Kraftwerk Re:werk in Bristol: an electronic classic transformed into a giant living synthesizer
The name Kraftwerk on the FORWARDS festival programme in Bristol immediately attracts attention, but one precise distinction is important for this performance: Kraftwerk are not coming to Clifton Downs to perform their usual concert programme. The audience will see Paraorchestra presents Kraftwerk Re:werk with Charles Hazlewood - an orchestral-electronic reinterpretation of Kraftwerk's music, with the album "Trans-Europe Express" as its main starting point.
Kraftwerk Re:werk was not conceived as a series of covers in which familiar melodies are simply transferred to strings and winds. Composers Charlotte Harding and Lloyd Coleman dismantle elements of Kraftwerk's sound, rebuild them and combine acoustic instruments with electronics. Moog synthesizers, drum machines, electronic harp, percussion, strings, brass and instruments such as the bass oboe pass through mixing and sound processing, so the entire ensemble functions almost like one large analogue synthesizer.
That is precisely why this performance may be interesting both to audiences who have known Kraftwerk for decades and to visitors who are more familiar with contemporary electronic, experimental or orchestral music. A conventional tribute performance or a reconstruction of a Kraftwerk concert should not be expected. Re:werk takes ideas from their musical language and leads them in another direction.
Tickets for this event are in demand.
Why "Trans-Europe Express" is at the centre of the project
"Trans-Europe Express" belongs to a key period in Kraftwerk's catalogue. The album was released in 1977 and combined tightly controlled electronic rhythms, synthesized melodies, ideas of travel and modern European identity into a sound that later left a profound mark on electronic music, synth-pop, hip-hop and techno.
The album contains tracks such as "Europe Endless", "The Hall of Mirrors", "Showroom Dummies", "Trans-Europe Express", "Metal on Metal" and "Franz Schubert". The title track and its mechanical pulse show particularly well what Re:werk can expand: a rhythm reminiscent of the movement of a machine or train becomes material for a much larger ensemble, different textures and stronger dynamic contrasts.
Kraftwerk's wider catalogue also includes works such as "Autobahn", "The Model", "The Robots", "Computer Love" and "Tour de France", but the focus of this project is not a survey of all the greatest hits. Paraorchestra describes Re:werk primarily as a new musical construction created from "Trans-Europe Express".
This is important information for anyone considering a ticket solely because of the Kraftwerk name. The value here lies not in imitating the original, but in hearing how far its fundamental musical code can be stretched without losing its recognizable pulse.
What Kraftwerk sounds like when an orchestra becomes an electronic instrument
The project was first performed at the Simple Things festival in Bristol in 2017. Performances in Brighton, Bristol and Basingstoke followed during 2018, and Kraftwerk Re:werk was also performed at the WOMAD festival in 2019. The project's return to Bristol in 2026 is therefore not merely another festival appearance, but also a return to the city with which Re:werk has a clear history.
Charles Hazlewood is the project's conductor, while Harding and Coleman shaped the orchestral-electronic structure. In an earlier version, the work was written for an ensemble of 39 performers. Each instrument was amplified and routed through a large mixing system, allowing filtering, distortion and alteration of its natural timbre.
The result differs from a traditional orchestral concert. Instead of electronics merely accompanying the orchestra, acoustic instruments enter the same processing chain as synthesizers and drum machines. Strings can become part of a pulsating electronic texture, low wind instruments can acquire an almost industrial weight, and a repetitive motif can grow from highly precise minimalism into a dense, physically powerful layer of sound.
Reports from earlier performances describe exactly that distinction. Bristol's Epigram, following the performance at the Marble Factory, highlighted the volume and intensity of the performance as well as transitions between broad string lines and powerful wind blasts. Reviews of earlier versions also emphasize that Re:werk is not a literal following of the original album, but a freer use of its rhythms, melodic fragments and sonic motifs.
This means that an audience familiar with every detail of "Trans-Europe Express" can recognize the point of departure without necessarily knowing in advance where the arrangement will go.
What has been confirmed for the performance
- Paraorchestra will perform the Kraftwerk Re:werk project under the direction of Charles Hazlewood.
- The project's main starting point is Kraftwerk's album "Trans-Europe Express".
- The project's arrangements are by Charlotte Harding and Lloyd Coleman.
- The musical language combines orchestral instruments, synthesizers, drum machines and electronic sound processing.
- The performance is part of the Saturday programme of the FORWARDS festival at The Downs in Bristol.
The exact running order of the pieces for Bristol has not been published, nor has the duration of the Re:werk performance itself. It is therefore not useful to assemble an expected set list in advance based on older performances. The project's concept is known, but the specific festival schedule and performance details may differ.
The Saturday programme combines electronica, pop, trip-hop and contemporary rock
Kraftwerk Re:werk will not be an isolated concert, but part of the wider FORWARDS festival programme. The festival takes place at The Downs over the weekend of 29 and 30 August 2026, while Paraorchestra with Re:werk has been announced for Saturday.
Also appearing that day are Tems, Self Esteem, Wet Leg, Maribou State, Joy Crookes, Tricky and Goldie (Live), together with additional artists on other festival stages. Such a line-up gives Re:werk an interesting context. Kraftwerk's influence can be viewed outside a museum-like perspective, surrounded by contemporary electronica, alternative pop, rock and performers associated with the British bass and trip-hop tradition.
The presence of Tricky and Goldie is particularly interesting. Bristol has a strong history of electronic and bass music, so Re:werk fits into a programme that does not strictly separate orchestral experimentation from club culture and popular music.
Alongside its concert stages, FORWARDS also features The Information programme of talks and discussions, so the format of the entire weekend is not organized solely around a succession of performances. For a visitor coming because of Re:werk, this means it is best to view the performance as one part of an all-day festival experience rather than an evening concert with a predetermined beginning and end.
Who will find Re:werk most interesting
Long-time Kraftwerk fans are given an opportunity here to hear familiar material without an attempt to copy the band. That very distance from the original may be its greatest advantage. "Trans-Europe Express" is already built on precise sound design, repetition and controlled changes, and Re:werk transfers the same principles to an ensemble in which the physical sound of breath, strings and percussion collides with electronic processing.
Audiences who listen to techno or experimental electronica may recognize something else - the way a very simple rhythmic pattern gradually changes through texture and dynamics. Re:werk is therefore not a project that requires familiarity with orchestral music.
It is also appealing to people interested in the contemporary relationship between electronics and acoustic instruments. Instead of asking whether an orchestra can "play Kraftwerk", the project poses a more interesting question: can an entire orchestra function like a machine for producing and transforming sound?
For festival audiences who know Kraftwerk mainly through tracks such as "Autobahn", "The Model" or "The Robots", it is useful to know in advance that this is not a conventional greatest-hits format. The main reference point is a single album and its sonic world.
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The Downs changes the way this music will be experienced
FORWARDS takes place at The Downs, a large protected green area north of central Bristol consisting of Clifton Down and Durdham Down. City documents state that there are a total of 412 acres of common land managed by The Downs Committee, while the festival site is located in the Durdham Down area.
This is not a concert hall with controlled acoustics. The festival is predominantly outdoors, most stages and audience areas have no roof, and the site is exposed to the weather with very little natural shade. The ground is mainly grass, with possible gentle slopes and uneven surfaces. If it rains, the terrain can become muddy and slippery.
For Kraftwerk Re:werk, such an environment creates a very different relationship with sound compared with the project's previous indoor performances. Because the instruments are amplified and electronically processed, much of the character of the performance depends on amplification anyway. However, details of the festival sound system and the exact stage configuration for this performance have not been published, so there is no basis for promising a particular acoustic or production effect in advance.
The open space also has a practical advantage: in its more powerful sections, Re:werk is music that can have a physical, almost club-like energy. Earlier performances, precisely because of their volume and rhythmic intensity, were closer to the experience of an electronic or rock show than to a formal seated orchestral concert.
Entry time is not the performance time of Kraftwerk Re:werk
The festival site opens at 12:00 on both days, last entry is scheduled for 20:00, and the programme is due to end by 23:00. The 12:00 time should therefore not be interpreted as the start of the Kraftwerk Re:werk performance - it is the opening time of the festival site.
The exact Re:werk performance time has not yet been published. The same applies to the duration of the performance. Visitors for whom Paraorchestra is the main reason for attending should check the latest daily schedule before travelling once the timetable becomes available.
The festival is intended for all age groups, but people under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a responsible adult. There are special admission categories for children and teenagers.
The weekend programme lasts two days. Visitors with a weekend ticket can also attend the Sunday part of the festival, when the headline names include Little Simz, Amyl and The Sniffers, Dijon, Viagra Boys, Oklou and Princess Nokia. It is important to distinguish the two-day validity of a weekend ticket from the rules on re-entry during the same day: general exit and re-entry to the site during the day is not permitted, except in a specifically defined situation related to parental re-entry.
Getting to Clifton Downs: public transport is more practical than driving
There is no general visitor parking at the festival site, and traffic restrictions and parking bans are planned in surrounding streets. The organizers therefore recommend arriving on foot, by bicycle or by public transport.
For visitors arriving in Bristol by train, the festival shuttle is a practical option. The service departs from Bristol Temple Meads, then stops at Queen Square on Prince Street and continues towards The Downs. The final shuttle stop is approximately 800 metres from the festival entrance.
For taxis and private-hire vehicles, a zone is provided at Ladies Mile, approximately 500 metres from the site. There is also limited bicycle parking, and bicycles must be secured with your own lock.
- Location: Durdham Down, Circular Road, Clifton, Bristol.
- Site opening: 12:00.
- Last entry: 20:00.
- End of the festival programme: 23:00.
- General car parking is not available at the site.
- The shuttle connects Bristol Temple Meads, Queen Square and the festival area.
- The taxi and other passenger drop-off zone is located outside the festival site itself.
For travellers visiting Bristol for the first time, it is useful to allow for additional walking after leaving their transport. The Downs is located northwest of the city centre, alongside the Clifton and Redland areas. Avon Gorge and Clifton Suspension Bridge are nearby, so the location is also interesting before entering the festival itself, especially for visitors spending the whole weekend in the city.
What to bring to an all-day outdoor festival
British summer weather at an outdoor site requires a little more planning than going to an indoor venue. The organizers warn that The Downs has little natural shade, that most areas are uncovered and that the condition of the grassy ground can change quickly after rain.
Layered clothing and a lightweight waterproof jacket therefore make more sense than an umbrella - umbrellas are not permitted inside. On a sunny day, it is worth planning for a hat and sun protection, while stable footwear is important in wet conditions.
Items that may not be brought in include alcohol, cans, glass containers, food and drink except for certain medical needs, selfie sticks, gimbals, lasers, pyrotechnics, drones and umbrellas. Bicycles and scooters are also not allowed inside the festival site itself.
Medical and welfare services will be available on site. For visitors requiring adjustments, accessible toilets, viewing platforms, ground-level viewing areas, lowered bars and a low-stimulation quiet space are provided. The terrain is nevertheless natural grass and weather conditions may affect mobility.
Why Bristol is a good city for Re:werk's return
This project's connection with Bristol is not accidental. Kraftwerk Re:werk was premiered at the city's Simple Things festival in 2017, and the project returned to Bristol during its 2018 tour. Paraorchestra also has a strong connection with the city, so the FORWARDS performance feels like a continuation of the project's local history rather than merely another festival stop.
At the same time, Bristol's musical history gives Re:werk additional context. For decades, the city has been associated with experimental approaches to electronica, deep bass, dub and trip-hop. Tricky, one of the artists inseparably linked with that story, appears on the same Saturday programme, while Goldie represents another important strand of British electronic culture.
In that environment, the idea of turning an orchestra into a "large synthesizer" feels less like an unusual crossover project and more like a logical meeting of different traditions: Kraftwerk's European electronic minimalism, contemporary orchestral practice and British festival culture.
Paraorchestra is meanwhile an active ensemble whose programme is not limited to Re:werk. Current projects also include a performance of Steve Reich's "Music for 18 Musicians", while a performance of Górecki's "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs" at Bristol Beacon has been announced for 2027. Re:werk's return therefore takes place within a broader phase in which the ensemble continues to explore how an orchestra can be positioned outside the traditional concert model.
What to expect when the performance begins
The best preparation for Kraftwerk Re:werk is not trying to guess the set list. It is more useful to listen to "Trans-Europe Express" as a whole and pay attention to rhythm, repetition, the space between sounds and the small changes that create a sense of movement.
In Re:werk, precisely such elements are expanded through a much larger instrumental apparatus. A familiar motif may appear inside a dense orchestral texture, the rhythm may be taken up by several instruments at once, and the sound of an acoustic instrument may end up so heavily processed that its source is difficult to identify immediately.
Audiences expecting Ralf Hütter and Kraftwerk's concert line-up should therefore adjust their expectations before arriving. FORWARDS announces Paraorchestra presents Kraftwerk Re:werk with Charles Hazlewood. This is not a minor programme note, but the key to understanding the entire performance.
For a long-time Kraftwerk fan, the attraction lies in how far the music can travel while still retaining the recognizable geometry of the original. For a fan of contemporary electronica, the interest lies in the physical creation of rhythm and texture in front of the audience. For someone attending because of the rest of the festival programme, Re:werk may be a rare opportunity to see an orchestral ensemble placed in a context where silence between movements and the formality of a concert hall are not expected.
It is worth securing tickets in good time.
Sources:
- FORWARDS - 2026 programme, daily artist breakdown, opening and closing times, entry rules, transport and information about the festival site.
- Paraorchestra - description of Kraftwerk Re:werk, confirmation of the Bristol performance, project concept, instrumentation and information about Charlotte Harding, Lloyd Coleman and Charles Hazlewood.
- Charles Hazlewood - history of the Kraftwerk Re:werk project, information about the original ensemble and the method of electronically processing the instruments.
- Kraftwerk - catalogue and tracks associated with "Trans-Europe Express" and the wider discographical context.
- Bristol City Council - information about The Downs, location, parking, natural characteristics and size of the area.
- Visit Bristol - location of The Downs in relation to the city centre and nearby landmarks.
- Epigram - report from an earlier Bristol performance of Kraftwerk Re:werk and description of the live sound.