Fuego! Fuego! Rammstein incinerate Sonisphere Madrid

The invading convoy of no less than eight super-sized articulated trucks that rolled into place behind the main stage was a heavy indicator that something different and special was going to happen here later on. The backstage area had transformed by mid-morning from a spacious hangout into a condensed metropolis of flight cases and crates, all bearing one band’s logo. There was no arguing with the fact that Rammstein had taken over this festival, and, after yesterday’s fun and frolics with the likes of Faith No More and Slayer, there was going to be a new regime implemented today.

Out front, the blissfully ignorant crowds were either taking shelter from the scorching sun under canvas-covered bar areas or getting down to some French rock n’ roll hardcore courtesy of Headcharger on Stage 2.

“You wanna dance? You gotta pay the f**king band!”, yelled cheeky singer Sebastien Pierre.

Next up Canadian thrashers Annihilator coaxed an impressive crowd out into the sunshine on the main stage with frontman Jeff Waters quickly exclaiming, “Hace mucho, mucho calor!” It was an understatement.

After Coheed And Cambria, Sacramento alt-metalists Deftones drew the biggest crowd so far on the main stage and did not disappoint, with ecstatic moshers defying the heat to form circle pits all the way to the back, while a gathering of rock royalty that included members of Megadeth, Soulfly and Alice In Chains pumped their fists in the air, up on the VIP viewing platform.

Soulfly then took the action up another gear altogether on Stage 2, with an astoundingly powerful set. The Cavalera brothers left the sweaty crowd begging for more, after dropping Sepultura classic Roots Bloody Roots, directing a full-on ‘wall of death’ in the audience and getting Max’s fifteen-year old son Igor up to smash the bejesus out of Joe Nunez’s drum kit for one number.

Reformed grunge legends Alice In Chains then restored a semblance of order on the main stage and, just like Faith No More last night, sounded better than they ever have, even in their heyday. After closing with a spine-tingling Rooster, singer William Duvall led the Spanish throng in a mass football chant of “Ole, ole, ole, ole” in anticipation of tomorrow’s World Cup Final against Holland.

Over on Stage 2, Megadeth thrilled fans with their light-hearted brand of thrash, Dave Mustaine in particularly jovial form, at one point announcing: ”This next song is about getting someone’s head in a vice and crushing it. Obviously it’s called Head-Crusher!”

Meanwhile, an enormous, menacing black curtain had descended over the front of the main stage, blocking from view the construction that was taking place behind it by an army of technicians.

At twenty past midnight on the dot and with no warning, an explosive boom erupted and the curtain fell to the floor, to reveal a German flag, covering the entire expanse of the stage. As primal screams of unadulterated excitement united the swelling crowd, this too fell to the floor to reveal the six members of Rammstein, split over two levels.

And so the greatest festival show of all time ignited once more in a blitz of pyrotechnics and strobe lighting.

If you’ve followed our coverage of this unique band at the most recent Sonispheres or read about their current world tour, you’ll already know about the flamethrowers, the keyboardist who gets cremated in a bath only to become reanimated and consigned to spend the rest of the show on a revolving treadmill, the fan who gets plucked out of the crowd and torched on-stage, the keyboardist – again – who sails out over the audience in a small boat, the big phallus that drenches the front rows in foam, the fire, fire, more fire and did we mention the fire?

We were expecting all that and, yes, it was even more spectacular than we’d imagined. What we hadn’t factored on was the gentle acoustic lullabye in the middle of the set, or that crazy keyboardist again (”Flake” – our new hero) donating his keyboard to the crowd. We were grateful for the handy chat-up line, shared in English during Pussy – “You’ve got a pussy, I have a dick. So what’s the problem, let’s do it quick.”

We’re still trying to rationalise the experience of this show which was like nothing we have ever seen before. Perhaps they will come later, but for now we simply don’t have the words to convey just what an extraordinarily mind-blowing live phenomenon Rammstein are, especially in the festival field.

Miss them at Knebworth at your peril; you will never see another show like it. And so the Sonisphere express rolls on. Next stop: The UK…