The demand for tickets to see Kraftwerk’s 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 performance in the Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall has brought the museum’s website to a standstill. 

As reported earlier this month, the residency, which has previously taken place in New York and Dusseldorf, sees the German innovators perform eight of their studio albums in full – Autobahn (1974), Radio-Aktivität (1975), Trans-Europe Express (1977), Die Mensch-Maschine (1978), Computerwelt (1981), Techno Pop (1986), The Mix (1991) and Tour de France Soundtracks (2003) – accompanied by 3D visualizations, with each album performed on a different night.

Tickets went on sale at 7.30am this morning, but most fans were unable to purchase at all: the Tate’s site slowed to a halt within half an hour, and a phoneline number was offered as an alternative via the Tate’s Twitter.

The performances of Man Machine, Trans-Europe Express and Computer World are now sold out, but tickets are available for the other five shows – so Kraftwerk fans, if you can bear to spend your afternoon on the phone, then you can get in touch on +44 020 7887 4919.

Update: Autobahn has now sold out also.