Rammstein's return worth the wait
Take away the pyrotechnics, the light show, the elaborate stage setup and backgrounds, and at its core, Rammstein is a very good live band.
They proved it Sunday night in front of close to 6,000 people in a three-quarter-house show at the DCU Center.
Of course, the pyrotechnics, light show and elaborate stage setup — carted around by 32 trucks — is a part of the Rammstein experience.
The last time Rammstein played in Worcester (June 5, 1999), lead singer Till Lindemann and keyboardist Christian Lorenz were arrested and fined for simulating a sex act while performing at The Palladium.
While there were plenty of sexual innuendos — including a flesh-colored cannon which shot foam into the crowd while being ridden by Lindemann — there was certainly nothing meriting an arrest or a $25 fine (what Lindemann and Lorenz wound up paying in 1999).
The band walked through the crowd led by drummer Christoph Schneider carrying a torch and two other members carrying flags — one a Rammstein flag and the other the Massachusetts state flag.
Opening with “Sonne,” the six-piece from Berlin had complete control of the crowd.
The relentless, 20-song barrage given by the band and willingly absorbed by the crowd — which showed its appreciation by pumping fists and singing along.
The first time the crowd was entirely alive was during “Feurer Freil,” opening the first pit of the day in the middle of the floor while the first five rows were pumping their fists in unison while barking along with Lindemann.
After, the band inexplicably slowed things down with power-ballad, “Mutter.” Not quite the place I would play that song, especially since the crowd seemed primed for a full hostile sonic assault.
The band quickly picked things back up, though, following with “Mein Teil.”
Other highlights in the first half of the set included “Links 2-3-4” and, of course, “Du Hast.”
The band played three songs on a miniature stage by the sound board after “Haifisch”: “Buch Dich,” — the song during which the simulated sex act was performed both in 1998 and 1999 — “Mann Gegen Mann,” and the second power-ballad of the night, “Ohne Dich,” before stepping off for the first of two encores.
The first encore saw Rammstein play “Amerika” and “Ich Will,” before the band stepped off stage again, this time returning with Lindmann adorned with huge angel wings which shot flames off the end for “Engel” before closing the night with … well, the song title is a slang term for a part of the female anatomy and cannot officially be printed by this newspaper. (It's also the word some people use in front of the word cat.) Before the band took a bow, Lindmann, in English, said, “Worcester, thank you very much. I hope we don't get arrested like last time.”
Joe Letz, a member of the band Combichrist, opened the show with a 30-minute electronic dance music/dubstep DJ set consisting mainly of Rammstein remixes.
“Amerika” and “Du Hast” were the best ones, and he closed the set by leading a Rammstein chant before the headliners walked through the crowd en route to the stage.