Rammstein @ the Denver Coliseum
by: Sal Christ
The little kids were up past their bedtime. Seemingly dressed for a piano recital, the trio of three-footers pattered out on stage after none other than Combichrist’s Joe Letz introduced the group to a crowd ready to rage. Children were opening for a German industrial metal band, known as much for their chest-crushing tunes as for their bordering-vulgar stage theatrics and pyrotechnics? Yes, that’s right. Children Medieval Band kicked off the Rammstein show at the Denver Coliseum, a venue with a concert seating capacity of 10,000. Not a bad first show for a band whose members are all under the age of 12.
Obviously, the kids’ set was a hard act to follow for Letz, who further riled the audience with a gritty, kicking DJ set before Rammstein made their grand entrance on a catwalk ramp over the main floor. Was this unexpected? No. Rammstein’s performance is as much about the music as it is about the actual performance—from fancy dress, to lighting design, to pyrotechnics; the band wants its listeners to truly experience the music from the inside out.
If ticker tape, epileptic lighting, glitter, and staged firebombs make your heart pump, the Denver show was the place to be. With a set list that included favorites “Sonne,” “Du Hast,” and the always-saucy “Bück dich,” front man, Till Lindemann’s, bass vocals and rolled R’s did not disappoint. When he wasn’t parading around strategically, Lindemann shot off fireworks with a bow, encouraged general mischief, and cooked keyboardist, Christian “Flake” Lorenz, in a pot with a rather large blowtorch during “Mein Teil” all while dressed in a bloodied butcher’s outfit. Lorenz spent most of his sequin-clad night trolling on a treadmill beneath his keys and fending off “attacks” from Lindemann. The other members of Rammstein seemed to approve, and even joined in the pyrotechnic fun, which too often involved actually wearing the flame-throwers.
Perhaps that was part of the draw of the show: the flames that burst at a moment’s notice. A pyromaniac’s dream, those closest to the stage—even beyond the massive mosh pit that was the main floor—could feel the heat of the fire launching through the floor or blooming downward from the ceiling. At one point, Lindemann and guitarists, Paul Landers and Richard Kruspe, wore flame-spewing headgear positioned like microphones inches from their mouths, but it didn’t stop there. The first encore witnessed the release of red, white, and blue metallic ticker tape during North American favorite, “Amerika,” and the second encore blew up Victoria’s Secret style with Lindemann brandishing metal wings set ablaze at the ends during “Engel.”
By the time 11 p.m. rolled around, concertgoers wandered away from the venue burning with adrenaline, and covered in foam, after Lindemann sprayed the audience during the final song of the night—determined to leave a mess for the cleanup crew. Attendees may not have understood a single word of any track performed by the German sextet, but “fun” is an experience that requires no name. Whether “Flake” was crowd-surfing in a river raft or the band members were crawling across the catwalk in leashes, fun meant escaping the real world for a couple of hours—something music fans everywhere can appreciate.
Category: Planet Buzz
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