Rammstein Bühnenshows

Rammstein setzen bei ihren Konzerten in erheblichem Maße Pyrotechnik ein. So tragen einzelne Bandmitglieder Flammenwerfer (Lycopodiummasken) auf dem Kopf oder wenden während des Spielens Rauch- und Funkenwerfer an. Beim Song Rammstein zündete sich Sänger Lindemann – geschützt durch einen Asbestmantel – selbst an. Auch ausgefallene Requisiten wie Mikrofone in Messerform (zu Mein Teil), explodierende Schlagzeuge und Sticks oder an Verstümmelungen erinnernde Gesichtsmasken finden bei einzelnen Stücken Verwendung. Die pyrotechnischen Einlagen, vor allem vom ausgebildeten Feuerwerkstechniker Lindemann, sind dabei in nicht unerheblichem Maße für den hohen Bekanntheitsgrad der Band mitverantwortlich, was Lindemann sich dadurch erklärt, dass Rammstein „einfach die härtere David-Copperfield-Show sei.“ Das Rock-Lexikon schreibt dazu:

„Rammstein spielten seit ihrer Gründung 1994 mit dem Feuer: auf der Bühne, wo sie mit deutscher Perfektion die feurigen Gags von Arthur Brown bis Red Hot Chili Peppers nachahmten, und mit ihren Texten und ihrem Gebaren, die den Musikern den Ruf rechter Gesinnung einbrachte.“

Für die Shows der Band ist ihre Zusammenarbeit mit dem Regisseur und Lichtarchitekten Gert Hof, der oftmals die Bühnen- und Lichtkonzepte ausarbeitet, wichtig. Richard Kruspe sagte in einem Interview zur Bühnenshow, dass er Spaß daran habe, sich auf der Bühne zu verstellen und zu verkleiden, und die anderen Bandmitglieder schließe er da mit ein. Als Rammstein noch relativ unbekannt waren, haben sie nach eigenen Aussagen Flammen durch ein verpuffendes Gasgemisch im Saal erzeugt. Traditionell lässt sich am Ende eines Konzertes ein Bandmitglied in einem Gummiboot über die Köpfe der Zuschauer tragen.

Pyrotechnics:

Flamming keyboard:

The keyboard is smeared with a fire paste which sets it alight. There is a ‚Whoo!‘ song that is
heard at the same time, simply a recording of Till saying ‚Whoo!‘

Flamming mic:

When Guitarists Paul and Richard sing backing vocals to ‚Asche zu asche‘ the mics are set on
fire. They are wrapped in silver foil and have a long fuse poking out of them. The fuse is lit and the mics are engulfed.

Flamming coat:

This stunt starts with
Till emerging from the floor. He wears a special fire-proof coat which is engulfed in flames. The coat stops Till getting burnt whilst this is performed during the playing of ‚Rammstein‘

Firethrower:

Paul, Richard and Oliver
have flamethrowers strapped to their guitars, which let out a burning concoction of air and petroleum and a high pressure. These flamthrowers were used to ignite Till’s coat, but it is very dangerous, as they may ignite the wrong things, so they don’t do that anymore.

Footspalkers:

During ‚Weisses Fleisch‘
Till has aluminium tubes strapped to both feet. To set them off he stomps on a speaker and then jumps down onto the stage.

Fireworks

At the beginning of ‚Du
Riechst so Gut‘ the fire elbow shoots a firework/rocket along a thin wire above the audience, which sprays sparks out.

Flamme-bow

A bow loaded with fireworks which are shot out by a member of the band.

Firethrower mouth

Rammstein blow into tubes which spread fire from their mouths!

Flash Pots:

Pots are loaded into the stage which spray flames up

Special drumsticks

During ‚Engel‘ Christoph uses special drumsticks, packed with magnesium tubes like the ones used for Till’s foot sparklers. They let out loads of sparks which spray over the stage. Now, you don’t get that at a Backstreet Boy’s concert, do you???

Explosives:

Till throws firework bangers up into the air.

BANG BANG!:

At the end of ‚Fire frei‘
there are two big explosions out of the flash pots on stage when Till sings ‚Bang bang‘ for the final time.

Smoking

Smoke seaps out of Till’s clothes

Subventions:

Blood:

This Masochist stunt,
performed in ‚Sehnsucht‘ involves Till hitting himself in the head, bursting a packet of blood which drips and splashes down his head.

Masks

Oliver often wears a mask on stage.

Laser googles:

Till has a Laser pointer attatched to his goggles which points a red laser out into the crowd.

Whip:

During ‚Bestrafe Mich‘
(The translation is ‚Punish me‘, so you can see the relevance of the whip!) Till hits himself with a ‚Cat O nine tales‘ the original whips had little fragments of glass embedded in them and were used mainly to punish slaves. Till’s version, however, isn’t as dangerous.

Didlo:

Rammstein are very famous for this stunt, and some magazines criticise them for it, simply
because it’s a bit different. During ‚Buch dich‘ (‚Bend down‘) Till whips this out of his trousers. It has a hose running through it and Till sprays the audience and Flake with it! So what is the liquid that sprays out? ‚Now it’s Pernod [a French liqueur] and water,‘ laughs Flake. ‚It smells good. Last year, we got milk and it was horrible–it created quite an odor. And then he tried a powdered mix, but that, shall we say, clogged the pipe. As much as he tried, nothing came out.
And we know how embarrassing it is when nothing comes out!‘

Crowd sailing:

If Rammstein are gonna crowd surf, they’re bloody well gonna do it in style! They have a big
inflatable dingy and the members take it in turns each night to sail across the crowd, then back onto the stage. Not particularly spectacular, but a nice touch all the same!

Other

Flake’s dance:

This is the most dangerous stunt on the Rammstein set. Flake, the keyboardist, runs around the stage acting nuts… doing some strange, crazy moves!

Laser beams:

There are 6 little UFO shaped discs at the top of the stage they shoot down lasers to shine on the band or the audience