MICHAEL ROTHER
VENUE THE BARBICAN, LONDON
DATE 03/02/2024
Michael Rother’s appearance with his Harmonia colleagues and Cluster members Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius at the Southbank’s Queen Elizabeth Hall in 2008 was met with the kind of hushed reverence that suggested a religious congregation. Granted, it was their first gig since 1976, but any enthusiasm on the part of the audience was disguised by an awe that tipped into an almost timid politeness. Fast forward to the Barbican 16 years later and Rother and his bandmates – drummer Hans Lampe, guitarist Franz Bargmann and keyboardist Vittoria Maccabruni – are met with whoops and unrestrained emotion worthy of a hero’s welcome. This outpouring is rewarded by a performance that will rank among Rother’s very best on these shores. Combining his work with kosmische pioneers Neu! and Harmonia with deep dives into his solo output, this isn’t merely a revisiting of his back catalogue, but a celebration and affirmation of work that’s reverberated for over 50 years. The energy emanating from the stage is palpable from the off – 72-year-old drummer and Neu!/La Düsseldorf veteran Hans Lampe drives motorik beats and energy with a precision that could cut through diamonds, while the rhythmic fuzz from Bargmann’s guitar crackles with all the energy of an electrical storm as Maccabruni adds layers of atmospherics. And there, like a ringmaster of repetition and linear forward movement, is Michael Rother, his guitar singing with its unmistakable and harmonised tones.