Rammstein
Deathstars
Birmingham, LG Arena
25th February 2012
Deathstars
are only able to put on a small production tonight
due to 70% of the stage being home to Rammstein’s
Fortress. Never the less they use this simple
setup to its full potential; the guitarists each
stand on one of the 3 platforms as smoke engulfs
them tinted with some sinister green upward lighting,
3 small backdrops of a dark blue cityscape with
the center proudly displaying the Deathstars logo.
Every aspect of the performance followed more
of an evil gothic theme, even the way vocalist
Andreas Bergh would address the audience was really
creepy. Their heavy musical style fit beautifully
next to Rammstein, not that it needed warming
up in that arena anymore than it was. The crowd
reception though was less enthusiastic than I
thought the band had earned, they performed tremendously
but I think everyone was just too excited for
the headliners. Hopefully people will definitely
remember that performance though as they definitely
earned some praise.
Rammstein.
Best. Show. Ever. To fully describe the sheer
amount of occurring events during the set would
have me rambling on for 3 pages, I’ll sum
it up best I can. Let’s start with describing
aforementioned fortress; they had 2 stages, a
small one in the center of the arena and the normal
stage with a bridge that lowered from the ceiling
whenever they travelled between the 2, huge lighting
rigs and lit up symbols that would switch around
and move all over the place, started with a backdrop
that looked like cell membranes which later on
fell to reveal a really industrial metal pipe
background with what appeared to be computer chips
as lighting. As for the shenanigans, where the
hell do I start; the microphones and stands were
on fire, huge sparks shot from the sleeves of
vocalist Till Lindermann, he was then showered
in sparks, at one point he brought out a huge
pot dressed as a butcher and used a huge flamethrower
to cook keyboardist Christian Lorenz in it which
would then explode, during “Feuer Frei!”
the fire masks came out, 3 huge balls of sparks
shot to the back of the arena then came back causing
the stage to explode, Lorenz crowd surfed across
half the arena in an inflatable boat, they travelled
to the second stage over the bridge dressed as
gimps humping each other, Lindermann exposed a
penis from his trousers and doused the audience
with it, during last song “Pussy”
Lindermann again glided across the
stage on an enormous cock cannon squirting foam
everywhere. To sum up, there was fire, everything
exploded and there was foulness at every turn.
Even with all the stuff they have to do onstage
and how hot it is, not a single member once displayed
even an ounce of fear, they performed with military
precision and extreme dominance, looking at the
way they conduct themselves you would actually
think they were an army. 20 long songs which included
2 encores, I was left in awe completely speechless,
my number 1 spot for best gig of all time has
just been taken.
Deathstars – 4/5
Rammstein – 5/5
Review By James Webb
Photos By Robert Lawrence
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