O2-Arena, Berlin, Germany
25th November 2011
Rammstein & Deathstars
RAMMSTEIN is one of the most important, if not the most important, German bands. Often admired, often hated, many times criticized, but always true to their own style: That’s RAMMSTEIN. One of their many (sold-out) German shows was taking place on 25th November in Berlin, and we were part of it!
Deathstars
DEATHSTARS are a Swedish gothic metal band. Their members are Andreas “Whiplasher Bernadotte” Bergh (vocals), Emil “Nightmare Industries” Nödtveidt, Eric “Cat Casino” Bäckman (guitar), Oscar “Vice” Leander (drums), and Jonas “Skinny Disco” Kangur (bass). Founded in 2000, their music is a heavy mixture of gothic, death metal and rock. They have published a total of three albums and their last single, ‘Metal’, is out now. http://www.deathstars.net / https://www.facebook.com/deathstars
Music & Performance
Their sound reminded us of RAMMSTEIN and their performance in some way of MARILYN MANSON. In this way, they were the perfect opening act for the concert. Their music is heavy, with dark vocals, hard guitars, and firm rhythms. Although their music fitted perfectly in the context of a RAMMSTEIN concert, they didn’t catch the audience, maybe because people were so impatiently waiting for their idols. DEATHSTARS, who were all dressed in black leather clothes, played a total of 45 minutes.
Setlist
01. Blitzkrieg
02. Semi-Automatic
03. Motherzone
04. Cyanide
05. Tongues
06. Metal
07. The Mark of the Gun
08. Blood Stains Blondes
09. Death Dies Hard
Rammstein
RAMMSTEIN was founded in 1994 and consists of Till Lindemann (vocals), Paul Landers and Richard Z. Krispe (guitars), Christoph Schneider (drums), Oliver Riedel (bass), and Christian “Flake” Lorenz (keyboard). Their success begun already with their first album ‘Herzeleid’, and since then, they have published a total of eight albums, two of them are live compilations. The single ‘Mein Land’ out of their new album, ‘Made in Germany 1995 – 2011’, is out now. Their martial sounds and provoking lyrics made them popular between people of all musical styles. Their concerts are always an event, not only for the music, but also for the pyrotechnical effects. http://www.rammstein.de / https://www.facebook.com/Rammstein 
Music & Performance
The o2-Arena was sold out (except of some VIP tickets) and people were joking, drinking and watching nervously their clocks, when the time of appearance of the main act came nearer. Three quarters of the audience were male, most of them middle-aged, and seemed in their appearance alike the band members. There were few woman and few gothic fans, and nearly all of the public were dressed in RAMMSTEIN fan clothes. The band started to play punctually at nine o clock, or better said: they appeared in a cloud of light and fire effects, emerging from the floor on an armour, playing their well-known song ‘Sonne’. RAMMSTEIN performed their first song with power and self-confidence, Till’s singing was powerful and clear, and the sound exceptional. 
At their second song, ‘Wollt Ihr das Bett in Flammen sehen’, Till had a flame-thrower in his hand, and there was firework at the stage. At the song ‘Feuer frei’, the wall behind the stage was adorned with giant combs in red, and Till disappeared during the song and came back with fire in his hand. The public became ecstatic. At the next song, ‘Mutter’, the combs were immersed in a cold green light, and there was firework at the stage. The song, with its ballad character, was beautiful performed by Till’s voice, who showed that he is able to sing in a heavy, but also in a more lyrical way. At the song about cannibalism, ‘Mein Teil’, Till was wearing a slaughter’s dress full of blood and his microphone had the form of a knife. The stage was converted into a spectacle of flames and the song earned a lot of fervent applause. At the next song, ‘Du riechst so gut’, even their guitars were burning. 
‘Links 234’ started with a big bang, and behind the stage appeared a surreal landscape of buildings. When the band performed ‘Du hast’, a firework cracker flew over the heads of the public and flew back to the stage (!). I have no idea how they managed it, but it was spectacular, so spectacular like the hole show. People were singing with power ‘Du hast’. During ‘Haifisch’, Flake sat down in a glittering rubber boat and was carried by the audience through the concert hall. After this, a second stage floated on an armour to the back part of the hall, a few meters away from where I was standing. The drummer was dressed like a housewife, accompanying him was the rest of the band members, who were dressed in SM-clothes, some of them gagged, crawling on their knees. 
When they started to play ‘Bück Dich’, the audience cried out in hysteria. Till started to shoot some liquid and the audience started shooting beer. The next song, ‘Mann gegen Mann’, which deals with gay sex, didn’t provoke the same fervour between the fans, although it was a heavy and ardent rock song. At ‘Mein Herz brennt’, a giant propeller was appearing over the head of the band members, who had gone back to the main stage. During following ‘Amerika’, the propeller was submerged in black, and a lot of silver confetti was thrown over the public. 
After a break, Till appeared dressed with angel’s alas built of some kind of metallic stuff, and during the performance of ‘Engel’, two flames appeared at the end of the alas. This beautiful piece was masterly sung by Till, who showed the hole power of his voice. Many of the male fans around me where crying desperately for ‘Pussy’, and RAMMSTEIN did them the favour to play this song as the last encore. During the song, a giant foam gun in the form of a penis shot white foam over the audience. It seemed to be an absolute climax for the public. To sum the show up, we were really impressed by the outstanding performance, the light effects, by the sound and the whole show. 
It must cost a lot to performer such a show with so many special effects - looking at this, the prices for the tickets are not exaggerated, ‘cause at a RAMMSTEIN concert, you are getting a music concert and a pyrotechnical show at the same time. A impressing spectacle worth to see!
Setlist
01. Sonne
02. Wollt Ihr das Bett in Flammen sehen
03. Keine Lust
04. Sehnsucht
05. Asche zu Asche
06. Feuer frei
07. Mutter
08. Mein Teil
09. Du riechst so gut
10. Links 234
11. Du hast
12. Haifisch
13. Bück Dich
14. Mann gegen Mann
15. Ohne Dich
16. Mein Herz brennt
17. Amerika
18. Ich will
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19. Engel
20. Pussy
Rating
Music: 10
Performance: 10
Sound: 10
Light: 10
Total: 10 / 10
All pictures by Nadine Ginzel (Rammstein - www.dyingsun.de) and Fabien Blackwater (Deathstars - www.fabien-blackwater.de)
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