The lights dimmed in the Windows Art Centre to the strangely baroque tones of “Modem Times”, a short piece presumably written for the next Kinetik album of the same name. After a brief vocoded introduction, Kinetik made their way to the stage as “Digital World” got underway. The huge video screen kicked into action with a collection of spinning computer-generated images that complemented the music perfectly.

After a quick hello from Andrew, the band launched into “Go Elements, Go”. Some of the audience were now dancing around to the infectious beat while others were enjoying the visuals, taking the opportunity to learn what the robotic voices sang about while the lyrics accompanied visuals of atomic structures on-screen.

“I.S.D.N.” was next up (a firm favourite of mine since I originally saw it played by the band at EMMA#4), and never has a piece dedicated to high speed data lines been better written or performed as on this night. Visuals of computer communication and binary digits just add to music that is good enough to be appreciated on its own.

The pounding rhythms of “Dance Machine” next echoed around the venue which were added to by Colin’s manual percussion. On the visual side for this track were some impressive shots of some of the equipment used originally to create this music.

“Generation” came in after a short announcement by Colin about some of the hiccups involved in playing live. If there was any frustration on Colin’s part though, he certainly took it out on his drum pads (although he did later mention to me that they are now on their last legs and need to be hit with a certain degree of force to trigger them). The digitised power station visuals for the piece are very eye-catching and matched with an effective bass sequence, make this a good example of a Kinetik performance.

“What Is Energy ?” made way for its companion “Kinetik Energy”. Colin now seemed very relaxed doing the vocals while adding some syncopation to the stern rhythm. Towards the end of the track, Shirleyann took the limelight with her wind controller solo - even more so than she had with “Go Elements, Go” which had been more laid-back in style. All was certainly being made up for now.

“Hydro Electric” drifted in over the semi-spoken vocoded introduction and seemed to see Colin and Andrew sharing vocal lines throughout.

The telltale railway tracks shown on the video screen announced the arrival of “Trans - Continental” - another track that links audio and visuals in perfect harmony.

Industrial chatter then heralded the start of “Industry Of Sound” - a much improved upon version of the track “Sounds Of Industry” originally from the REFINED album. A firm beat gives this re-arrangement a solid kick into the new Millennium along with a strong reminder in the visuals of the price we are now paying for our industrialised world.

It was fitting that after the pollution of the oceans seen in the previous track’s visuals, that the next track was “Refined”. This seemed to go by all too quickly.

“In-Novation” was another track which had been re-arranged for the show and was all the better for it. The computer-generated robotic head was straight out of the minds of the Techno Pop masters themselves. In fact, so much like Kraftwerk was this track that one member of the audience nearby was convinced that it was a cover version of a track from the ELECTRIC CAFÉ album ! As the piece came to a close, the band left the stage to much applause and cheers. An encore was expected of them….. which they got after Andrew introduced the components of the Kinetik crew who had made the show possible.

A mega-mix of “I.S.D.N.” was the perfect way to end the show. The band were certainly enjoying playing this one as much as the audience were, listening to it. Shirleyann was bopping around on stage while Andrew soon got the crowd clapping along.

So, after so many hours of preparation, did the band deliver the goods ?……. Well, for someone who had travelled down from Manchester to see them…. I would say yes ! and I look forward to more long journeys with gigs like this waiting for me at the end of it.

MODEM TIMES / WINDOWS INTRO (from tape before the band took to the stage)
DIGITAL WORLD
GO ELEMENTS, GO
I.S.D.N.
YOU CAN DANCE… / DANCE MACHINE
GENERATION
WHAT IS ENERGY ? / KINETIK ENERGY
HYDRO ELECTRIC
TRANS - CONTINENTAL
INDUSTRY OF SOUND
REFINED
IN-NOVATION

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ENCORE (I.S.D.N. Remix)