk again, obviously), just before finding out they were giving 'em away free on the Friday; walked in at 6.30 with no-one checking tickets, no security, zip; endured the horrific conditions, made only worse by the acts on stage and no Coopers on sale, knowing it was worth the effort to see Kraftwerk, then poor Fritz's heart gives him a scare - gig shot, no chance of a refund. Not their fault, naturally, but I doubt I'll fork out more $$$ for the promised return show.

leakeg

leakeg said on the 25th Nov, 2008

A Crude and Dirty Review of Perth Global Gathering

When we arrived, locals Micah vs Damian John had a very strong tight set which was worth the odd bit of rainfall for a fun stomp in the grass. The Stafford Brothers were very what you see is what you get. They weren�t bad, they are good at what they do, but their type of performance could never be a headlining act. Dirty South was a little disappointing and dull however still served what was to be expected. Felix Da Housecat pulled off a great little set with a charismatic infectious smile and some very proficient tight mixing. He did stuff up one beatmatch and jokingly gave an obvious hush to Dirty South still partying on stage which reflected his funny engaging DJ persona which was nice to see. We left Felix shortly into his set to see the first act I was excited about for the day, The Orb. Whilst they took a bit to get the crowd going, they were very infectious and their more chilled dub sound was very well received and very rewarding. These guys loved what they were doing and their was nothing pretentious or sterile about it like DJs and electronic acts sometimes come across as. Mark Ronson and the Version Players was the biggest surprise of the day for me with an amazingly diverse funky, poppy, soulful, hip hop set with a strong huge band and a barrage of guest vocalists. One of the highlights was when Alex Greenwald of Phantom Planet came on to perform; crowd surfing and then performing with Mark Ronson Phantom Planet�s awesome song California (of OC fame) which was a fantastic surprise moment. The charisma of performers; diversity and proficiency made this one of the instant highlights. After dinner pit stops, Kraftwerk were very quirky and amazing to watch even with all members just standing relatively still on stage. It was very special and a lot of fun. However after 30 minutes, all of us were really excited about Gorillaz Sound System after hearing great things and really admiring the Gorillaz project for its amazing diversity and music. GSS had a very exciting opening; to discover a sound system which included a band with percussion and vocalists made things very exciting. They dropped the Demon Dayz Intro which went (expectedly) straight into Clint Eastwood which was obviously the right choice as the crowd went nuts. Things were going well until the emcee yelled loudly �yeaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh� over the top of it quite frequently which just destroyed the song a little. However then GSS dropped Roots Manuva�s Witness The Fitness which was such a fitting choice and I really thought we were in for a treat with some really clever mix ups between Gorillaz and it�s affiliates. However then came 50 Cent�s In Da Club, Kanye West�s Gold Digger, utter shite from Jay Zee and anything and everything unrelated to Gorillaz and at the same time ignorant and insulting to Damon�s project. To also discover each mix involved a tacky, piercing turntable effect and minimal beat matching mainly cuts, with horrible over dubbing vocals, poor off timed percussion, and the most ignorant poppy selection possible. Not that there was anything wrong with dropping stuff like Basement Jaxx and Groove Armada, but all the set became was a Nova 93.7 or 92.9 churning out hit after hit with the occasional more popular Gorilla number to tie in with their title. So this, and a really tense aggressive vibe brought us (rather quickly) back outside, very immensely disappointed and being very thankful Damon didn't have to bear witness to that utter shit. So we returned to see the rest of Kraftwerk which was now such a small crowd so you could dance freely, which was amazing. At the same time as it was awesome, it was very depressing to see a band which was up there with Groove Armada, Air and Daft Punk�s recent performances. It was nostalgic, quirky, funny and a great end to a great festival with some really rare lucky to see acts. I look forward to the real Gorillaz coming though because as far as I�m concerned, they are yet to have been.
oh you are so right about gorillaz, I was so disappointed. I was expecting an audio-visual extravaganza of awesome gorillaz dance mix-ups. Instead we got a cliched hip-hop DJ set (which sounded a lot like someone pressing play on iTunes) with 3 dudes yelling shite over the top of it.
And what the shit happened at the end? Mark Ronson comes out for what looks like a promising encore, and then... leaves... what the shit?

anxious0

anxious0 said on the 25th Nov, 2008

=[

this makes me very sad, i'm still gonna check it out but at first sign of being anything like that in brisbane i'll be walking away

bucketboy63

bucketboy63 said on the 25th Nov, 2008

it was some sort of heart attack or something.
the original stage for GSS was just a little bit bigger than the Totes and even with the upgrade to the bigger stage they still werent that great. the kraftwerk guy stage changing meant GSS were running about 20mins late and as soon as 10pm hit (after only a couple of Gorillaz songs) they had to stop or the cops would get involved!
kraftwerk said theyll try fit a gig in at the end of global gathering, think i'll pass.

...mark ronson was awesome though..

Is that all it was?! I'm glad I didn't go then, they were the most appealing on the bill for me.

leakeg

leakeg said on the 26th Nov, 2008

yeah if your planning on going just for gorillaz I suggest you give it a miss

nicowen

nicowen said on the 26th Nov, 2008

oh you are so right about gorillaz, I was so disappointed. I was expecting an audio-visual extravaganza of awesome gorillaz dance mix-ups. Instead we got a cliched hip-hop DJ set (which sounded a lot like someone pressing play on iTunes) with 3 dudes yelling shite over the top of it.
And what the shit happened at the end? Mark Ronson comes out for what looks like a promising encore, and then... leaves... what the shit?

Where did you see him? He did a great encore in Perth! The whole band and all it's singers came back on for a boogie :D

leakeg

leakeg said on the 27th Nov, 2008

oh yeah he did a great encore at his own show, I was in perth too.
But he came out onto the Gorillaz stage at the end of their set and then just left. Bloody bizarre.

nicowen

nicowen said on the 27th Nov, 2008

oh yeah he did a great encore at his own show, I was in perth too.
But he came out onto the Gorillaz stage at the end of their set and then just left. Bloody bizarre.

Oh really? I heard something about the power getting cut though? I'm not sure what happened because we all left back to kraftwerk after 50 cent followed by kanye followed by jay z was dropped by gss. Soooo ignorent; I actually thought it was going to be good when Witness the Fitness came on because he's Gorillaz affilitaed, but then they just faaailed haha. And kraftwerk was sooo much better, it was really agressive, pushy, violating and hot in the tent but outside with kraftwerk it was just such a chilled out vibe like a good old bush doof :P