WHEN a band rolls into town with a seemingly endless convoy of trucks snaking back as far as the eye can see you just know that you’re in for something really special.
German industrial rockers Rammstein have built an unrivalled reputation for their stunning stage show over the years, so the packed arena was buzzing with anticipation as to what delights the Teutonic Goths would unleash.
With a post-apocalyptic stage that wouldn’t look out of place in a Terminator movie, complete with ramps, risers and space age trimmings covering every inch of the stage combined with flamethrowers, fireworks and explosions you’d be forgiven for thinking you’d just walked into a war zone rather than a rock show. The words “extravagant”, “breath-taking” and “jaw-dropping” just don’t do justice to the scale and majesty of the spectacle.
This may all be inconsequential if the music wasn’t up to scratch but with the Gothic splendour of the flamefest opener Sonne and the heavyweight riffs and hypnotic driving beat of Links 2,3,4 they have the songs to back up the visuals.
Singing in their native tongue may have seemed like commercial suicide on paper but in reality it merely strengthens the impact of the music. Hearing 12,000 Geordies sing along with Du Hast and Ich Will is an experience.
Virtually every song features one stunning effect after another, usually involving fire, lots of it. With a song titled Feuer Frei you just know things are going to get hot. Possibly the most startling point in the show is where frontman Till Lindeman flambés geeky keyboardist Flake in an oversized cooking pot during Mein Teil.
Having a huge production didn’t stop the band connecting with the audience and when keyboardist Flake took a break from his treadmill to surf over the top of the crowd in an inflatable dinghy he ensured every last person in the arena felt part of the show and when a smaller stage emerged from the centre of the hall, the whole band were right in the thick of it.
With a snowstorm of confetti and foam fired from a huge “cannon” adding to the party along with Lindemann’s colossal fire spewing mechanical wings during the sinister Engel the crowd were kept mesmerised and entertained to the very end.
Rammstein really have to be seen to be believed. They have raised the bar so high that it’s difficult to envisage anyone being able to match it in terms of intensity, spectacle and sheer entertainment value and those who witnessed the event in Newcastle will remember the marvel of a Rammstein show long after the cavalcade of trucks have headed off into the night and on to the next unsuspecting city.
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