Photos by Andy Argyrakis

From the moment members practically invented electronic music in the front half of the 1970s, and certainly ages before it became so universally accepted, Kraftwerk’s impact on the genre is immeasurable, not to mention pop, rock and hip-hop.

In fact, it was downright criminal the iconic German group didn’t get inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame until this very decade, though that never stopped fans from coming out to shows in droves.

On the latest “Multimedia” Tour, which marked the 50th anniversary of the breakthrough “Autobahn” album, the landmark Auditorium Theatre was an exceptional environment to hear the supernatural sounds of co-founding vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Ralf Hütter, longtime keyboardist Henning Schmitz and newer electronic percussionist Falk Grieffenhagen, plus see all the thematic projections courtesy of Georg Bongartz.

Throughout two hours and change, the foursome maintained their robotic stances, letting the music and visuals do the talking, mesmerizing the masses with the onslaught of “Numbers,” then a total immersion into “Computer World” and an otherworldly trip to the “Spacelab.”

Kraftwerk did indeed come across like “The Man-Machine” as they took a video game-like cruise around the “Autobahn,” but despite their lack of visible emotion, the guys were at least capable of experiencing at least a little bit of “Computer Love,” especially over “The Model.”

It turns out they were just as socially conscious for the chilling display of “Radioactivity,” then resumed the more frequent traveling theme during the graphically-inclined “Tour de France” and “Trans-Europe Express.”

The merger of “Boing Boom Tschak / Techno Pop / Musique Non Stop” was another brilliantly-stitched stretch, building to a beat-centric final crescendo that only the unconventionality of Kraftwerk could bring and leading even the upper reaches of the furthest Auditorium balcony to leap to its feet.

For additional information on Kraftwerk, visit Kraftwerk.com.

Upcoming shows at the Auditorium Theatre include Hwasa (Apr. 3); “La La Land” & Chicago Philharmonic (Apr. 5); Beth Gibbons (Apr. 8); Parsons Dance (Apr. 12); Alessia Cara (Apr. 18); Kishi Bashi & Chicago Philharmonic (Apr. 19); Melinda French Gates and Coda Kota (Apr. 23); An Evening At The Auditorium (Apr. 24); “The Goonies” & Chicago Philharmonic (Apr. 26); South Chicago Dance Theatre (May 3); “Attack On Titan” (May 8); Chicago Sinfonietta (May 10); Hiplet Ballerinas (May 17); BIBI (Jun. 3); David Bisbal (Jun. 5); Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals (Jun. 7); Yandel (Jun. 8); “The Terminator” & Chicago Philharmonic (Jun. 13); “Toy Story” & Chicago Philharmonic (Jun. 14); Jake Shane (Jul. 11); The Swell Season (Jul. 18) and Lyle Lovett And His Large Band (Jul. 19). For additional details, visit AuditoriumTheatre.org.

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