rammstein usa tour 2022 review

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Rammstein: Zeit review – ridiculous, but no risk of boredom

(Spinefarm) The Gothic, operatic metallers deliver hook after hook on an album so streamlined and efficient you can almost hear the pyro cues

R ammstein fill stadiums around the world, despite the fact that, as they admit, 99% of their fans have no idea what they’re singing about . They’ve managed that by having a jawdropping live show, cultivating a strong air of unwholesomeness and making their music as streamlined and efficient as possible: everything is honed into such a brutal, mechanical pulse that you can almost hear the pyro cues in their songs.

On their eighth album, the lyrics are again in German, the riffs again pound and all you might expect is present and correct. At times it’s so on the nose you all but roll your eyes – the oompah band that introduces a song about wanting to meet a woman with large breasts, called Dicke Titten (Big Tits), for example. Zick Zack, a graphic description of plastic surgery, is almost certainly the only rock song to comment on the re-found visibility of a man’s penis after the removal of seven kilos of belly fat. Till Lindemann, as ever, intones as if he is announcing desperate news over the radio, which adds the required oddness to Meine Tränen (My Tears), about an oppressive mother-son relationship.

But it’s hard not to get swept along: Rammstein ’s world is so perfectly formed – the gothic, operatic sweep of their metal delivers hook after hook, endorphin hit after endorphin hit; the grooves are as deep as canyons – that ridiculous or not, there’s no risk of boredom, even as you know the whole thing is really just an excuse to get all the flames and explosions back on the road.

• Pop and rock

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Quincy, IL (62301)

Variable clouds with strong thunderstorms. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. High 69F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

Heavy thunderstorms this evening will give way to steady rain overnight. Low near 50F. SSE winds shifting to NNE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected. Locally heavy rainfall possible.

Updated: April 1, 2024 @ 2:38 pm

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German industrial band Rammstein performed in Chicago Saturday night, one of eight shows in the U.S. on the long-delayed North American Stadium Tour.

• Bad Wolf Media/Mike Sorensen
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Paul Landers of Rammstein on stage in Chicago.

Oliver Riedel of Rammstein

Christian "Flake" Lorenz of Rammstein

Richard Kruspe of Rammstein

Rammstein on stage at Chicago's Soldier Field.

Till Lindemann of Rammstein

Christoph Schneider of Rammstein

Rammstein at Soldier Field, September 3 2022

German industrial metal band Rammstein on stage at Chicago's Soldier Field, September 3, 2022

CONCERT REVIEW: German metal icons Rammstein bring fire and fury to the Windy City

• By MIKE SORENSEN Bad Wolf Media special to The Herald-Whig [email protected]
• Sep 6, 2022

I'm going to start this review with a little bit of a personal story. In 2017, when I was just starting on my road of covering concerts, I saw a post that German metal/industrial band Rammstein was playing at the Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre. Known for their theatrical productions as well as their heavy sound, I sent an email off to request access to cover the show.

I was approved, with one caveat: a clarification because I had requested to cover the show at the Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre in St. Louis, but the show was at the Tinley Park location. I hadn't realized there were two different venues of the same name. I couldn't make it for that mid-week show. So I was even more excited in 2019, when I had more time to plan, that Rammstein unveiled a massive — and that's an understatement — new stadium tour they'd be bringing to Chicago … in 2020. And we all know how that story goes, I think.

This past Saturday, that story came to its epic conclusion. As the world reopened and things got back to a semblance of normal, Rammstein was finally able to bring their North American Stadium Tour to Soldier Field in the Windy City. Tens of thousands of metal fans, from across the country and around the world, converged on Chicago for that one epic night. The show opened with French pianists Duo Abélard on the secondary stage set up on the 50-yard line of the home of the Bears.

The pair played a nine-song set of Rammstein covers — some of the same songs that would be played again in the main event, but sounding like nothing Rammstein ever released. Héloïse Hervouët and Katherine Nikitine attack the keyboards with a ferocity that echoed the creators of the music they were playing, punctuating the classical piano sound with pounding notes as they worked their way from "Sonne" and "Mutter" to "Mein Herz brennt" and ending with the double-punch of "Deutschland" and "Du hast." The songs may have been the same as the headliners, but the sound was unique to Duo Abélard.

Rammstein kicked off their set with an explosive introduction, hitting the stage with "Armee der Tristen" and into "Zick Zack." The industrial icons pounded their way through a setlist with a total of 21 songs spanning their nearly-three-decade career, with emphasis on the most recent self-titled album. The earth-shaking sonic assault was punctuated by over-the-top pyrotechnics that have become one of the hallmarks of Rammstein, from towers of flame to explosions of fireworks and more. During "Puppe," a giant baby buggy on stage burst into flames as the video showed a demonic infant spewing a horde of insects from its mouth, a visual which itself was punctuated by blasts of black confetti "swarming" through the stadium.

The main set of the night ended with performances of "Du hast" and "Sonne," two of the songs played by the opening act but the way the crowd was used to hearing them. One of the unexpected benefits of a weather system moving through the area — but which didn't hinder the show — was a low cloud level reflecting the heat and light of the pyrotechnics and the stage lights, giving another layer to an already-deep visual experience.

The first of two encore sets took place on the center-field B-stage, with Rammstein being joined by Duo Abélard for a piano version of "Engel." The four-song encore wrapped up with another tidal wave of confetti, with white clouds of paper swirling around the field like a December snowstorm.

The final three songs of the night took the form of a second encore. Starting off with the song "Rammstein," featuring frontman Till Lindemann wearing a pyro-charged backpack to create a "peacock" of flame, alternating blasts with guitarists Richard Kruspe and Paul Landers with fiery plumes from their instruments. Rounding out the sextuplet were Oliver Riedel on bass, Christoph Schneider behind the kit, and Christian "Flake" Lorenz on the keyboard, synthesizers, and more from his trust on-stage treadmill. The show ended with performances of "Ich will" and, fittingly, "Adieu." The band showed their gratitude with their formal kneeling bow to close out the night.

A tour that was announced in 2019 was delivered by a fleet of aircraft, transported by a herd of semis, and assembled by craftsmen both onstage and behind the scenes. From the first sight of the empty stage when entering the stadium to the last notes of night and the confetti blowing across the parking lot to end the night, Rammstein absolutely delivered on the promise they made three years ago, and satisfied my own personal anticipation that's been built over five years.

• Duo Abelard

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