[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_blAbsVLX54[/youtube]
It’s been a decade since Rammstein brought their pyro-heavy metal-industrial show to the United States, so when the German sextet announced that their first trip back would consist of one show only at Madison Square Garden, the bar was set pretty high. Not only did they exceed expectations by selling out America’s most famous arena in less than an hour, the show this past Saturday (11) raised the bar again, then set it on fire.
While the pyro that accompanies a Rammstein show is expected (and part of the reason they haven’t been stateside in a while), the whole lighting and stage show was phenomenal as well. Singer Till Lindemann took the stage in a getup that made him look like the Bride of Frankenstein, and sang “Rammleid” with a light in his mouth. For “Weiner Blut,” two lines of mutilated baby dolls with lasers for eyes descended from above. And I’m not even going to talk about the gigantic metal penis that shot white foam out during “Pussy.”
One of the most special effects wasn’t fire, but the band’s keyboardist, Flake. After kicking Lindemann to the ground during “Ich to Dir Weh,” the singer put him over his shoulder, threw him into a wheelbarrow, and proceeded to levitate on a riser to a bucket of “fire” that poured onto him. Flake then jumped out of the wheelbarrow covered head to toe in a sparkling body suit and proceeded back to his keyboards, where he walked on a treadmill for the rest of the set.
And then there’s the fire. It goes without saying that there’s going to be plenty of it, and the first time the crowd really got a taste of it was during “Feuer Frei,” when three members had flame throwers going. During “Benzin,” a gas pump was brought out and someone was (intentionally) set on fire. And the final song “Engel” began with Lindemann wearing angel wings with flamethrowers attached to the tips.
Even putting aside the stage show, theatrics and pyrotechnics, Rammstein sound great live. Their mix of industrial and metal is a hybrid of KMFDM, Ministry and Kraftwerk, and that they’re able to seamlessly pull it off says more about their musical ability than what they do onstage. And the rabid response from fans showed that there’s not only an audience for their brand of music, but that they’ve been underserved in the past decade.
Rammstein has yet to announce more plans to tour the States, but if this was a testing of the waters, the band should hopefully do some more touring in the states in the coming months. Both the Garden show and their Montreal show were filmed for a future release. In the mean time, fans will have to settle for YouTube videos. One person uploaded 12 videos of the band’s performance within hours. You can go here to see all of this particular person’s videos, but check out the band performing their most famous hit “Du Hast” above. Set list after the jump.
Rammstein Set List, Madison Square Garden 12/11/10:
Rammlied
B********
Weidmann’s Hail
Keine Lust
Weisses Fleisch
Feuer Frei
Weiner Blut
Fruhling In Paris
Ich ti Dir Weh
Du Riechst so gut
Benzin
Links 2-3-4
Du Hast
Pussy
encore:
Sonne
Haifisch
Ich Will
Engel
