Rammstein Live at Brixton

Rammstein, Raging Speedhorn and American Head Charge @ London Arena, 16/05/02

They were shit. Next up was American Head Charge, relatively new over here and promoting the release of their album 'The War of Art'. Some have compared AHC to Slipknot, although I think this is bit of a lazy comparison and might be largely due to there being so many of them on stage. Layers of guitar and aggressive vocals combine slickly with the sound of their two keyboardists (at any given time one is playing while the other one is waving his synth above his head. I don't know why, but hey, it was fun). Their mixture is about 80% metal and 20% industrial, so they set the tone well for the show's headliners, and their final track 'A Violent Reaction' is an absolute blinder. If 'The War of Art' is as successful as it deserves to be, then we could be seeing a lot more of AHC in the future.

Rammstein's most recent album-opener 'Mein Herz Brennt' began their set, as frontman Till Linderman rose spookily up from the floor on a tilting platform. It's been noticed before that their live shows sound a little bit too studio-ish to be entirely live, and I certainly got the feeling at some points that I was actually just watching a big karaoke performance with live drums and a few extras thrown in. Well maybe I was, but that didn't stop it being one of the best gigs I've ever been to! The sheer energy of what was being performed is very hard to describe. They moved briskly from one song to the next, pausing only once near the end of the set to say, "thankyou very fucking much London." The enthusiasm from the crowd too was intense - for a foreign rock band that sing almost everything in their native tongue they are gaining an unprecedented level of acceptance over here. It's kind of odd to see so many fans singing along to the choruses of 'Du Hast' and 'Zwitter' when so few of them know what the words actually mean.

Nobody goes to see Rammstein without expecting a lot of pyrotechnics, and they must have got through more in one night than the Luftwaffe could drop in a year. The burning metal overcoat Till wears as he sings 'Rammstein' for his encore has become an institution in itself (how does he keep doing that without scorching his ears?), as have the chin-mounted flame throwers and the gimpy behaviour of their keyboardist (he now wears rubber shorts with a convenient removable back panel).

Having stunned us with that potentially difficult third album, Rammstein have now proved that they're definitely no flash in the pan. It would be nice to hear some more new material, but maybe that's just me being greedy. As long as they don't get careless and blow themselves up, I'm sure they'll satisfy our cravings before too long!

Whilst the band my freely toy with totalitarian imagery, it's just that- an attempt to stir up some publicity winning controversy. However, the band are quite openly political animals- witness their condemnation in their web pages of the recent American retaliatory strikes on Afghanistan, perhaps a clearer indication of where their views lie. And whilst some of their videos may depict darker moments from their nation's history, Rammstein's music itself pays equal homage to much of the respected parts of their culture- from the grandeur of Wagner to the pioneering electro precision of Kraftwerk. In fact, Rammstein are perhaps one of the first German exports to show open pride in their heritage, with virtually all their tracks being sung in their native tongue.

Rammstein (Above) haven't a clue how to operate their latest purchase from the Ann Summers' catalogue.

However, if there is any one group amongst whom Rammstein cause extreme controversy at present it’s their fans, specifically those in the UK. With tales of Rammstein's live cyber fetish circus spreading from all corners of Europe, English fans awaited the band's June 2001 debut gig at the London Astoria with baited breath. Sadly, this proved not to be when the gig was pulled at the last minute due to an alleged conflict with London safety officials concerned with the band's excessive use of flamethrowers and other pyrotechnics. This cancellation itself has caused heated debate amongst fans. There are those who approve of the band sticking to their principles by refusing to put on a substandard show. On the other hand, some have noted the fact that the cheaper June tickets were not transferable to the rescheduled gig at the Brixton Academy (Which cost five pounds more a ticket than the June show) which reeked of promoters capitalising on a hot cult band.

It may have been a wait of almost six months, but the Rammstein spectacular has finally arrived on UK shores. Of course the bands stage shows are legendary and everybody assembled at Brixton is expecting something special. On this level the band don't disappoint- Sparks fly from overhead cylinders as the band mount their instruments and flames pour from the side crevices of the stage.

Vocalist Till Linderman surveys the carnage in front of him, now sporting a Travis Bickle style Mohican. That he barely speaks anything other than the lyrics to his songs only adds to his air of menace. But for all the spectacle on display it's pretty obvious that this is a cyber Goth interpretation of a Broadway show, as with the exception of the vocals and drums, just about every other instrument sounds so processed that it would be more of a surprise find the guitar parts to be live than on tape. Then again, it can't be easy to play a guitar with a flamethrower strapped to your chin! But when the visual palette is so rich, are the sounds of that much importance? Admittedly this is a rock concert and the band is the main focus (A role which they play with appropriate vigour) but their music is more of a soundtrack than anything else, which is only furthered by the fact that very few of the audience would understand the tongue that the words are being spoken in. Of course the language spoken by the band is irrelevant- they could be speaking in gibberish and the confrontational energy of songs such as 'Du Hast' would still reach their intended targets.

There's more japery on stage when Till pulls the leash on keyboard man Flake Lorenz towards him and mounts the synth player from behind (As there's no sign of any naked females that should silence those misogynist accusations that haunt the band!). Linderman then exposes a strap on dildo which he rogers (sic) into Flake's rear, before his rubber phallus shoots a spray of liquid (cream cheese?) over Flake and a few (un) lucky fans in the front row. OK, so it's more Green Jelly than Psychic TV, but when we consider just how terminally dull the average UK rock show is these days, acts like these easily warm Rammstein to the unconventional masses.

Despite the absence of the female vocalist (Guess she's on tape too!), 'Engel' is still a fine farewell of ethereal thrash, the wall of flames before the band guaranteed to singe a few eyebrows! Despite the theatrics this is still a rock and roll show, and encores are still the order of the day, a tradition Rammstein continue with their old favourite 'Rammstein'. There's no sign of the dominatrix Snow White seen in the video for 'Sonne', but Till heats up proceedings by setting alight to his jacket (Which explains where the mohican came from!).

Cries of "Just One More" are greeted with a song that the islanders of England can sing along to in the shape of Depeche Mode cover 'Stripped'. A guitarist goes crowd surfing in an inflatable dingy; losing his dingy and most of his underwear in the process, and thankfully Till doesn't wiggle his bum or continually yell the words "Yeah!" and "Thankhew" between tracks like a certain Mr Gahan.

Despite their dangerous reputation, the politically correct brigade can rest assured that Rammstein aren’t about to destroy western civilisation, if anything their attempts at subversion render them closer to an Aryan version of Kiss- A schlock rock circus that pays equal homage to both the plays of Alfred Jarry and the mysteries of Freud.