Fire and Water - Rammstein.
German, industrial electronic pop-metal band Rammstein performed in Prague - Letňany, where they reached over one hundred and twenty thousand fans over two days. After a two-year fast, people are excited, there are huge queues at the stands with beer, snacks, band T-shirts and other merchandise, and conversations are buzzing all around in every possible language. They just want an authentic experience. And that's despite the inclement weather.
An hour before the main show, the first beats of the keys are heard as the French pair of pianists begin their "support". The programme of this unusual performance includes, among other things, paraphrases of Rammstein songs. Nairi Badal and Adalaide Panaget perform off the main stage, in a spot from which later, before the first encore, boats with the band members "sail" out to the main stage to cruise over the heads of the audience.
At exactly eight o'clock the bell strikes to announce the start of the spectacle. At the recommendation of the amplified announcer to put their cell phones in their pockets and enjoy the concert, thousands of cell phones light up and don't go off again until the end of the show. First up is a bit of classical music from the recording - G.F. Handel, Music for the Royal Fireworks. The first song of the live performance is the title track from the new album Zeit (2022) Armee Der Tristen, played in the premiere. The second Zick Zack thing is also new. The band relies on a brisk marching tempo that continues the traditional Links 2-3-4 (2000) with Christian Lorenz (keys) characteristically marching on a moving belt. This is followed by Sehnsucht (1997) from the album of the same name. Rain pelts the audience and cold gusts of wind add to the sombre and dramatic atmosphere of an evening dedicated to the demonic Rammstein. While guitarists Kruspe and Landers are in leather and high boots, bassist Oliver Riedle is half-naked. Frontman, singer and songwriter Till Lindemann moves a bit awkwardly in stylized pumps and a shearling top, but the whole, i.e. the six-piece band looks cohesive and energized. Visually, the burning pram in the seventh consecutive Puppe (2019) is visually arresting. The calm, almost balladic Diamant (2019) sounds a little uncertain vocally, but the grotesquely pitorean disco remix version of Deutschland (2019) and the sharp version that follows it bring it all back. The hits keep coming. The dense and brilliantly acted Radio (2019), the mighty fire-adorned Mein Teil (2004) and the ageless Du Hast (1997). The penultimate track of the set is Sonne (2001), in which a huge sun disc shines wide at the audience from the stage and the barrage of fire is overwhelming. The final piece is another debut, Zeit (2022). After a pause, the audience notes a piano rendition of the now quarter-century-old Engel (1997), joins in with the oddly topical hit Auslä (2019) and listens with relish to the provocative Pussy (2009). In the second encore, Lindemann doesn't forget to spray fire in all directions from a special suit during Rammstein (1995), and then the band brilliantly handles one of the evening's highlights, Ich Will (2001). The opening Addie (2022) has a quieter tempo, and the intimate version of Sonne marks the very end.
For nearly three decades we've been able to listen to Rammstein and their work, and in that time the band has been able to put together a playlist of all the tried-and-true tracks. The better stuff they have to offer has probably already been offered by these East Germans, but their imprint remains obvious. The riveting atmosphere on the edge of militancy, the political and sexual provocations, the stylings and mannerisms become somewhat monotonous and predictable, but they bring a certainty to the experience. The repetitive tricks with lasers stuck in the sky, fiery arrows leaping from flagpole to flagpole, hectolitres of burnt petrol, Till Lindemann and his staccato German and dense, droning rhythms may get tiresome at times, but not for a while yet.
photo: Till Lindemann