SEAN CONNOLLY and brother BRIAN meeting Original Kraftwerk member WOLFGANG FLUR at the inaugural SEVENTH WAVE FESTIVAL OF ELECTRONIC MUSIC in Birmingham ...
Remember that old saying about being wary of meeting your heroes ..? Well I'm glad to report that I needn't have worried when my brother and I had the opportunity to meet and see ex-Kraftwerk member WOLFGANG FLUR play 'live' ... he was as delightful 'in person' as he was on stage.
The occasion was the very first SEVENTH WAVE FESTIVAL OF ELECTRONIC MUSIC held in Birmingham this last weekend, organised by CHRIS WAVE.
Wolfgang was one of the ORIGINAL LINE UP OF GERMAN ELECTRONIC MUSIC PIONEERS KRAFTWERK! in their classic period from 1973 - 1987.
Although leaving the group in 1987, after an understandable hiatus, he has been working as a solo artist for nearly 20 YEARS! This culminated with last years release entitled 'ELOQUENCE: COMPLETE WORKS' which rather unsurprisingly covers his solo work to date.
Ex-KRAFTWERK member WOLFGANG FLUR plays to the crowd at The Flapper in Birmingham as part of The Seventh Wave Festival of Electronic Music ...
The Seventh Wave Festival of Electronic Music was a celebration of all things 'ELECTRONIC', combining live performances at different venues around the city with a conference considering 'the past, present and future of electronic music'. Wolfgang lead the charge with a stellar performance on the Friday night, as well as being a very entertaining speaker at the Saturday conference. Following on from Wolfgang, the impressive list of speakers included ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK (OMD) lead singer ANDY McCLUSKEY who gave a thought provoking analysis of the theme of the day as well as giving us a fascinating insight into what makes OMD tick, in a career spanning nearly 40 YEARS!
Another fascinating speaker was synthesizer player, keyboardist and composer, RICHARD BARBIERI. Richard is perhaps best known as a member of one of my favourite synth bands JAPAN, a real treat to hear him talk about the old days as well his continuing career in music.
The day was brought to a close by the hugely entertaining ex RICH KIDS, SKIDS and VISAGE drummer RUSTY EGAN and so much besides. He created the musical backdrop to the New Romantic Movement through his DJ-ING at the renowned BLITZ CLUB where he brought the likes of KRAFTWERK, YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA, ULTRAVOX and BRIAN ENO to the British Club Scene. Nowadays he fully embraces the internet, still DJ-ING, still searching and connecting with the 'next big thing' in electronic music on his regular internet radio show 'THE ELECTRONIC FAMILY TREE'. He releases his very first solo album 'Rusty Egan Presents…Welcome To The Dancefloor' very soon. He's a real force of nature and certainly ended proceedings with a bang!
All in all, the first year of The Seventh Wave Festival of Electronic Music was a roaring success, here's looking forward to NUMBER TWO, which has has already been announced for next year, details of which are on it's website, (link above) ...
It was a wonderful weekend meeting a true living legend of electronic music, made even more special when he turned out to be a charming and very funny guest speaker.
What's next ...? Well I'm very fortunate to have grabbed tickets to see the current line up of KRAFTWERK playing live at the SOLD OUT - BIRMINGHAM'S SYMPHONY HALL on JUNE 13TH 2017 ..
"WE ARE THE ROBOTS!!"
