Live Review: Die Krupps - Krefeld 2023

Kulturfabrik, Krefeld, Germany
2nd September 2023
Die Krupps - Live 2023 - Support: Minusheart

40 years ago DIE KRUPPS played one of their first concerts at Krefeld’s KuFa and are returning to this venue for this anniversary. For 40 years, the fathers of Industrial Rock have shaped the music scene and inspired many other artists. DIE KRUPPS are currently spending most of their time in the studio producing the new album with Chris Harms (LORD OF THE LOST). For the penultimate concert in 2023, DIE KRUPPS had many songs from the past years in their luggage. DIE KRUPPS had brought along the band MINUSHEART from Aachen/ Germany as the opening act.


Minusheart

Unfortunately, only a few visitors had showed up at the beginning in the hall of the Kulturfabrik when the guys from MINUSHEART entered the stage. But singer Jörg Sauer didn’t seem to mind, because he greeted the audience and started right away with the songs ‘Trip On Me’ and ‘Say The Word’. That was when many visitors streamed out of the beer garden into the hall when they heard the beats of the Electro-Sound. Jörg also played with the audience right away and encouraged them to sing along to parts of the lyrics. With strong voices, the fans then sang along, of course. The band’s driving beat didn’t let a foot stand still in front of the stage.



The band transferred this driving force to the audience during all songs. Even during the quieter song ‘Song For The Blind’ you could feel the power and the dynamics. https://www.minusheart.com / https://www.facebook.com/minusheart

Setlist
01. Trip On Me
02. Say The Word
03. By The Light
04. They Shout
05. A Catastrophe
06. Song For The Blind
07. Hit Me Up
08. Don’t Feed The Cat

Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 8.5
Light: 7.5
Sound: 9
Total: 8.5 / 10

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Die Krupps

Then finally DIE KRUPPS came on stage. Paul Keller sat down at his drums with sunglasses and Nils Finkeisen went into position with his guitar on the right side of the stage. Relatively unnoticed Ralf Dörper took his place behind his keyboards. When Jürgen Engler came on stage and greeted the fans with “Hallo Krefeld”, the audience cheered loudly. DIE KRUPPS started powerfully with ‘Blick zurück im Zorn’, ‘Dawning Of Doom’ and ‘Schmutzfabrik’. The many visitors literally soaked up the power and celebrated the guys. Unfortunately, there were slight sound problems at this point due to feedback. But the sound crew of the Kulturfabrik quickly got the problem under control.



When the first notes of ‘Der Amboss’ rang out, everyone knew that the Stahlofon (a kind of xylophone made of large metal tubes) was being used for the first time that evening. In between Jürgen Engler told about the first concert in the KuFa and thus gave the audience some time to breathe. But then it went on directly with the same tempo. With ‘Metal Machine Music’ the pulse of the audience continued to rise. This was followed by ‘Nazis Auf Speed’, ‘Vision 2020 Vision’ and ‘Robo Sapien’ which didn’t slow down in any way. Nils swung and played his guitar in all possible positions. Mostly he stood at the edge of the stage and flirted with the fans. The last song of the regular set was ‘Machineries of Joy’, again a classical song.



Here Jürgen pulled out the whistle and his metal sticks for the Stahlofon. He visibly had fun performing live again and hitting the pipes. So he didn’t miss the chance to climb back up on his steel microphone and thrill the fans. One already had the feeling that the walls of the Krefeld KuFa were shaking. Even though the guys waved goodbye and left the stage, it was clear that the fans demanded encores. DIE KRUPPS did not miss this and returned to the stage. Even if one could think that the boys had used up their power here, one was taught better. With ‘To the Hilt’, ‘Fatherland’ and ‘Bloodsuckers’ the band shook the walls again. While Ralf, Nils and Paul quickly left the stage after the encore, Jürgen said goodbye to almost every fan personally. He was also visibly moved by this enthusiasm of his fans.



But in 2024 DIE KRUPPS want to conquer the German stages again and this time with a new album.
https://www.diekrupps.com / https://www.facebook.com/diekruppsofficial

Setlist
01. Blick zurück im Zorn
02. Dawning Of Doom
03. Schmutzfabrik
04. Der Amboss
05. Kaltes Herz
06. Crossfire
07. Scent
08. Black Beauty White Heat
09. Metal Machine Music (incl. Intro)
10. Nazis Auf Speed
11. Vision 2020 Vision
12. Robo Sapien
13. Machineries of Joy
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14. To the Hilt
15. Fatherland
16. Bloodsuckers

Rating
Music: 10
Performance: 10
Light: 8
Sound: 8.5
Total: 9.1 / 10

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