Let Your Freak Flag, Fly

            I had wanted to see Rammstein in concert since 2002.  XXX, the film with Vin Diesel (hold judgments until the end) came out and I saw it in theaters.  In one of the scenes at the beginning of the film, Rammstein is performing in an underground club.  As I watched the scene, I had a feeling it was them and then did research later on to find out I was right.  I liked Rammstein before the film, as musicians, but after seeing this quick glimpse, I knew I would need to see them perform.

            This past Sunday, I fulfilled my dream.  Rammstein is currently on their Made In Germany Tour, playing random hits and songs from all their albums since they began making music in 1995, and I was able to be a part of it.

            The opening act was a breath of fresh air as I actually enjoyed it as much as the band I was there to see.  It was a DJ, mixing his own versions of Rammstein songs.  He was on the corner of the stage, no lights or special effects on him (how un-Rammstein like) and there was a big screen projecting black and white images of Till Lindemann, Rammstein’s lead singer, along with crawling human beings, ants marching, rotting fruit—you get the idea. 

            What I later discovered was the opening act was actually Joe Letz, the drummer of Combichrist.  He was great and the music was phenomenal.  What was also great is there was no lag time between him and Rammstein.  He finished his set, the curtain projecting the images fell to the ground, and suddenly smoke and fire started popping up around the arena. 

I was seated a few rows from a railing that stood over one of the entrances to a lower section of seats.  An orange glow began to exhume from below the railing.  Suddenly people with torches, masks and Viking-like outfits began marching down to the stage in a cloud of fog.  If I had known it was Rammstein only a few feet from me, I may have been arrested for trying to climb the railing and grope one of the band members.

            A bridge was lowered from the ceiling that connected a smaller stage, two thirds of the way into the crowd, to the main stage at the front of the arena.  Rammstein walked across the bridge, and used the torches to light a few assorted spots of the stage on fire.  May the corrupted Olympic games begin!

            Rammstein was perfect.  Heavy metal at its finest.  What I realized about their type of metal is it is hardcore without the typical screaming, yelling and vocal strains that often comes with heavy metal music.  It is the 5 out of 6 members’ instruments that enhance their sound.  They are very talented musicians who do not rely exclusively on the lead singer to create the sound they want. 

            They performed all of there hits—some of my favorites were “Amerika,” “Sehnsucht,” “Wo Bist Du,” and “Engel.”  Of course, they performed “Du Hast.”  Before this concert, it was actually never my favorite of Rammstein’s hits.  However, seeing it performed live changed my feeling about that.  The whole band sported leather pants, overalls, suspenders or jackets (except for the keyboardist who wore a sparkling jumpsuit, which was fitting as he spent much of the time on a continuously moving treadmill). 

            Rammstein has always been known for their pyrotechnics.  They had huge blasts of fire on stage that I could feel the heat on my face when they exploded.  Till wore wings that set on fire and they had mic stands on fire followed by fireworks that flew over the crowd.  In addition, the keyboardist came out in a large pot as Till sported a chefs outfit and carried a knife and sharpener.  He was given a blowtorch and began to “cook” the member of the band in the large Tim Burton pot. 

Besides just fire and explosions, there were some other effects.  During another song, one of Rammstein’s members boarded an inflatable lifeboat and surfed across the crowd.  At another point, Till stood on a platform behind a cannon that shot out what looked like white cotton or feathers.  The cannon was painted in skin tones and the gestures he made behind it could only really suggest one thing.

            The band did perform on the smaller stage as well.  The bridge was lowered again and one of the band members “walked” the rest of the band over.  By walk, I mean he had them all in collars and leashes on hands and knees and walked them like dogs, across the bridge to the other stage.  It should not have been at all hot or arousing . . .but it WAS.

            The crowd was rather mellow for a heavy metal show.  The couple who stood behind me in their Goth clothes, black lipstick and both with similar hair styles (long black unwashed hair hanging next their faces) stood the whole time, with their arms lovingly around each other.  It just wasn’t right—this isn’t date night—this is Rammstein.  There were a few different mosh pits that developed randomly in the crowd but they only ever included a few people and never lasted very long.  There was crowd surfing as well, however I never even noticed it until one the two encores.

            The band spoke no English except for a few lines in “Amerika” and a “We are Rammstein, thank you” at the end of their performance.  This did not stop the audience from singing along (or rather, trying).   It was epic, an item on my bucket list I can now check off.  And it reminded me of one important thing . . .

            Let your freak flag, fly!