Rammstein | Concert review

by Lavanya Trichinopoly – Krishna

Fire, foam and f***ing - to some they may seem like pervy old men, often flaunting nudity and screaming about sex, but at an average age of 43 – and some looking past their best thanks to a rock-and-roll lifestyle – Rammstein’s shock tactics are still going strong.

Arguably Germany’s biggest musical export since Kraftwerk, they returned to Wembley as part of their first tour in five years.

With tickets selling at £40 a pop, and selling fast, the pressure was on to deliver a show that rivalled their past performances – a feat the band achieved and exceeded.

Famous for courting controversy – their past shows have included simulated sodomy, and the limited edition boxset of recent album Liebe is für alle da (‘Love is there for everyone’) comes with six different sized pink dildos, handcuffs and lube – the anticipation of what this tour would bring was almost too much to bear.

Kick Off

Support came from Norwegian ensemble Combichrist, who kicked off the night with their series of adrenaline-fuelled electro-headbangers, encouraging the crowd to scream for Rammstein, while also telling us how crazy keeping up with the German rockers is on this mammoth Europe-wide tour.

Combichrist provide the perfect warm up, limbering up the audience for the main act, which started promptly at its nine o’clock scheduled time.

Not a band for the faint-hearted or easily-offended, Rammstein burst through a wall onto the stage, and lead singer Till Lindemann steps through a fuse-burned hole and enters into the starting notes of first track from their latest album, Rammlied.

Kicking off a non-stop theatrical extravaganza the band use pyrotechnics and gimmicks galore – some tested on past tours, and some new gems - throughout.

Oozing testosterone

Although their bare-chested antics and anthemic music may seem camp on screen, Rammstein ooze testosterone in the flesh, enticing the audience to sing and chant along with every song churned out with industrial uniformity.

Laser-eyed exploding baby dolls for new song Wiener Blut (‘Viennese Blood’) – a song based upon the Josef Fritzl case in Austria – ceaseless shots of fire falling from the ceiling and up from the ground, and keyboardist Flake engulfed in flames are just a taste of the pyrotechnics.

Boasting a huge back catalogue, it is impossible to play everything, but Rammstein treat the crowd to old anthems in between their newer songs, including Du Hast and Ich Will, as well as Weisses Fleisch (from their first studio album).

Feuer Frei – featured in Vin Diesel film xXx – is performed with the usual face-mask flamethrowers, Flake crowd-surfs in a dingy during the four-song encore and final song Engel sees Lindemann don combustible angel wings.

The highlight, however, is undoubtedly when Lindemann sprays the crowd with foam from the phallic cannon he is riding during a rendition of recent single Pussy.

Just like with any theatrical performance, the players take a humble and well-deserved bow at the end.

No disappointment

Rammstein have always blended a combination of theatre, fireworks and hard music into every gig, and this tour is no disappointment.

Leaving the arena covered in confetti, sweaty and elated, nobody was complaining, lest for having to wait until July to see them again.

If you want a performance that’s different, shocking and guaranteed to blow you away, catch Rammstein at Sonisphere Festival on July 31 (before they disappear for another five years!)