Information
Date: February 3, 2005
City: London, England
Author: James
Review
The moment had arrived. After waiting 3 and a half months from ordering the tickets I was at Brixton at my first ever gig and the excitement levels were through the roof. After ridiculously long queues we got in just a few minutes after Apocalyptica started playing and the stage was a sight to behold. Apocalyptica had 3 huge crosses standing tall on the stage with lighting that pumped in time with the deep and powerful songs and insane drumming. They were actually much better than I thought they would be and I couldn't believe the insanity of the drummer. Having never seen a gig before hearing these roaring drums was incredible, and the drums were at just the right level of dominance in comparison with the cellos. I think the drummer was going so mad he must have broken about 5 or 6 sticks. He slickly threw them behind him while pulling a new one from a set to his side by the looks of things. Some awesome songs from Apocalyptica from their new self-titled album as well as their covers of Metallica preceded a rendition of the Alton Towers theme tune which EVERYONE in Britain must surely know! A great finish as they added a heavier element to this already catchy and slightly eerie tune.
Then came the wait... as I think everyone thought, is seemed like a lifetime. However the sets were being changed over and I came to realise that there was a vast black curtain sectioning off the front of the stage where Apocalyptica had been sat on their Coffin chairs to where Rammstein would appear!
At just after 10 minutes past 9 the lights went down and on came the roadies in the 'Reise, Reise' shirt and tie attire with torches. The crowd went mad and slowly, slowly a dim blue light appeared from behind the black curtain silhouetting the band (Richard could be clearly seen) atop the mass of metal that was the Rammstein stage!
The intro to 'REISE, REISE' hit and as the song exploded into action a loud crack saw the black curtain drop revealing an insane sight... Rammstein minus Till were on the upper stage... Christoph centred on the stage with his drums, Flake on the right as we saw it with the Accordion, Richard and Paul in their usual positions strumming hard on the guitars and Ollie in his position on the left. The lower part of the stage had a large circular opening through which Till emerged with the powerful and stirring lyrics. They were all suited up superbly. Till and Richard all in black with numerous gold chains pinned horizontally onto their shirts, Paul in Lederhosen, Flake in a German army uniform complete with helmet and shorts, Ollie and Christoph were in black trousers and vests. During the song Richard and Paul stood at the front of the upper stage and were transported on these mechanical arms with a protruding Rammstein logo on to the lower stage to be next to Till, then Flake and Ollie proceeded to join them, leaving Christoph drumming away on the upper stage. 'Reise, Reise' is truly awesome live... one of the most stirring without a doubt.
Up next was 'LINKS 2 3 4'... the crowd went mad and I was personally loving it as Mutter was the album that got me hooked. A bit more about the stage... there were small TV's in the wall of the Rammstein stage which were in the shape of the Rammstein 'T' logo. They had blue 'electric streaks' displayed that were a nice touch... attention to detail. The song was awesome and Till, as in previous performances I have seen on DVD, with arms raised, looked to the sky and screamed after the chorus in that section where it sounds like a crowd is cheering, and marched as he sang 'links zwo, links zwo, links zwo drei vier links'. Great performance and I think there may have been some pyro, but I can't be sure.
Back to 'Reise, Reise' with 'KEINE LUST' next and this was great. I don't remember a vast amount about this one but it was a spot on rendition, very heavy and melodic as it should be! Till was shivering and rubbing his arms during the 'Mir ist kalt' section of the song. Live and up close you can appreciate how big the guy really is. You wouldn't mess! In fact Richard is very menacing too, built like a tank, albeit a slightly smaller tank than Till!
'FEUER FREI'! The pyro had arrived in full force, and even though we were a good 10 metres from the front you could feel the heat intensely on your face. I think in this song Richard, Paul and Till got the flamethrower masks out and were in formation with them... Till facing the crowd from the centre of the stage and Paul and Richard either side of him facing the middle of the stage. Great sight to see.
Up next was 'REIN RAUS' and Richard got the crowd going by chanting REIN in a VERY guttural voice. The crowd screamed back RAUS and the song kicked in after 5 or 6 exchanges between Richard and the crowd. Can't remember if the pyro was in full flow in this song, but again it was close to my heart as is the whole of the Mutter album.
Next was 'MORGENSTERN' and if I remember rightly the lighting for this song was great. Even if I am getting mixed up the lights are worth a mention. There were I think 4 rows of lights high up behind Christoph on the upper stage that rotated and moved around, sometimes pointing skywards and sometimes straight out over the crowd. Very co-ordinated and they were used to awesome effect in many songs with pulses coinciding with the beats of the song. Great song live. Didn't stick out in my mind but all the songs were incredible in their own right.
What can I say about the next song... 'MEIN TEIL'!!!! Till disappeared through the circular door in the lower stage and emerged a few minutes later with the cauldron containing Flake as well as the Chef's hat and a knife microphone that he started pumping midway through the song. Flake was loving it in the Cauldron and when Till got the flamethrower out and blasted the Cauldron with about 6 VAST blasts we could feel the heat very intensely where we were. Eventually Flake escaped the Cauldron and the bangers started to go off on his arms and legs with small red explosions. As he ran around the stage being chased by Till some small missiles were fired from above the stage towards Flake. Very co-ordinated as the explosions followed him as he ran, it looked like he was close to being hit numerous times. One thing I remember about this song is how Till sounded. Unlike the album version his voice wasn't altered to sound like he was talking into a phone or whatever the effect is, but the song was incredible with the marching melody in the background wreaking havoc on my co-ordination as the head banging set in. Awesome song.
'STEIN UM STEIN' was up next. Don't remember a vast amount about this one but when the heavy chorus set in all was well. Not a song that I listen to a lot from 'Reise, Reise' but it sounded great live... as I said, they ALL did!
Christoph moved down on the mechanical arm on Paul's side of the stage to a smaller drum set on the lower stage so the band were all together. Richard and Paul were given acoustic guitars by the roadies and I knew it was time for 'LOS'. Rammstein pulled this one off very well, especially as it is much softer than almost everything else they have done (except maybe Seeman and Amour). For me it brought back memories of the 'Live aus Berlin' DVD where Paul, Ollie and Richard don Sombreros and acoustic guitars for the performance of Wilder Wein. Very good song live.
The red lights were out in full force next for 'MOSKAU'. I was counting along with the chorus in which Till sang the lines in Russian too. The lines sang in Russian over the top of the various verses were taken out, but I think Till did most of the Russian parts in the chorus himself. Flake had the accordion out for this one again and Richard and Paul had of course returned to the Electric Guitars. There was some nice red flame pyro at the front of the upper stage for this one which burned for quite a few minutes during the middle of the song.
The lighting was used superbly in 'DU RIECHST SO GUT' which was next as the whole arena went white with the blinding brilliance of the four rows of lights that had moved to shine over the crowd. During the chorus the lights all faced downwards for 'Du' and then raised up to face the crowd when the lyric 'riechst so gut' was sung, giving a great simultaneous 'Mexican wave' effect. This song involved an insane build up through the verses until the first explosion of the chorus which rendered the crowd to sing along telling the band that they smelt that damn good! I think Richard missed the 'Ich' on the 'Ich finde dich' line he has after the first verse, but he growled the 'finde dich' on time... I love this track and live it was truly awesome. The pyro in this was incredible. As at 'Live aus Berlin' Till span on stage with the flaming crossbow that then fired two huge missiles out across the crowd towards the circle that came to rest before the balcony. Being under the balcony I got a great view of the missiles going overhead.
The crowd went ballistic as the techno intro to 'DU HAST' started! Christoph's drums got the heads of everyone I could see in front of me as well as my own pounding in time to the beat, and the crowd sang along to the 'Du, Du hast, Du hast mich' parts. Flake as ever enjoyed his solo to the glee of the crowd. I think this was the first time I noticed Till doing the now infamous knee pounding during the guitar and drum sequences.
Up next was the surprise package of the evening. I never thought that 'SEHNSUCHT' would be so incredible live, but this was truly immense. The series of very well timed explosions from hanging wires above the stage as the drums introduced the beginning of the song and then again midway through the song after a the guitar riffs, were, for want of a more descriptive phrase, simply the coolest thing to see. The song has become a favourite of mine since (although I of course loved it beforehand!) and live this song is breathtaking.
We're all living in 'AMERIKA'... the blue and white confetti-style paper that Till launched at the crowd through a huge gun from the stage in this song was awesome, covering the whole arena and not settling for ages. The song was awesome and the lights at the back of the stage were lit up in the red, white and blue. At one point I think Richard got a gun out as well to increase the output of the paper, incredible!
After a 10 minute break or so, the crowd were eagerly awaiting the return of the band for an encore. What followed was another classic with 'RAMMSTEIN'. The intro was extended as Till was preparing for a blazing performance! He was having a set of Flame throwing arms attached and then when the guitars and drums came in Till sent huge flames out over the crowd. He looked like some apocalyptic fire lord with these Matrix-style arms attached and the heat was so intense! At one point I thought he was in a bit of trouble. When Paul and Richard moved centre stage for the guitar solos, Till moved back with the arms pointed downwards. They always had a small flame showing but as he moved back the flames were getting a bit large possibly due to the movement Till was making, but all was well and Till threw flames high into the air above Richard and Paul during the remainder of the song. Incredible performance!
Up next was one of my all time favourite songs, the song that my friends that had come along with me had been waiting for all night. As the count began for 'SONNE' the tension of the chorus hitting was reaching melting point! The pyro was awesome on this song. Huge flames roared up in turn from the lower stage in front of Richard, Till and Paul and then from the front of the upper stage in front of Christoph, Flake and Ollie. This was unbelievable live and was certainly a highlight as this song converted my friends to Rammstein about a year and a half ago!
The next track was one I had been waiting for eagerly as I knew it would be truly stunning live. As Till shouted 'ICH WILL' the crowd erupted and the knee banging followed. I was singing along to the whole song and absolutely loving every nanosecond of it, I'm not sure if the rest of the crowd responded to Till's shouts of 'Könnt ihn mich horen/sehen/fuhlen?' as I did but it mattered not as the whole joint was bouncing to this one! This performance was godly and confirmed it as one of my all time favourite tracks. There may have been pryo in this one too, in fact I may be confusing the pryo for Sonne with the pyro in Ich Will, but either way the song rocked hard.
Another break for the band saw the crowd chanting and clapping for just under 5 minutes until Till and Flake returned. Till, resting his head on Flake's shoulder, began the lyrics to 'OHNE DICH' as Flake tickled the melody out of his Keyboard. Very moving song that brought calm to the Academy, the rest of the band returned as the song progressed, with Christoph returning to the drums atop the Rammstein stage and Paul, Ollie and Richard remaining on the lower stage.
Finally, the eerie melody to 'STRIPPED' began and the lyrics kicked in. I know many people prefer the Depeche Mode version of this song. However the German accent, non-stop rocking of the guitars, alternating peaking and bowing of the Keyboard effects and the awesome instrumental section midway through the song make this track a favourite of mine. Ollie as we had all hoped hopped into the boat during the song and went from the left side of the stage as we looked at it to the middle of the crowd, bouncing himself along when the British crowd weren't moving him in the direction his hilarious pose outlined (think Napoleon). As he moved to the back right corner of the arena (now a mere 3 metres or so from me) he fell out, was pulled up by two security guards and hopped back into the boat. One of my friends managed to get a hand on the boat as it passed, and Ollie headed down the centre of the sea of people towards the stage. However as he neared the stage he fell out of the boat backwards a second time, and was lifted back in by the crowd. He gleefully turned to the crowd and gave a double single finger salute to Brixton, who responded with thousands of the same and then he continued onto the stage, turned, bowed and gave a sign of thanks before returning to his bass behind Paul. I think Till asked him if he was OK to continue before the song was continued into the final looping of the chorus, as Till turned to Ollie and muttered something before kicking of the last lines of lyrics.
Rammstein finished the song and began to assemble on the stage to say thanks to the crowd who were cheering insanely. As Christoph finished drumming he angrily threw the drumsticks down at the stage before trotting down some steps at the back of the Rammstein stage to meet the rest of the band front centre. In fact I think he may have thrown the odd pair of drumsticks into the crowd before the encores, but nowhere near me unfortunately. The evening that I didn't ever want to end had done so and Rammstein filed through the circular door, leaving just Flake on the stage with his keyboard. After his melody finished he ran off stage through the door with a quick wave.
A few things that happened that I can't remember exactly when include Flake riding around on a motor scooter with a keyboard attached to the handlebars. This was pretty funny, as was Flake's jig during one of the early songs. He was down next to Paul and Till on the lower stage and stood perfectly still bursting randomly into a frenzied dance now and then. Also Till got a harmonica out to keep the song accurate to the album version, I think for 'Reise, Reise' but I am not completely sure, as I seem to remember it happening much later on than the opening song. A DVD release of this tour is a must! Possibly another 'Live aus Berlin' with their scheduled shows in the Wuhlheide this summer??!!?!
Rammstein lived up to expectations and more. As someone who went to the Manchester gig mentioned, I too had hyped the gig so much that it seemed surreal, but real enough to know it was the best time I have had in my life so far. It has got me hooked and next time I simply have to be closer! That first sight of them after the curtain dropped and the first explosion will remain with me forever, and I will wait eagerly and patiently until they return to British soils once more! Dank Gott für Rammstein!