Rammstein at RDS review: Incendiary, spectacular and irresistible performance from showmen of German metal

Rammstein

RDS, Dublin

★★★★★

There is no show like a Rammstein show. Prometheus according to the Greek legend, stole fire from the gods and was condemned for eternity to have his liver pecked out by an eagle. Rammstein have harnessed the same primeval force to bring the biggest spectacle in live music.

There probably isn’t another music act who could draw 38,000 fans to the RDS and still elicit a “who?” from most Irish people, despite being one of the biggest bands to ever come out of continental Europe. The combination of Kraftwerk electronica with the energy of trash metal has drawn generations of metalheads to a band who have defied the convention that, in order to have worldwide success, you must sing in English.

It was noteworthy how many Germans were in attendance, a gathering of their expatriates in Ireland or perhaps those who had flown into Ireland. There were many fans who knew every word. Whether they understood what they were singing is another matter. Memo to the Department of Education: teach Rammstein lyrics in German classes.

Till Lindemann on stage at the RDS. Photograph: Barry Cronin

One could exhaust a thesaurus struggling for the appropriate word to describe a Rammstein show. Incendiary is perhaps the most apposite expression given the band spend two hours playing with fire, shooting out blasts of flame and smoke from a set which resembles the Cape Canaveral Apollo launch pad.

The show begins with the elevator pitch. Five of the six members of the band descend from the tower on the main stage while singer Till Lindemann ascends on to the stage in a loud explosion and puff of smoke, literally and figuratively.

Lindemann sets a giant baby carriage on fire during Puppe. During Mein Teil he shoots flames from a cannon at keyboard player Christian Lorenz, aka Flake, who continues to play while in a giant cauldron which is engulfed in flames.

The band have performed this stunt a thousand times, but still, you can’t look away. Later Lindemann turns his cannon on the audience and shoots flames above their heads. What if, this one time, it goes wrong?

Zeit, a piano anthem, is an anomaly in the set list, but it sequels into Deutschland in which the members of the band dress as skeletons and carry lit torches around the stage. There is never a dull moment with these guys.

There is crowd-surfing and then there is Rammstein crowd-surfing. The band turn Engel, the last song before the encore, into an instrumental and proceed to surf across the crowd in a couple of inflatable boats buoyed by the audience.

This show would be all style and no substance if Rammstein didn’t have the tunes to complement the spectacle. Songs from all seven of their studio albums feature, which shows a consistency for a band that has been around since 1995. They open with Ramm 4, a self-reverential song which namechecks many of their best known songs.

Two hours later they complete their set with Adieu from their latest album Zeit. The one caveat to this impressive spectacle was the Irish weather. For once, it behaved. It was a beautiful, cloudless summer evening, but unfortunately that wasn’t what was needed.

Hosting an outdoor concert in Ireland at midsummer with a 10pm curfew might work for some acts, but the Rammstein pyrotechnical displays and light show could have benefited from some slate grey Irish clouds to enhance the spectacle. It also washed out the big screens which were not really visible until late into the concert.

Still, you can’t have everything. If only they could bring this show to indoor arenas.