Kraftwerk Announce LA Residency to Celebrate 50th Anniversary of 'Autobahn'

Each event will see Kraftwerk perform a different album from their extensive discography.

Pioneering early electronic music group Kraftwerk have covered a lot of ground since their breakthrough 1974 album, Autobahn. In light of its 50th anniversary, they will kick off a residency at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Downtown Los Angeles from May 21 – 30.

Each of the nine shows will see Kraftwerk perform renditions of the songs on a different album making up their long and celebrated post-Autobahn discography. The kickoff May 21 event will honor Autobahn itself. The next seven will be dedicated to Radio-Activity (1975), Trans Europe Express (1977), The Man-Machine (1978), Computer World (1981), Techno Pop (1986), The Mix (1991), and Tour de France (2003). Finally, the May 30 finale will consist of a medley of songs from each album.

The residency follows the same format as a string of shows meant to celebrate Autobahn‘s 40th anniversary in 2014. Kraftwerk partnered with Walt Disney Concert Hall for that series as well.

Autobahn was Kraftwerk’s fourth studio-length album. It coincided with the additions of Klaus Röder and Wolfgang Fleür to the group, which started out as a duo consisting of Ralf Hütter and the late Florian Schneider. The effort garnered little attention in their home base of West Germany. It nonetheless gained traction Stateside after a Chicago radio station added it to their rotation.

In the five decades since Autobahn released, Kraftwerk have received no shortage of acclaim for their indelible influence on pop, hip-hop, dance music, and beyond. They have also endured a revolving door of members. Hütter, the survivor between the two founding members, is now accompanied by Henning Schmitz, Falk Grieffenhagen, and Georg Bongartz.

Tickets to the nine events comprising Kraftwerk’s 2024 Los Angeles residency are on sale via the Walt Disney Concert Hall website.