Kraftwerk kick off Tate Modern retrospective

German electro pioneers Kraftwerk have played the first of their eight-night retrospective at London's Tate Modern.

The quartet played their 1974 number one album, Autobahn, to 1,250 fans in the gallery's Turbine Hall.

Fans described the two-hour show, Kraftwerk's first in London since 2004, as "mesmerising" and "phenomenal", and one which "lived up to the hype".

The 16-track set also included the single The Robots from their 1978 album, The Man Machine.

The mostly middle-aged, male fans cheered and clapped as they began the show with that six-minute track.

Friends Jamie and James said it had been worth the effort and the £60 ticket price.

Among the bands inspired by the German group were Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, who were influenced by their experiments with tapes and synthesizers, which later became predominant elements of pop music.

OMD member Andy McCluskey, who attended Wednesday's opening night, 28 years after he first saw them play live at the Liverpool Empire, said it was "the best multimedia arts project on the planet".

The group will play a series of albums from their back catalogue over the next seven nights, including 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), along with additional compositions from their back catalogue.