Crossposted review of the 29th Feb 2012 performance of Rammstein's Made In Germany 1995-2011 Tour. I was in front row, right against the barrier, in front of Richard.
More below the cut. Dare you go forward? Yes. Yes you do. Clicky.
Before 2pm - Kimby sets off from Durham, England, takes the train to Newcastle. Arrives around 1pm. Has a little chicken bake which is her entire food for the day because she's too excited to eat anything else. Wanders around to find the Newcastle Metro Radio Arena at 2pm. Starts waiting.
2:30pm - I want to sit down so bad. This is wistful thinking because the next time I get to sit down is around 11pm.
3:00pm - Walk around the arena. Doors are glass. Multiple doors, but only one side of the building is the entrance. Kind of narrow looking too. Not sure what to feel about this.
4:00pm -
* Drugs being passed in front of me. I decline. These drugs are later responsible for the twenty+ guys that are ejected from the performance later.
* Start to wish that I wore boots and maybe a coat, but then it gets HOT in a Rammstein performance. I have a jacket on that is fairly long and comes down past my hips, so I just suck it up and wait in the cold. Two hours before doors open.
* Random bitchy boy in front of me, genuinely a kid about ten years old, wearing a Liebe Ist Fur Alle Da shirt with the band members killing and eating that woman. Concerned about his upbringing.
5:00pm -
* Fenced in. I make a new friend. Twenty-something year old called Rebecca. Says she's doing a trail of Rammstein concerts while they're in the UK. She will be going to Manchester tomorrow. Awesome.
* Security guards start miling about inside.
6:30pm -
* Doors open. It is another half an hour before we get inside because Metro Radio Arena is retarded and has a structure like a toothpaste tube with loads of people being squeezed inside. I take front row, right against the barrier. I am told that this is in front of where Richard will be. They are right.
* Deathstars are the opening act, their banner and act is set up. Tuning sounds, roadies. Being squished. Nevertheless this is front row so I don't care much. First Rammconcert and front row already.
7:30pm -
* Deathstars begin their act, play for half an hour. Never heard them before. Very different from Rammstein but enjoyable, incredible for headbanging in particular.
* Can't figure out the gender of bassists/guitarists.
* Oh, I guess they're male. Okay then. Great screamers, they are.
* Lead singer has a really sexy voice. "We are a band from Scandinavia," he drawls. Applause. "but we do not need your applause! Please save your cheers and applause for Rammstein!" Even louder applause. Awesome.
* Intermission from 8:00pm to 8:30pm. Water passed around.
Sonne -
* Band members enter by the side of the arena to enormous applause and camera flashes. Security guards drag the first riotous idiot out. Flake is holding the English flag as opposed to British. Interesting.
* Ein, zwei, drei, vier, funf, sechs, sieben, acht, neun.... AUS!!
* Till's voice is quieter than expected. This may be terrible surround sound. It sure is terrible the other few times, too. Richard catches my eye and I wave at him. Not sure if he's wearing contacts.
* AhhhhhhhhhHHHHHH ahhhhhhhhh ahhhhhhhhHHHHHHH ahhhhhh *walk walk* <- approximation of Flake's keyboard solo.
Wollt Ihr Das Bett in Flammen Sehen? -
* Till mimics the screaming sections between each line. Incredibly funny.
* Paul is being Paul.
* Suddenly finger flamethrowers. Scatters flames everywhere. Very loud too. Pyrotechnics are burning my face off but at this point I am headbanging so much that I don't even care. There is something really fun about the way Till waves those flamethrowers about while screaming 'SEEEEEX'.
* Bass and drums are really very, very resonant. Suddenly feel a bit sick but I hold it down.
Keine Lust -
* Blue lighting. Till's voice is beautiful and agonized.
* Schneider is having the time of his life back there. This point is where I'm recording a few little bits so I miss out on half the headbanging. Goddamnit. Riotous idiots #2 and #3 dragged out.
* 'Ich habe keine Lust' section is audience participation. Rebecca is enjoying things tremendously.
* Richard is sweating quite a bit and Till isn't. Very unusual.
Sehnsucht -
* Till Hammer is very beautifully done in combination with the mic. The way he mimes crawling with his fingers at '... Insekt' is also amusing. Till is pulling quite a lot of very entertaining faces.
* Richard-Paul interaction is very little so far. I don't know why this is.
* I think this is where Flake plays a eargrating noise on his keyboard. Till scrunches up his face, shields his ears, goes up to Flake and kicks him. Flake comes down and kicks him back. But this is not an Ich Tu Dir Weh situation so he gets away with it.
* Olli is looking very pale today. But he has the awesome hat.
Asche Zu Asche -
* I can never get over how demonic Richard sounds live. Here is a colourful reproduction of what the first verse sounded like.
Till: Warmer Körper!
Richard: Warm-er Körperrrrr!
Till: Hei-ßes Kreuz!
Richard: Hei-ßes Kreuuuuuuuz!
Till: Falsches Ur-teil!
Richard: Falsches Urteiiiil!
Till: Kaltes Grab!
Richard: Kalt-es Graaaaaab!
Oh Richard you funny bastard you. I love you to bits.
* Flake has an awesome walk during his solo and he has a pencil mustache. Nothing else I say on this afterwards will matter because FLAKE HAS A PENCIL MUSTACHE AND IT SUITS HIM.
* Flame mics are on. Richard is singing very passionately into it. Paul will not be mentioned much in this report because I can't see him. ;_;
Feuer Frei! -
* Roadies during the flamethrower sequence are having a hard time of it.
* Bang, bang!... Bang, bang!... *handwave* FEUER FREI!
* Delayed gunshots.
Mutter -
* A time to quieten down a bit. Bliss to my ears. But I am annoyed because the sound during this sequence was kind of terrible and I couldn't hear Till clearly. Ah well. There's always Richard to watch. He's shed his longcoat by this time. He's soloing during Till's first verse and gazing in his direction. Kind of romantic.
* Stage lighting is green and sort of misty. Even though I can't hear Till clearly, I hear enough that I am saddened and soothed at the same time.
Mein Teil -
* And then suddenly Till with a bloodstained face, chef's apron, knife mic pushing Flake in a pot onto the stage. Paul twirls around after his intro with Richard and gives a million-dollar smile. His tattoos look pretty today.
* Flakedance. That's all I can say. Except that he HAS A PENCIL MUSTACHE.
* Schneider's drumming really stands out during this song.
* Till sharpens his 'knife' on his crotch.
* The smaller flamethrower is not doing the trick so Till demands a bigger one and shoots it off three times and oh hey look my face has burnt off.
Du Riechst So Gut -
* For some reason I feel kind of nauseous throughout this entire sequence. It's the resonance. Water is passed around again, I accept the first cup and decline the second. Riotous idiots #10 to #13 are dragged out, they look like brothers.
* Till operates the fire bow. Graceful movements.
* Richard's vocals are demonic again. But this time it really does suit the song. He looks kind of blank though.
* Flake keeps walking and Till keeps talking and singing. 'Du riechst so gut' chorus is audience participation.
Links 2,3,4 -
* I really do go overboard with the headbanging love with this one. Schneider's twirling of the drumsticks sets me off.
* Till's mic rocks back and forth. His high voice is kind of charming.
* Olli is particularly noticeable during this sequence for some reason. I think he's come down from his usual spot and is wandering around the stage. Everyone in the front row is marching to the beat. That includes me, yessir.
Du Hast -
* This one being a fan favourite and all, it's been performed since forever. But it's lyrically very simple, really. I wonder if none of the band gets sick of it. I'm watching Till mostly during this.
* Apart from the Till Hammer, Till uses this part to give himself a bit of a break because Du Hast is pretty much half audience participation. He motions for us to sing louder and gives us all the Till Thumbs-Up of Approval.
* 'Willst du bis der Tod euch scheidet; treu ihr sein für alle Tage?' - 'JAAAAAAAAAAA!' - 'NEIN!' - 'JAAAAAAAAAA!' - 'NEIN!'
Haifisch -
* Richard takes a smoke break during the boat sequence. So much for unity. Asshole.
* Said boat sequence nearly ends in disaster because about 5 rows in, the boat tips precariously. Flake is the one in it and he's visibly wincing.
* Boat ride only lasts two minutes. Newcastle Rammsteiners, you are boring.
* Olli is looking VERY pale today. I wave at him and he stares at me. Probably wistful thinking though.
* After 'Haifisch' comes the encore section - we know that, but nevertheless this is treated as the end of the performance. Everyone comes up and kneels down on the stage meaningfully before bowing. Lights go out. A chant of 'Ramm-stein!' begins in the crowd.
Buck Dich -
* Melodic strains of 'Buck dich!' along with Richard's WOOOOOOOO cuts through the air. I turn around. Nearly get squashed. Hold on anyway. Disadvantage of being in first row is that when they move to the B-stage you can't see shit. I'm also 18 years old and am like 5 feet 4 tall so you see the problem. Nevertheless the music is good.
* Till is a very disobedient doggy and refuses to walk properly across the bridge. Schneider in a dress and makeup proceeds to bitchslap the shit out of him and makes him move. He keeps the wig on during the song.
* Schneider stuffs something in Till's mouth to make him behave.
* Actual song. Everybody starts jumping around so I can't see Buck Dich but I sure as hell can hear Buck Dich. It is a nice Buck Dich.
* Dildo works perfectly. Till cums on Richard. Not sure what else to say.
Mann Gegen Mann -
* Fairly certain that Till does not approach Richard in this part. Boo! Flake is hanging around, though.
* SCHWULERRRRRRRRRRR
* AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
* SCHWULAAAAAAAAAAH
* AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Ohne Dich -
* I do not watch this part because I'm so far back from the B-stage that it's pointless to try. A pity. But you can't have everything in life. I nevertheless get a slow wave going.
* I turn back towards the real stage and close my eyes and enjoy the music. Ohne Dich is beautiful, particularly with the crowd singing along.
* They move back across the bridge slowly. Schneider looks like the Joker with lipstick smeared all over his lips messily.
Mein Herz Brennt -
* The curse of the terrible soundcheck gets to us again so this sounds curiously very grating and weird. For the first part it doesn't even sound very much like Mein Herz Brennt.
* Richard is finally shirtless. I think Olli is too. Paul isn't, Till isn't. Flake is, I think.
* Stage lights go dark during the bridge. Till's heart is indeed beating, glowing various shades of RGB. It is one of the beautiful things I have ever seen, the way he stands and kind of clutches at his chest with that plaintive look on his face.
* Richard is really into soloing. Riotous Idiots #17-20 are dragged out, obviously high off their rocker, and he frowns down at them.
Amerika -
* This section is one of the funniest mainly because of Till's faces and gestures. But what makes it for me how Flake's holding up. Apart from his PENCIL MUSTACHE, I can see him up close, wearing his wraparound shades and playing his heart out. I love him so much. Why is he so awesome. Never mind he just got owned by a dildo wearing Till a few songs back. From his entire demeanor, might as well have never happened.
* Silver + red confetti rains on us from the ceiling. I save two. Later bits of the confetti will continue to haunt me, culminating in when I put on my jacket outside after the performance and a huge wad of confetti drops out from the hood. I think Paul eats some. O_O
* Flake has confetti stuck to his chest. Teehee! XD
Ich Will -
* Newcastle didn't perform extremely well during Ich Will sections, I think. Didn't hear anyone else screaming 'Wir sehen dich!' or such until the last repetition of the chorus. Then again, none of them would have made out what we were screaming anyway. That be the point of the song.
* Mic screeched on Till's part during the first verse. Eeep. Otherwise a smooth performance.
* I capture the part where he stalks over and sings to us on camera, taking Richard's position. Richard is at the very far stage left at this point and Paul is on the very stage right.
Engel -
* Finally, my most awaited number of the night, Till with wings. I'm surprised at how smaller they look compared to pictures I've seen, but once they unfold fully and start shooting flames, I'm not complaining for sure.
* Richard is particularly striking and ripe for picturetaking because he's standing relatively still. So is Till. Richard's whistles are very clearly heard in combination with Paul's.
* The female vocals are recorded and sound a bit distorted.
* 'Gott weiss ich will kein Engel sein!' is audience participation. 'I Survived Front Row With Rammstein' stickers are handed out and I take one. Badass.
* There is something poignantly sad and beautiful about the way Till folds his wings back down, I think, and slowly descends backstage.
Pussy -
* The awed mood is then ruined promptly by the beginning chord of 'Pussy'. XDDDDDDD
* This is also mostly audience participation with Till gesturing:
Till: *holds his hands a foot apart*
Audience: TOO BIG
Till: *two fingers*
Audience: TOO SMALL
Till: *one of his curious faces, holds out arms*
Audience: SIZE DOES MATTER AFTER ALL
Till: *thumbs up and smiles*
* I didn't think watching Paul singing 'I HAVE A DICKAHHHH' would be this funny. But it is.
* Schneider's drumming is very passionate, again.
* Till rides the cannon and sweeps the stage twice and this is where I get cummed on which takes you straight back to how the whole report started in the first place. The foam is kind of very sticky and has covered EVERY FUCKING THING. I'm not even joking. Every fucking thing. It clings to my shoes and I nearly slip out of them while leaving. He points down in my general direction as he's singing 'You've got a pussy'. I can't meet his eyes. xDDDDD
* This is the final song of the show. Till takes the mic and says a few words about Newcastle in English, along with a 'Thank you and good night'. All six bow and leave the stage. Schneider is the third one to leave, tossing his drumsticks into the crowd, gesturing and smiling at the lucky people who got them, before heading down backstage. Richard waves and bows multiple times to the crowd, cracking a little smile like the diva that he is. He gestures to Flake, giving as a good view of his painted nails, before descending. Flake is the last one to leave. We are then all herded out. I buy a poster and a red Rammflag before walking out, dazed and ears ringing, into the night.
That is my report of the night. Coming back from Newcastle to Durham is considerably less fun because I miss the last train home and get involved in taxi fees dispute. Then I just go back to my dorm and go 'ah fuck that' and go to bed. This is how the best two and a half hours of my life ends.
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