Live Review: Electronic icons Kraftwerk join post-punk greats at inaugural Forever Now festival

The UK sister of the American-based Cruel World festival, Forever Now was set up to ‘celebrate alternative culture and post-punk music’ - with an array of legendary acts, mostly from the late 70s and early 80s.

Kraftwerk were in Milton Keynes playing their first UK show for three years and could hardly put a foot wrong (they don’t really move them).

And, for their 90 minute set - they deliver a blissful and serene lesson in how all modern dance music derives from their particular Germanic passion and skill. But more on that later.

The atmosphere at Forever Now is first-rate, as the more cerebral music fan is here in good spirit, and “celebration” does feel like a great mood summation.

With 17-acts across two stages and author and musician John Robb hosting the Echo Chamber ‘Q&A’ stage, it’s impossible to take in everything Forever Now had to offer.

The day begins on the main stage with UK Decay. With the likes of Black Cat and Testament, the Luton-born post-punkers provide exactly the sort of dystopian, brooding-but-funky gothic noise to set the scene for a day.

On the second stage John McKay’s Reactor is the new project of the original Siouxie & The Banshees guitarist, flitting between his Sixes And Sevens album tracks and some classic Banshees material.

Running late and suffering with sound issues – sadly something this stage will be dealing with all day – it’s difficult to truly lose yourself in the music.

Hong Kong Garden briefly saves the day, as Jen Brown of The Priscillas does an excellent job of filling the Siouxsie Sioux role.

Back on the main stage no such issues for The Chameleons who carry energy in abundance, expertly led by Mark Burgess (aka Vox).

Soul In Isolation is enlivened by him throwing in snippets of For What it’s Worth, The End, Be My Wife, Eleanor Rigby and There Is A Light That Never Goes Out.

Climaxing with Don’t Fall from 1983’s classic Script of the Bridge album, it showcases their enviable, U2-style juttering rhythms, not to mention Vox’s powerhouse voice.

00s American gothic types She Wants Revenge are something of a nod to the ‘modern’ and given the late withdrawal of Peter Murphy, they dispense exactly the sort of Bauhaus-meets-Interpol atmosphere that many lap up.

Tear You Apart, that one used in lots of TV shows like American Horror Story: Hotel, is the spiky closer to send us off satisfied.

The Psychedelic Furs are 80s alternative royalty these days, consummate performers who demand a loyal following across the globe.

Dressed in the best suits on display today, they dispatch the new wave hits like Pretty In Pink and Love My Way exactly how you would want them to.

It’s like the Butler brothers have been doing it almost non-stop since 1977.

Always catch them on any festival bill for you will soon possess a wide smile. They should have played Forever Now though…

Johnny Marr carries The Smiths flame with no controversy at all and the nicest man in rock draws a big crowd in the early evening sun.

Flitting seamlessly between alt-rock solo gems like Generate! Genrate!, Spirit, Power and Soul and Easy Money and wowing the faithful with classics like Panic, This Charming Man, How Soon Is Now?, Getting Away With It, and There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, he is a man for all seasons, and was an easy booking to make for the festival organisers. He soaks up the adulation with easy charm, as you would.

Billy Idol rocks up with the grin of a man who has seen it all and a nine-song set that’s as trim as the 69-year-old Londoner himself.

Flesh For Fantasy, Eyes Without A Face, Mony Mony are all fired off by his hot-shot American sidekicks and we are treated to Idol flinging autographed frisbees into the adoring audience.

Blue Highway has the Top Gun theme bolted on for good measure and to finish with Rebel Yell and White Wedding is as good as it comes really, isn’t it?

The Damned by this point have limped through The Black Album only to have their Neat Neat Neat cut short due to ongoing issues.

The Jesus & Mary Chain are by this point forewarned they won’t get their full allocation, so the famously cheery rockers look perturbed from the off – with tracks not sounding as full-bloodied as perhaps they could.

Ahead of festival headliners Kraftwerk, The The treated fans to the likes of Sweet Bird Of Truth, Icing Up and Giant – with former member Johnny Marr returning to the stage for two songs.

As befits a band that’s 55-year-olds, only one original member of the mid-70s classic Kraftwerk line-up remains, Ralf Hütter - though as lead singer and co-composer of their songs it is not an issue for most.

Hütter sings, controlling a vocoder expertly, while the other three members set off basslines, drum loops, trigger samples and control the impressive video elements, which are mixed seamlessly alongside the pounding music.

This is the greatest hits of the greatest and whether playing The Man-Machine, Autobhan, The Model, or Trans-Europe Express in their colour-changing LED outfits the band are something to behold, hitting brain and heart in equal measure and throughout their set, there wasn’t a single soul not grooving away.

Arguably the most important pop group to have existed outside of The Beatles - while the quartet barely seem to be doing much of anything during their headline set - in truth they are actually working very hard as a unit to make everything sound and look immaculate.

As we rush for the exits to face our collective Monday morning, it is easy to conclude that Forever Now has been worth it.

Whether it is given the chance to settle into the festival circuit in future years remains to be seen, but despite second stage complications the music thrown up from start to finish was wall-to-wall first rate.

So much so that choosing which acts to watch was an arduous task. And how often can you say that about a festival line-up?