BDO Timetables

The BDO site now has timetables for all the shows (PDFs). The Auckland one is here. I'm disappointed to see that Rammstein is only scheduled to play for one hour. This is a good half hour less than the recent summer festival set, if I remember correctly. I was hoping for the same set.

NYC After-Party Report

At the time I saw some tweets, and retweeted them, but here's a proper write-up from one attendee of the after-party in New York. Olli features...

Nicely Put

This blog post sums up so many people's thoughts on Rammstein, their music, and their live show. I thought I'd share it with you.

A Retro Housewife in a Moshpit

I found a rather a nice review of Rammstein's NYC show, written by a woman who went with her husband, son, and her son's friends. Here's a highlight:

I didn't actually believe they would allow a mosh pit at Madison Square Garden, and right up to the very last minute I expected to find rows of neatly ordered seats up front, but I was wrong, and there was indeed moshing as well as squashing, squishing and exuberant bouncing. All good fun you understand, and as soon as I caught sight of the rather dangerous looking moshing, I grabbed my son's hand and steered him over to a section of the crowd where only squashing, squishing and exuberant bouncing was taking place.

A Series of Loud Reports...

Contrary to my usual practice I am not reading these before posting them, simply because I'm insanely busy right now. It's that time of year, and I work as a community manager, so it's that time of year and then some. I'll just link to them in turn:

Braingell Radio on NYC
Spin on NYC
Metal Insider on NYC
NYT on NYC
Phil Freeman (The Village Voice blog) on NYC & possibly his photos
Chart Attack on Montreal

Hopefully they're good reads!

Awesome Sauce, Rammheinz *groan*

A recent Heinz sauce promotion has its roots in good, solid German stone. Apparently inspired by the artwork for the LIFAD album, the photos show two men tucking into a young woman in a decidedly LIFADish manner. Very nicely done, and rather amusing in the details.

Thanks to Caro for the push. I saw this a little while ago, and somehow didn't rate it. So daft...

Set?

Pierrick has kindly provided the correct set for the North American shows, after I made a complete hash of it, so I've deleted what was here.

Rammlied
B********
Waidmanns Heil
Keine Lust
Weisses Fleisch
Feuer frei!
Wiener Blut
Fruhling in Paris
Ich tu dir weh
Du riechst so gut
Benzin
Links 2-3-4
Du hast
Pussy
--
Sonne
Haifisch
Ich will
--
Engel

Because I can!

Rammlied in NY

There's something seriously awesome about the chanting from the crowd. God, these six men must have the most enormous...egos.

As you can see the old 'wall breaching' opener is back. I wonder what response the giant German flag would have got. Probably the same one. I think that crowd was probably at fever pitch already.

Thanks for sharing the video, protyreus.

Olli Interview

The questions are posed in English, answered in German, and the answers translated to French, so if you don't speak at least two of these languages you will struggle, like me. I can't not post it though. I'm sure some of you speak more than one of the requisite languages!

Full of Twits?

If you've been watching my Twitter feed over the past couple of hours you will have noticed an insane escalation in activity. I felt it would be a good idea to relay selected tweets from the fans at MSG, and those wishing they were there, so the better traffic was available in one place. I am exhausted! It's pretty much over now, as the show has ended. Thanks for your patience, if this wasn't to your taste. I note that I didn't lose any followers, and actually gained a few new ones. I can't promise to be as assiduous when I attend the BDO show in January...

I'm Not Rammstein

Today three people have mistaken me for Rammstein. I just want to clear up the confusion. I am a New Zealand woman who writes English lyrics for Rammstein songs and posts general news and media about the band. I'm a fan of the music, and a bit of a disciple of Lindemann where poetry is concerned. I am not a representative of the band, so I'm really sorry if people have got the impression I am. I've always tried to be very clear about the fact that I am not affiliated with Rammstein in any formal way.

If you're following my tweets because you are under the impression that I am an official source of information please check the @LIFAD stream, as this really is an official Rammstein stream.

For the record, if I ever post information directly from Rammstein I will cite them as my source.

Montreal in the Frame

Here's a gallery of photographs from the 9th. Montreal brings out the best in Rammstein, methinks.

I <3 Canadians. I need to visit that country.

Lights, Camera, KABOOM!

In case you guys have missed this information, there were cameras in Montreal, and there will apparently be cameras in NYC filming for the Best Of package, which is expected in April 2011. I've also heard reports that Till was seriously on-song in Canada, which bodes well for the DVD.

OMG NYC MSG!

I imagine there is a large group of people in New York right now who are thoroughly over-excited. I have a couple of friends there: one will be exhausted, the other will be her usual awesome, rock'n'roll self, and will no doubt go back home with fantastic stories about her second Rammstein concert of the year. Love and strength to both of them, and big happies to the rest of the Rammstein-heads attending Madison Square Garden tonight. Stay warm in the queues and cool in the melee. I wish I could be with you!

Also, a shout-out to TheGauntlet's owner, who sold his own tickets for today's show when he realised attending would mean missing his little girl's birthday tomorrow. You're a good guy, TG.

Happy birthday on the morrow for The Gauntletlette!

Also, a big 'mwah!' to Combichrist, who are back, and playing MSG with Rammstein. w00!

These Canadians Are Quick, Aye?

Shots from tonight's...last night's show, booyah! Oh, and there's an article to go with that. I enjoyed Fancy Bitch's comment on that page:

I dont know what drugs you take Mr Kratina, but they must be really f...cking good if you saw them play Mein Teil. When you write a review it would help if you actually went to the show, cause I was there and Mein Teil did NOT play.

Set-List Reverts

Word is that the Montreal show ran to the old set from the earlier legs of the tour. If you click on the 'set list' tag at the bottom of the post and it'll show up along with the South American one, so you can compare them.

Lynch's Good Day

It doesn't send shivers up my spine or make me want to Hulk Smash anything, but it's not too shoddy. Given Rammstein's history with David Lynch I think a Rammstein remix of this track would complete the circle nicely. Any electronica piece can benefit from a bit of Rammstein riffage and percussive roughage. I don't think it would hurt to replace Lynch's vocoderfied crowing with Till's rather gorgeous bass baritone either...

RZK@NYC

Rammchick has shared a link to an interview with Richard, conducted recently from New York, just before the South American leg of the tour began.

More Photos from Brazil

Alexandre Ferreira has taken some great photos in Sao Paulo, and posted them on Flickr. That link starts you off in the middle, on a photo that particularly struck me, so you might want to shuffle back a bit. Enjoy.

Rammstein Shop USA

North Americans have long wished for an official Rammstein outlet in the US, because of the shipping costs and times from the European store. Now their wish has come true. A new North American site has been quietly opened, with a streamlined catalogue, which will be reviewed over time. You've asked for it, and you've got it, but the success of the venture is down to how much you use it. The more you do the more likely it is that the catalogue will be expanded and the store enlarged.

If You're in Mexico

Attend the LIFAD World Summit 2010. I'm expecting to hear that this was one hell of a love-in, so go along, take flowers, take love, then tell me all about it.

Gorgeous Brazil Photos

Luiz Pereira tweeted me a link to photos taken of the LIFAD show in Brazil. Some of them are fantastic.

A Fitting Tribute

If you haven't yet checked out the orchestral arrangements of Marco Kasiske then please do. His YouTube channel is chock-loaded with amazing adaptations of Rammstein songs. He has made these available for download:

Album download 1
Album download 2

If you download these please follow his channel and rate his pieces on YouTube. These easy steps are a small price to pay for his work.

Brazil Photos

Hello Sao Paulo! I have no doubt there are a bunch of videos on YouTube from the last few shows, but I haven't really been finding anything that stands out, so I'm sticking with the stills until something special comes along.

¿Las putas?

A novel alternative to a pyrotechnical accompaniment:



In all honesty I wouldn't know how to feel if I were invited on-stage for a song lyrically addressing a whore, as these female fans were. It seems like a pretty back-handed compliment. Kudos to those chicas for getting up there though. That takes cojones...so to speak ;)

Olli Speaks Too!

The strongly silent types are getting chatty this month. Not only has Till opened his mouth off-stage, but Olli has given an interview too.

A translation of the Spanish is kindly provided by SkeletonCrew, along with the source link itself:

Hello, I'm Oliver of Rammstein. I'm grateful for the opportunity to be here in Chile. We have a friend in Berlin who is Chilean and told us a lot about his country and we are very happy to play here.

How has it been in Chile?
-I feel very good in Chile, the people are nice and happy. The people that attended to us in the airport were friendly and polite. The Rammstein fans were in a frenzy but without being extreme.

Rammstein has always had to deal with censorship...
-We come from a socialy rigid system in which art is a mean for escape. We rebelled against the system. After the wall came down we formed the band.

Rammstein has controversial lyrics...
-It's our way of venting. But we don't see it as agressive but as a way of expressing ourselves.

Rammstein fuses Industrial sounds with Metal. How did this combination come about?
-There's 6 of us in the band and we all have our own influences. And out of that came Rammstein.

What do you expect from the Santiago (Chile) concert?
-We don't know what to expect...Tomorrow we'll do a show with fire, but it wont be the same as in Europe. It'll be a spectacular show with lights, music and fire. At the end we'll play Liebe ist für alle da and we'll do some kind of theatrical act with the song...

Further to this a correction of the German to Spanish translation comes from Ganxxxter on Herzeleid:

"Translation fail of RockNvivo.com.
Olli talks about the LIFAD album, not the song.
In fact, Olli says that: "Letztenendes (=letztendlich) spielen wir jetzt die Show zu LIFAD und das ist dann eigentlich schon wie ein Theaterstück, wo alles einstudiert ist."
In English: "After all we play the show for LIFAD and that is actually a (theatre) play, where everything is studied."
In addition, he never said that the song LIFAD will be the last song of the concert."

Reise Reise Ad

A tip-off about this commercial from 2004 was posted to Herzeleid by rammsteinbrit:



The original online publication of this ad was by Pierrick of Rammstein World.

Chile Set-List

Rammstein Mexico has published the set-list from the first show back in this leg of the tour:

Intro
Rammlied
B********
Waidmanns Heil
Weisses Fleisch
Keine Lust
Feuer Frei!
Wiener Blut
Fhruling in Paris [sic]
Mein Teil
Du Riechst so Gut
Benzin
Links 2-3-4
Du Hast
Pussy
Sonne
Haifisch
Ich Will
Ich Tu´Dir Weh
Te Quiero Puta

Contrary to rumours of a severely truncated and almost LIFAD-free set punters got the full bang for their buck.

New RZK Interview

SkeletonCrew has come through once again, this time with an interview with RZK (GLT - original Spanish here).

Best Headline Act?

Rammstein have been nominated for an award for the best festival headline act for the year. What do you think? Yeah me too, and I've not actually gone to the BDO yet. So damned biased by those videos...

Now take your stinking bias and go and vote.

NY TV ad

Till Speaks (Really)

SkeletonCrew has kindly shared this Argentinian interview (GLT - original Spanish here) on the Affenknecht forums. GLT doesn't do the best job on it, so if there are any Spanish-speaking readers out there who care to translate the interview parts of the article, if not the whole thing, that would rock. I'm locked in a lovers' embrace with German at the moment. I don't fancy becoming a Spanish scholar too.

Alice in WTFland

I just found an interview with Alice Cooper, which is pretty cool, in and of itself. What really tickled me, though, was this Q&A:

THE SUN: I REALISE it's hard to tell, behind the mask of Alice, but is there anything that ever makes you blush?

ALICE: I did when I gave the female lead singer in my band, Tiffany, something called a Rammstein Box set as a present. I had no idea of its contents, which turned out to be an assortment of anatomically correct but exaggerated representations of the band.

New 'Best of' Album in 2011

I've been slack. I know this information has been out for a day or so, but I wanted to verify it, because it's just the sort of thing that goes from rumour to fact to anger in a few easy steps, so I'm a tad behind the times. Nonetheless this is fantastic news, especially the bit about the new songs...

w00!

Rammstein go on Safari

Rammstein have announced South African dates on their website. This is awesome, and I know of at least one ZApper who will be very happy.

Win Rammstein's Entire Catalogue

Metal Sucks are running a photo caption contest to win your very own Rammstein album collection. Go and be witty and win, and then come back here and comment when you win.

Chilean Support

Rammstein have announced that their support for their Chilean show will be Kanatran. I've never heard of them, but they sound okay.

Apocalyptica Tour Postponement

It seems that all is not well with my favourite finns:

We wanted to let you know that sadly we are having to reschedule the current run of US dates to the beginning of March 2011. This is due to issues with Perttu's health; we have taken the advice of several doctors before making this decision. We are working on all details and more information for you right now, and of course we will keep you fully informed!

If you're planning to attend note these changes and watch the band's various community channels for updates, so you can adjust your plans accordingly. Get well soon, Perttu.

Vettel

I've just watched the last (recorded) Formula 1 Grand Prix race of 2010, and saw my driver win the world championship. Awesome.

Dildos on Sale - Gwarn!

Yes, the deluxe edition of LIFAD is on sale, sex toys and all.

And please do ask Alan Cross why he knows about this...

Rammstein Back in the Studio

Well, the Rammstein site has been updated with a nice little nugget of information:

...the band has visited a studio on the outskirts of Berlin in the past week...

This comes along with the information that rehearsals have begun again for the next leg of the LIFAD tour. Awesome.

Silvijo's Portraiture

Silvijo has come through again with a lovely slide show of individual Rammstein shots. If you're new around here Silvijo produces some lovely photography and seems to like Rammstein as much as we do, so check out the rest of his site and enjoy!

Ping! Pong!

Yes, I am still here. It has been more than a week since I saw anything post-worthy, which is tragic. I also had a conference, which kept me busy all of last week. It's okay though, because I am still combing the interwebs for tasty titbits of Rammstein news for you, so rest assured if it's worth reading I shall post it.

Let's Recce The Place

I may have been right about the New York show being a recce. Reuters has a Billboard story up with citations from Rammstein's US booking agent, saying pretty much exactly that (assuming this story isn't a fiction):

"The goal was to see what kind of demand there really is," he says. "It has been made really clear to us that thousands of people were unable to get tickets, and it's great to see that there is a market here for the band, and our goal is to build that."

Hopefully the *waaaaaaah!* haters will shut up.

Wes Borland & Combichrist

According to Blabbermouth Wes Borland will be playing with Combichrist for both of Rammstein's North American dates.

Ugly Buttons

You may have noticed the ugly little buttons below each of my posts. These are for twittering, facebooking, mailing, etc. posts, should you care to share my erudite (pfft!) articles with anyone else. I'm not sure that I like them, but it seems to me that the best way to get Rammstein information out and about is to make it easy for readers to propagate it, so there you are. I'm officially on the bandwagon!

Share or not, as you will, and if you have an opinion about them let me know.

She's a Sweety

A girlfriend (Pepsi to you), made me a cupcake today. I have included a photo of it. It made my day. Most of her cupcakes are somewhat risqué, as she is inspired in her sugary art by a video game community we are part of, and her cupcakes encompass such gems as The Human Centipede, Goatse guy, FUUUUUUU dude, the undead, and some other unsavoury themes. If you go looking for these please consider yourself warned. This stuff is just disgusting. For my cake, however, she's just nailed it, with the simple Greek cross R logo. Thanks Pepsi!

We All Live in Canada

Yep, you read that right. Rammstein is booked to play Montreal, in Canada, December 9.

Fire-loving German industrial band Rammstein is apparently booked for a show at the Bell Centre on Dec. 9, with opening act Combichrist. Tickets cost $39.50 to $74.50 and go on sale Saturday at noon at the venue and through Evenko. Order by phone at 514-790-2525 or online at www.evenko.ca.

Combichrist once again drum the crowd up as openers.

LIFAD One Year On

The LIFAD Facebook page is still gaining new followers steadily and the activity there remains high. Given that this is all about an album and it's been a year since that was released I think Rammstein's fans have pretty much proven their passion and devotion. It's fantastic to see.

RRF: Madison Square Garden Sales

When tickets went on sale on October 8 2010 for the Rammstein show at Madison Square Garden at the end of the year they sold out within 30 minutes. The December 11 New York show is the first US performance for Rammstein in ten years and is the only US show so far announced on the LIFAD tour.

Source: The Gauntlet.

TG has NY Tickets...for YOU

There's a ticket giveaway on The Gauntlet. If you're able to get to New York December 11 go and enter!

RZK & NI

Richard has been interviewed about his relationship with Native Instruments, his set-up, and more. Thanks so much to Sarah for bringing this to my attention. Enjoy!

The New Rammstein Website

In case you missed it the new Rammstein site is up. Elements of it rock. The mechanics of the time-line and ticketing pages are very snazzy. See the De Monsters site for more information about the project.

Flaming Nightmare - We Like

The BDO blog posted a small piece about Rammstein. Knowing how transient these things tend to be I am reproducing it here for future generations to enjoy (I'm not going anywhere):

FLAMES! FIREWORKS! RAMMSTEIN!

Posted on: September 30 2010

Do you like Germans? Explosions? Then you’re gonna love Rammstein. Formed in the mid-nineties in Berlin, the industrial metal band (is there a stronger sounding musical genre out there? I doubt it) have sold over fifteen million records. Folks who see Rammstein performing in the flesh are not only delighted by the group’s fetching onstage outfits, but also their tendency to SET THEMSELVES ON FIRE for a lark. The whole thing sounds like an OH&S* nightmare but fear not - frontman Till Lindemann is actually a licensed pyrotechnician.



I also rather like the way one YouTube user has summed up the band in just seven words.

“Flame gun is cool, Rammstein are awesome”

Indeed!

I know one German chap here in NZ who hates Rammstein, but loves their live show. That says it all, really.

*Occupational Health & Safety

Win Tickets to Madison Square Garden

Billboard has tickets to give away, so if you missed out on getting tickets to this sold-out show then check it out.

Incoherent Copyright Infringement Story

Read this article:

Russian commies in Rammstein row
Source Andy Potts at 07/10/2010

Communists in Nizhny Novgorod face a potential copyright row after mimicking the art work and music of cult German rock band Rammstein in their campaign materials.

But while a court in the city considers whether their video ad has stolen from the band, others might question borrowing from a group once described as “poster boys for the master race” and accused of Nazi sympathies.

Nizhny communist chief Nikolai Ryabov defended himself against charges of plagiarism, saying that experts had yet to confirm that the music was even by Rammstein and not a cover version or a similar band, Komsomolskaya Pravda reported.

There is a serious lack of detail, such as the title, date, author, and publisher of the original (Pravda?) article, background on the (false) implications of Nazism in the band, or any useful information as to the stage this case has reached. We have no way to know when this case was brought, whether or not it has been dismissed, or if there will be further proceedings with regard to whether or not the song is a Rammstein track. This is the internet. There is no excuse for the omission of proper citations or missing source links.

Does anyone have a link to any real reporting about this story?

Update 2010.10.08: Eva has very kindly provided links to better stories in the comments for this item - thanks Eva :)

RRF: Snow White

Here is the first of LILT's RRFs (Random Rammstein Factoids): The beautiful girl who plays Snow White in the video for Sonne is Joulia Stepanova, a Russian actress.

Source: Wikipedia.

Rammstein Uruguay Album

Rammstein Uruguay has the most fantastic tour album on their Facebook page. Enjoy!

Sydney 2

BDO Sydney sold out, and a second date has been added January 27. I'm not sure that this has ever happened before, but it's awesome news.

Combichrist Back for NY Show

Joe Letz has fbed that Combichrist are supporting Rammstein at Madison Square Garden in December. There's no confirmation on Rammstein's site yet, but Joe wouldn't put it out there if it wasn't true, so I'm sharing the good news :)

Donaukinder

History repeats...only worse :(

Beware the Scams

I've found a site claiming to be selling tickets for Rammstein's NY show December 11. Note that these tickets are not for sale yet. Don't buy them from anywhere not linked from an official source, such as Rammstein.De, and don't buy tickets before October 8.

Very Nice People

Lutz Buch, RZK's guitar technician, talking about life with Rammstein:

Broken Pieces

The new Apocalyptica video production has exactly the same palette and devices as End of Me, so I have to assume the same mind is behind both videos. Gorgeous, emo, richly textured, ever so pretty, and entirely grey-scale, both videos make extensive use of scarily structured vamp models, architecturally classic interiors, gorgeous vocalists, and of course the wonderfully photogenic Finns. A success, I'd say.

Apocalyptica's second 7th Video

The video for Broken Pieces from the 7th Symphony album was due to be released 11 AM German time:

@apocalypticafi Heute, 11:00 Uhr deutscher Zeit, Deutschland Premiere des neuen Videos von Apocalyptica's zweiter Single "Broken... http://fb.me/KpmtQgAK

I'm thinking that was around 15 minutes ago. Okay, so I was late, but at least the news is still fresh. This is the second video from the latest album, and the song, like opener End of Me, is incredibly catchy. End of me featured Gavin Rossdale, who was absolutely stellar. Broken Pieces is lit up by Lacey, and I have to say I find her just as compelling, though Broken pieces is the extent of my experience of her.

Update: here it is:

Making Monsters

For just one week Combichrist's Making Monsters album is being streamed here. Check it out.

WARNING: This stream may lead to album purchase.

Voxy Music

Voxy posts:

A decade since ruling over BIG DAY OUT with a reign of fire, pyrotechnics, monstrous riffs, wicked humour and industrial savagery, RAMMSTEIN will return this summer to reclaim their sovereign territory. The RAMMSTEIN live experience is "dizzyingly ridiculous", says the BBC. "Rock is at its best when confrontational, subversive, curiously camp and bold, which is why RAMMSTEIN are currently one of the most important bands in the genre." Armed with their sixth album, Liebe ist fr [sic] Alle da, Germany's infamous techno-metal masters bring nothing less than the greatest show on earth: "RAMMSTEIN are in pulverising form, the crowd are going crazy, the atmosphere is electric and the firebombs launching from the stage are like World War III on apocalypse LSD" (The Quietus, February 2010). Bow down to your kings, BIG DAY OUT 2011, for RAMMSTEIN have returned.

Nice. Note the emphasis in this quote is not mine. I am not alone in my shoutiness.

Rammstein Remarks USA

TG has comment from Rammstein regarding their single US show in December. You definitely need to read the whole article linked above, but here is a highlight:

...Everything for this show is perfect - the timing, the season. We are really pumped to return to the States to play Madison Square Garden – this is one of the most challenging shows for us in 10 years...
- Olli

So go on, America. Do anything to get to that show and show them it's worth booking more shows on another leg. Nobody wants another ten years to pass without any US shows.

Rammstein is COMING

Yeah, look at those upper-case letters. That's called emphasis. Get used to it. I'm going to be very shouty in the literary sense over the next four months, because RAMMSTEIN IS COMING TO NEW ZEALAND! Edit: AND AUSTRALIA! See? I did it again.

Here's what is being said down here:

Rammstein are brining six containers of pyro gear and dildos. ‘Pussy’ was my favourite single in recent memory. I can’t wait to see this live, with backing flames and pelvic thrusts.
- David Farrier - local Twit (and journalist)

The return of several major rock acts - especially German shock-metallers Rammstein and aggressive Sacramento band Deftones - will please Big Day Out fans who complained that artists like Bjork, Dizzee Rascal, Arcade Fire and Neil Young had made the main stage a little soft in recent years.
- Stuff (NZ)

Heavy metal giants Tool and Rammstein are the big names heading to Auckland in January next year as the Big Day Out announces the first of its line-up.
- TVNZ (er NZ, and LOL at Rammstein being heavy metal giants - the metalheads will be pfft!ing themselves silly)

I'll post anything and everything that seems remotely interesting to me, as it comes to hand...with emphasis on the good stuff.

Big Day Out

Yes, I will be there. Yes, Rammstein will be there. Yes, I will tell you all about it. I'm at work right now. More later...

Rammstein, Rammstein

Well, Richard's complete lack of subtlety has come to the fore (read the first answer). His remark that his ideal gig would be at Madison Square Garden in New York has been explained. Rammstein are going to America for a single NY show. Is it, as Richard said, a recce 'to feel out, like, if there is a need for us, are people waiting for us, what can we do, what would be the next step' or is this it? The US griefers are going to have conniptions.

For those who don't follow links, Rammstein will play one live show at Madison Square Gardens, December 11. Tickets go on sale October 8. More details will be forthcoming.

Believe It When I See It

GOSSIP ALERT: This is in no way substantiated, by anyone in a position to verify Rammstein fact. DO NOT SHARE THIS INFORMATION AS ANYTHING BUT MAD SPECULATION.

The BDO rumour-mill is going a bit nuts, apparently. I wouldn't know. I'm so out of touch with the music industry my fake smile has rusted over and my air-kissing skills are absolutely nil. It's been more than fifteen years since I attended a major event. I am clueless. The Music Network has it that Rammstein is one of the rumoured acts for BDO 2011. It's probably utter fiction, but oh boy, I wish...

An Oasis in the Desert

There's nothing going on (on the surface), so it's very, very quiet. As such when I found something you might like I just had to share it. Here are some photos taken at the Sonisphere show in Turkey. There's not a lot of Rammstein, sadly.*

Hello? Is this thing on?

* Just the first one.

Knebworth Video with a Difference

Okay, here's the process: live show filmed in HD, broadcast in HD on TV, filmed from TV, and posted to the internet. Mad? No. Aside from bad sound (tinny - to be expected), a little tearing, and funky white levels this video is excellent, the video quality is much better than you'd think. Check it out.

Mexico Too

Sorry for the delay. I'm a little slow off the mark on this one. A second Mexico show has been arranged, after tickets for the first sold out straight away. Win!

Rammfire

I'm not a musician, but I'm sure a bunch of you are. Those of you who are will know who Native Instruments are, and will no doubt be interested to know about their new suite of tools, which includes an emulator RZK helped develop:

The new RAMMFIRE amp emulation was developed in close collaboration with one of Rammstein's guitarists, Richard Z. Kruspe, and models the original recording chain that is behind the band's trademark guitar sound. It can be used both as an expansion to the amplifier arsenal in GUITAR RIG 4 and as an individual product in combination with the free GUITAR RIG 4 PLAYER.

For those of you not familiar, Paul has spoken about Guitar Rig.

Knebworth's Legend

It sounds like Rammstein are welcome back to Knebworth any time. They are now part of the mythos of Knebworth, according to Knebworth House incumbent, Henry Lytton Cobbold. Given the recent history of this stately home this is rather cool.

William's Song a Day

Who is William? I don't know, but he has a blog to which he posts a song a day. It's a nice idea, and he has posted three days running for people like you, by working to the theme of songs that get mistakenly attributed to Rammstein. Here are William's 'Also Known As Rammstein' posts:

AKAR I: Joachim Witt - Krieger Des Licht
AKAR II: Eisbrecher - Mein Blut
AKAR III: Unheilig - Schutzengel

Update -
AKAR IV: Oomph! - Das Weiße Licht
AKAR V: Megaherz - Heuchler
AKAR VI: Stahlhammer - Herz Aus Stahl
AKAR VII: Letzte Instanz - Für Immer Und Ewig

I'll post any further AKAR posts he might make in the next few days to this article, so come back here in a few days if you are pleased by his first three AKAR posts.

Calm

All is quiet in the world of Rammstein fans. There are the gentle whispers of those who have words to exchange despite the lack of outward activity, and an occasional crackling of complaint, be it over the lack of US date announcements or the fact that there's nothing going on at all. On top of that we the gentle breeze of our various fan communities breathing gently in and out, treading water, marking time, and waiting.

We're in a lull, and it's actually quite nice for me, especially given that I have recently started a new and very time-consuming job. It means that I'm not the only Rammstein source who is not giving you what you want!

That said, I have some plans for content, and will be posting that at some point this weekend. It's not news. It's just LILT-appropriate content, so it's not going to be earth-shattering, but it may help you fritter away some Rammstein-appreciation time.

*Tumbleweed*

Yeah, and crickets too.

There's not a lot going on in the world of German manliness. I'll figure out something. Maybe I can finally finish my ITDW video review, or write one for Haifisch. Whatever it is I promise it won't be the deathly silence of the past few days...

Rock Band 3 + Rammstein = Du Hast, Really?

Yep, that's the word on the street. Du Hast. Insert rolled eyes and sigh of exasperation here. Rammstein are so much better than that song.

Sex, Fires, and Teutonic Escape

Are you familiar with Erotic Review Magazine? I'm not. I haven't even bothered checking to see what it's all about, but it sounds funky and ... erotic. Anyway, this is a little bit out of the ordinary. Here's an excerpt, creatively edited for effect:

...All Quiet on the Stage Front

The concert opener was, of course, “Rammstein.” As the slow keyboard intro kicked in, vocalist Till Lindemann, wearing a heavy-looking silver-colored trenchcoat and goggles, walked up to his mike, opened his arms and, at the very first word of the lyrics (“RAMM! STEIN!”), he caught fire. All over his back and arms.

There’s no describing the effect on the audience...

...What followed was more than anyone could have asked for. Everything caught fire: the instruments, the mike stands, the musicians. Flames burst out of flash pots downstage. Halfway through the show, the lead singer grabbed what looked like an oversized crossbow and shot something like a navy flare up at the skies. After we had followed its arch like a batted baseball, a torrent of sparks started to shower from the crossbow’s curve as Lindemann spun it across the stage, in a magnificent Olympic display. Scratch that – it was better than anything we’d ever seen at the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games...

...When it was over, we walked away to have a beer as the Kiss concert went by. Who cared about their gimmicky cardboard 3-D glasses after watching the stage explode...

The article is basically all about the impression Rammstein has made on this guy over the years, and it's a good read. Sorry for the sex line, by the way. There really is nothing erotic about the story...oh, apart from the Banging Buggery of Büch Dich.

Sonisphere - Almost Done With...

The reviews seem to be endless. Here's another I found a few days ago and never got around to posting. As usual here is the stuff you came for:

Saturday headliners Rammstein came out swinging with their furious industrial metal. The reaction from the crowd was massive, fuelled by one of the most intense stage shows in the world. Arriving with six lorries of pyrotechnic equipment, Rammstein set about using all of it, from flame throwing guitars to fire-breathing masks and pyro-jets shooting from the floor, not to mention the fireworks shooting up from behind the backdrop. Cynics might say that Rammstein use this extravagant display to distract the crowd from less talented musicianship, but this was not so. The band played very well together and really gave the following day's line-up something to think about.

Noise Collection - LILT does a 180

Okay, if you're a regular reader you will be aware that I bummed myself out recently when I checked out Combichrist's product, because I love their music, but am not a fan of Andy's vocal stylings.

Then today I found a Combichrist album in the NZ iTunes store that I hadn't previously checked out, so I went through the samples and found that Andy's acid-bath-screams seemed minimal. I took a punt and bought it, and I've been listening to it on and off all day.

The verdict? It's a solid and very stylish piece of viscerally percussive noise. The textures are varied and well-married, and it definitely has a sense of humour. In short, it rocks. In fact if I were playing it in my car rather than via my stupidly expensive canalphones I would definitely be feeling the beats in my liver. This makes me very happy. Check it out if you get a chance.

New Silvijo Photos

Silvijo has updated his site with more photos of Rammstein's show.



It's interesting looking at all the pictures that have been coming out during the tour. The vast majority photographing both Rammstein and Combichrist have been fairly samey and uninspiring, despite the subject matter, but a few have really stood out. They include Silvijo, Christian Hjorth, and these people. The more the better, as far as I am concerned.

Arr-Zed-Gay

I can never resist a cheesy pun.

My friend Maggie has posted her interview with RZK for her paper. She disclaims all responsibility for the title. Blame her editor!

The interview is great, taking Richard outside the usual, and deliberately keeping him off the straight and narrow, without being too pushy. Good job, Maggie. This is the best RZK interview I have read.

To top off her extraordinary dip into Rammstein waters she has also published her review of the Quebec show here. Awesome!

Pyro FX House Site

Tempelhüter has shared the site of the pyro supplier to Rammstein, and they have some great photos from Rammstein shows.

BOOM

The second year of Sonisphere at Knebworth has, as you well know, been a screaming success, and as Rammstein fans you will now doubt have a fair idea of how much the German icons contributed to this. This article is an excellent summary of this though. There's the usual paragraph dedicated to the Leibe-brigade, which I will leave you to find for yourselves, but this closer, regarding the Last Blast of the Iron Maiden show the day following Rammstein, is telling:

...Their new futuristic mascot makes a welcome appearance but, in general, their whole set is, sadly, lacking in fireworks – and I mean literally as well as metaphorically. At the end of the day, it’s great to see them up there but when they fail to match Rammstein sonically and pyrotechnically, you can actually hear the Sonisphere ball deflating.

Sonisphere Fan Writers Have Their Say

I'm not sure who these people are, but I assume they are attendees considered adequately literate and knowledgeable to publish. Here is what some of them had to say about Rammstein:

“For a show that featured so much pyro, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was all about the visuals. “Ich Will” and “Sonne” would have quickly put you right though. A band that clearly cares about delivering a performance, Rammstein didn’t disappoint. They have surely won a new throng of fans over with this one.”

– Janusz Jasinski

“Word on the street was that Rammstein were going to tear Knebworth a new one. That they did, as well as burning everyone alive, rebuilding them, only to tear ‘em up again. Everything you’ve heard about the German industrial metallers was unequivocally displayed on Saturday night. From eyeball frying pyrotechnics set to classics such as Du Hast, to frontman Till Lindeman riding a giant foam spewing dick to porn-anthem Pussy, they held Knebworth in the palm of their hands (or groins) and brought Saturday to a knee trembling close.”

– Claire Nice

“Rammstein literally blew all comers aside, ensuring they were the undisputed kings of Knebworth and that any other band using pyrotechnics this weekend would look like losers. The fact that a German band singing exclusively in German had the crowd in the palm of their hands from start to finish speaks volumes. Perfect.”

– Chris Cooper

You can read more by following the link above.

WH Times: Rammstein Stole the Show

At least, they did if the Welwyn Hatfield Times is to be believed:

...But it wasn’t just the music that captured the imagination.

For Rammstein had brought nine articulated lorries with them from Berlin, containing a total of, ahem, 22 tonnes of pyrotechnics.

In the run-up to the festival, organiser Stuart Galbraith said the show would incorporate the biggest firework and special effects display he’d put on in 25 years in the music business...

It's a nice write-up, as the closing words show:

...For it is, and no doubt will remain, one of the best gigs I’ve ever had the pleasure of going to see.

Go and read the rest.

Metal Hammer Best Album Award for Rammstein

YAY!

Sorry about this morning. Today was the first day of my new job, and I really didn't want to be late. I ended up late in any case, as there are road works going on all over the place in central Wellington right now, including on the motorway, but at least I tried.

Here's the source of the information I posted then (GLT - original German here). That link comes courtesy of Tempelhüter.

Metal Hammer Award - Best Album

Rammstein have won it, but I'm in a big hurry this morning. I will post more detail later. Good stuff though!

Free Apocalyptica Track

Apocalyptica have a giveaway for those who sign up for their newsletter. Once you've subscribed you will get an acknowledgment email, including a link to download At The Gates Of Manala.

Muso's Guide on Knebworth

Muso's Guide has a run-down on Sonisphere Knebworth here. For those wanting just the Rammstein paragraph, here it is:

Rammstein’s Saturday night headline performance is over-the-top and brilliant. Their first ever UK festival appearance is full of fireworks and flame-throwers, and the German industrial metal band pump out some heavy foreign tunes. At one point, a “punter” jumps on stage, catches on fire, and is “rescued” by some stage technicians. It’s all staged – but it looks convincing and leaves us a bit rattled. They close out their set with a cannon that shoots foam and confetti at the crowd, and keyboardist Flake crowd surfs on a mini boat.

NecroMag Interviews Andy from Combichrist

You can read the interview here.

Metal Injection's Take on Knebworth

I can't think of a more apt site name where Rammstein commentary is concerned. Their review of the entire weekend is here, but for those only interested in Rammstein, here's the gen:

Rammstein managed to steal Sonisphere, set it on fire several times in increasingly imaginative ways and then douse it in foamy semen from a giant cock cannon. Literally. With a stage set that involved burning stuntmen, a fire breathing Lindeman and crystal clear sound, a high standard of musicianship and fuel consumption is set by the German pyromaniacs who managed to crowdsurf in a rubber dingy boat and get 55,000 people screaming the lyrics to Pussy.

Lolito De Palermo Shots

There is a gallery of shots up on this flickr page, which I think any Rammstein fan would have to enjoy. Some are from last year, the rest this, and they're all excellent. I particularly like the red one of Richard, the soft black & white Olli shot, and the one I've posted here. Let me know which are your favourites.

I think the Olli picture was taken during Frühling in Paris, and it looks like it has a PS smart-blur on it. It's very simple and very beautiful.

Metal Hammer

Metal Hammer have also published a short run-down on Rammstein's appearance at Sonisphere Knebworth. Here's a snippet:

You might be forgiven for thinking you had stumbled upon a Broadway production, such was the magnificence of Rammstein’s live performance. We all know they have a proclivity for the grand, but it’s still an incredible sight to watch this multi-ton metal juggernaut in action.

Music Radar on Rammstein at Knebworth

Here's the excerpt about Rammstein:

While Mötley get the party started, Rammstein take the night in a very different direction - from a carnival to a downright freak show. There's explosions, pyro and the flamethrower-wielding Till Lindermann, although no bearded ladies, unfortunately. Luckily they have the tunes to back up the gimmicks (although we're not sure whether setting someone on fire counts as a gimmick), as 'Du Hast', 'Sonne' and 'Feuer Frei' blast out of the wall of speakers with ten times the power of anything else we've heard today. After 90 minutes we're exhausted, the front row's eyebrows are singed and it's the end of Saturday at Sonisphere…

Haifisch Plus Drums

Trevor and Joe from Combichrist joined Rammstein on stage for Ich Will and Haifisch in Zagreb, March, while one of the others (Z_marr) took Flake's boat for a spin:



I found this on Joe's Combichrist blog.

Knebworth Set-List

According to NME 'a vocalist' rode the boat for Haifisch, and the set-list included 'Intro':

Intro (?)
Rammlied
Bückstabü
Waidmann
Keine Lust
Feuer Frei
Weiner Blut
Frühling in Paris
Ich Tu Dir Weh
Du Riechst So Gut
Benzin
Links
Du Hast
Pussy
Sonne
Haifisch
Ich Will

Are they confusing Flake for a vocalist, and is Intro the opening of Rammlied? I have to assume so as, by all accounts, Flake was the sailor and there is no intro' track.

I've also read some first-hand accounts saying that the crowd were utter wankers by Rammstein standards, shoving, and being generally much more aggressive than Rammstein fans are accustomed to. After months of reading Rammstein show reports I've come to the conclusion that inconsiderate moshing and small chick squishing crowd behaviour is the exception, rather than the rule, at dedicated Rammstein shows, and the festival season has proven to be a bit hard on Rammstein's less physically robust fans.

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi! :D

We seriously need to get Rammstein down here. I think the odds of the tour including NZ are so slim as to be two dimensional, but Australia could be a go. Please join this group on Facebook to support this idea. It is a group I am now a part of, and all my efforts to make sure we get some burninating down under will be channelled through it. I did have my own page, but it seemed counter-productive not to join forces with others after the same end result. Come burn with us!

Knebworth Shots - Nigel Crane

Rocksound.TV has a short series of Nigel Crane's Rammstein photos from Knebworth that I think are worth a look. The shot I've posted here is, I think, paricularly representative of the Rammstein ethos, if not the nature of the men who create it. The tendon straining, vein popping testosterone surge that is the live Rammstein show, personified by the band's front-man in a single moment. Nice shot, Nigel.

Click on the image or check out image six in the gallery to see the detail.

Getting Wasted & Laid

And fighting other bands. Awesome.

There is a short Kerrang (podcast) interview with Schneider and RZK about their Inspiration award 3 m 38 s into the video below:



Click here to have the video load at the right time, automagically.

Official Confirmation for Latin America

Feel the love!

November 25th, Santiago, Chile
November 27th, Buenos Aires, Argentina
November 30th, Sao Paulo, Brazil
December 3rd, Bogota, Colombia
December 6th, Mexico City, Mexico

Rammstein Mexico Slash-Dotted

I think excitement over recent tour information has caused something of a traffic glut, so here are the details, as per erikire's post to Herzeleid:

Official confirmations (by the organizers)

* MEXICO
* COLOMBIA
* BRAZIL
* CHILE

Remaining dates to be confirmed...

- 25 de Noviembre / Estadio Bicentenario La Florida / Chile
- 27 de Noviembre / Racing / Argentina
- 30 de Noviembre / Via Funchal / Brasil
- 03 de Diciembre / CEC Centro de Eventos y Espectáculos Sopó. / Colombia
- 06 de Diciembre / Palacio de los Deportes / México
- 07 de Diciembre / Palacio de los Deportes / México (Por confirmar)
- 09 de Diciembre / Monterrey / (Por confirmar)

R+MX


Ajúa!!!

Kerrang Inspiration Award

Kerrang have managed to give best live act to someone else, but something called the Inspiration Award has gone to Rammstein. Yeah, okay. Ah well, a win is a win. YAY!

Sonisphere Knebworth Times from the Times

Rammstein will perform from 2045 hrs Saturday 2010.07.31, according to the Welwyn Hatfield Times website. See here for more information.

Bogota to Burn?

The plot around the rumoured South American leg of the tour thickens. Ticket outlet, Tuboleta, has announced December 2010 will see Rammstein in Bogota (GLT - original Spanish here). Eh, at this point we only have their tweet about it, and not much else, and I'm inclined, as with other rumours (GLT - original Spanish here), to wait for Rammstein.De to announce it before I consider it a definite, but it's still exciting and plausible.

Thanks to the ubiquitous Tempelhüter for the Bogota link.

Win Sonisphere Tickets - Part 4

Here's another one. The Welwyn Hatfield Times has a couple of weekend tickets up for grabs. To enter:

Which legendary British heavy metal band will close the main stage on Sunday?

a) Iron Maiden

b) AC/DC

c) Metallica

Send your answer to Sonisphere Festival Competition, WHT, 31a Howardsgate, WGC, Herts, AL8 6AP or email comps@whtimes.co.uk

Remember to include your name, age, address, telephone number and email address. But hurry, the closing date is Monday, July 26 at noon.

Travel to and from Knebworth is not included in the prize.

Normal Archant rules apply.

* Archant Ltd may wish to contact you about special offers and services by email from time to time.

If you WOULD like to be contacted by email please include your email address on your postal entry or mark your email entry with ‘Agreed to contact’.

* For ticket details, info on camping and the full festival line-up, go to the Sonisphere Festivals website, see link above.

Extreme Idol

There's a tribute to Till here, on a True Cult Heavy Metal blog called Wretched Spawn. There's no new information, but the article is a nice summary of his career to date.

Paavo Interview

Paavo Lötjönen, the least hairy of Apocalyptica's sublime trio of cellists, is someone I have seen very little of outside of their performances and videos, but there is a lovely Musik Universe interview with him (conducted in Quebec) on YouTube that Apocalyptica fans will enjoy:

Knebworth Survivor's Guide

Virtual Festivals have posted a survivor's guide for the up-coming Sonisphere at Knebworth. The experts on the panel that have compiled this guide are the organisers of the festival, so they probably know what they're talking about.

What three essentials would you pack for Sonisphere?
Lucy: “Wet wipes, spare phone battery, TICKET.”
Mark: “Bog roll, condoms, sun tan lotion cos its going to be HOT.”
Zac: “A sun hat to keep sun and rain off, wet wipes and ear plugs.”
Twitter: “More socks, a good tent that you can sit in and my Metal Just got Gay t-shirt for the pit.”
Alan: “Beer, whiskey and vodka.”
Steve: “Money, phone, shades.”

Win Sonisphere Tickets - Part 3

There's another competition/lottery to win Knebworth tickets. Go and WIN, then come back and tell me all about the show. Closes midday Monday 26.

Apocalyptica Wish You Were There

Apocalyptica have been in North America (filming a video I think) and have gone down to Mexico to play some shows. While there they let ShockHound into their dressing room so they could record a message for their fans:



Those Mexican fans are obviously exhausting.

DW Video Article

I've been watching a lot of Deutsche Welle lately, in the hope of catching a Rammstein story I have seen written teasers for online, and have managed to learn a lot about Berlin Fashion Week, German students living in Belgium, and more, but no Rammstein. Now SkeletonCrew has found an article (possibly the one I was looking for) on YouTube, under DW's channel, so enjoy!:



Sehnsucht.DK and its staff feature, so a shout out to them! Here is one of the surprisingly few Rammstein articles DW's website posts.

Schneider Interviewed in Quebec

It sounds like Flake lost the hearing in one ear when he got sick in 2001. Does anyone know if he got that back, or if it was permanent? Also, Schneider's English is getting better and better.

More Quebec Photos

Thanks to Stephan for the link. I wish I had been there. I love Apocalyptica, and they accompanied Rammstein for Haifisch and Ich Will, closing out the show.

Musik Universe Review & Photos from Canada

Musik Universe has posted a run-down on Apocalyptica and Rammstein (GLT - original French here) at the Quebec festival, and a gallery of photos. All well worth a looksie. Set lists are included.

A major treat is that RZK has ditched the helmet haircut in favour of a very flattering and much more age-appropriate look. The emo-kid style just did nothing for him.

Till Rather Sweet, But Extreme

Tempelhüter has shared a link to a Canadian article (GLT - original French here) where RZK discusses Lindemann's tendencies:

"He likes harmony and dislike conflict. It's really a team player. It is not like other singers with a big ego. If the group decides to go in a certain direction, it is always in agreement. "

But that does not stop him from going to extremes in other spheres of its existence, described with humor Kruspe.

Awesome Live Combichrist Photos

To continue the Combichrist run, here's a FB gallery of shots of Combichrist live taken by a couple of people. Some of them are simply stunning.

Christ Combichrist

Gutted. I LOVE Combichrist's music, but I can't fucking stand the vocals. This really bums me out. Every song I have checked out today has been awesome, and then Andy has kicked in and the love has been smeared all over a glass-spiked, faeces-spattered wall of FUCK.

Damn :(

I really wanted to like their work, because I've developed a bit of a crush on Joe Letz, Combichrist's most verbose, maturity-impaired, cute-as-a-button drummer, whose inane musings on Vampire Freaks give me so much enjoyment (he makes me feel old but in a good way).

Sorry Joe. I meant to become a fan of your band, but it's just not going to happen unless Andy stops using his ARGH-I'M-DYING-IN-A-BATH-OF-ACID voice. Lets face it, the dude has the lungs for it. He just has all the modulation of a defective paper shredder.

Paul Interview (French)

Rammstein indexed over Pussy? Research is your friend, Nicolas. It's an okay interview, but Google Language Tools didn't cope terribly well. In English it reads like 1000 monkeys operated 1000 typewriters for 1000 days, but it's worth a look:

Q You do not hate the controversy, but do you think that sometimes went too far and that it could hurt you?

R is not offensive just for the sake of shocking. [...] The challenge is a natural component of our work. We do not ask if we make too much or not enough. This is not artificial, it's just something that comes with the way we create. Sometimes it is necessary that slows a bit, but we can live the consequences of what one does.

Thanks Gonzalo, from Rammstein Uruguay, for the link.

Apocalyptica Post End of Me Video to YouTube

The complete End of Me video is now up on YouTube, so I can embed it here. YAY!:

South America in November?

A French site has information up regarding the next dates on the LIFAD tour (GLT - orignal French here), courtesy of Paul:

...Pour ce faire, le groupe de métal industriel a même dû faire venir la scène par bateau jusqu'à Québec.

«Ça faisait très longtemps que nous souhaitions venir en Amérique du Nord et l'organisation [du Festival d'été] nous en a donné l'occasion», nous at-il expliqué en allemand avec l'aide d'un traducteur anglais.

Le concert, qui est présenté en exclusivité nord-américaine, doit servir de prélude, voire de répétition à une longue tournée mondiale de trois ans qui débuterait en novembre.

Après le concert, les six musiciens (le chanteur Till Lindemann, les guitaristes Richard Zven Kruspe et Paul H. Landers, le bassiste Oliver Riedel, le batteur Christoph Schneider et le claviériste Christian Lorenz) laisseront derrière eux la scène afin qu'elle soit récupérée en novembre pour les premières dates de la tournée en Amérique du Sud.

...To do this, the industrial metal band has even had to bring the scene by boat to Quebec.

"It was very long as we wanted to come to North America and the organization [Summer Festival] has given us the opportunity," he told us in German, with the help of an English translator.

The concert, presented the exclusive North American to serve as a prelude to even repeat a long world tour of three years starting in November.

After the concert, the six musicians (singer Till Lindemann, guitarists Richard Kruspe and Paul H. Zven Landers, bassist Oliver Riedel, Christoph Schneider drummer and keyboardist Christian Lorenz) leave behind the stage so it is recovered in November for the first tour dates in South America.

There is no confirmation on the official site yet.

Joe Cutez

I know it's inane and tenuous as far as Rammstein news goes, but the latest Combichrist blog post has a damned cute Joe photo included:

It's his new Russian do. It's called Dr Seuss.

Sorry!

I've had very little time and there has been bugger-all Rammstein news this week, so everything has gone a bit stagnant. I'll get onto things soon.

Vettel (Off-Topic)

I stayed up to watch the British Formula 1 Grand Prix. I got really worried at about half-past midnight NZT, as Sebastian kept losing time to his team-mate and Lewis, who held a solid lead at Silverstone. He wasn't his usual elegant self, and just didn't have the pace I have come to expect from both RBR cars. I was wondering what was going on, and then he landed a free catch-up in the form of a safety car, and he seemed to fire up and look more like his usual self.

I really love this driver, and he didn't let me down this time, ending classified seventh place from the back of the pack in lap one. I have a tendency to pick a driver and stick with them for a season, but I have been really impressed by Vettel for years now, and it has become stupidly important to me that he does well.

Oddly, it's Vettel, and my association of a German win with joy through him, that lead me to support Germany after New Zealand (undefeated baybee, yeah!) were eliminated from the World Cup, rather than Rammstein or any other aspect of German culture that I admire.

Pair that with the talented and likable Mark Webber and you have a team designed to hold my attention. Go RBR!

Okay, that's the end of my off-topicness for the day. It wasn't as bad as I anticipated.

Awesome Sauce

The Sonisphere site has a write-up of the Spanish show, including a vivid painting of the Rammstein performance:

At twenty past midnight on the dot and with no warning, an explosive boom erupted and the curtain fell to the floor, to reveal a German flag, covering the entire expanse of the stage. As primal screams of unadulterated excitement united the swelling crowd, this too fell to the floor to reveal the six members of Rammstein, split over two levels.

And so the greatest festival show of all time ignited once more in a blitz of pyrotechnics and strobe lighting...

...We’re still trying to rationalise the experience of this show which was like nothing we have ever seen before. Perhaps they will come later, but for now we simply don’t have the words to convey just what an extraordinarily mind-blowing live phenomenon Rammstein are, especially in the festival field.

It's My Birthday

I get to be completely self-indulgent and do whatever I want today, so I am not doing anything useful or practical. I shall write, work on my translation of Mike Oldfield im Schaukelstuhl, and watch TV. I suspect I will probably ramble a fair bit on here. It's a slow news period for Rammstein and I'm celebrating my last 30th birthday, so bear with me.

Garçon! Diesel!

In response to my recent WTF Eva has provided some vital information: Lindemann did the same thing for Pink. He is apparently a closet sommelier, who takes time out from his performance to organise a tipple for any special guest who might happen to be enjoying the show from the wings. I have this wild image in my head of the front-man trotting out from behind a gantry with a glass-cloth-draped arm bearing a tray of wine glasses, serving any artists attending Rammstein's shows with fine German wines.

I must say that I can't think of a higher level of service than to have your drinks order taken, mid-song, by a man simultaneously holding sway over 10,000-plus maddened rock fans. Yes please!

WineTweet 1
WineTweet 2

For Good

Lindemann and a bunch of other artists have contributed their mite for a charity. I have no idea which charity or charities are benefiting from this, but I have emailed the organiser to find out, and will update once I hear back.

WTF?

Really?

Sonisphere Pimps Rammstein

And talks to RZK. The live show is summed up quite nicely, and the inclinations of the band are finally out:

“We’re all like little children,” explains lead guitarist Richard Z Kruspe. “We never really want to grow up and we want to play with a lot of toys.”

Yeah, really flamey, burny, ouchy toys. YAY!

LILT: Roter Sand 1.1

Okay, trying again:

For one love with one heartfelt vow
I said I'll come back to you
With sorrow I break my word now
As his bullet has got through

For one love our two pistols duel
One is levelling on me
He says that it is me who stole you
You love me yet
He can't see

Red sand and of two cartridges
One dies in a powdered mess
The second unerring round is his
And lodged deep within my chest

For one love and one heartfelt vow
So much blood runs from my mouth
And I won't be avenged now
Senseless, I fall to the ground

For one love with two pistols aimed
One was much more quickly drawn
Regrettably it was not mine
You belong to him

Red sand and of two cartridges
One dies in a powdered mess
The second unerring round is his
And lodged deep within my chest

Red sand and white doves attending
Feeding themselves on my blood
In the end there must be an ending
So my life has served some good

Red sand and of two cartridges
One dies in a powdered mess
The second unerring round is his
And lodged deep within my chest

Pink & Rammstein?

I've been thinking about Pink's enthusiasm for Rammstein's live show since I found her Tweet about it, and it strikes me that she has one hell of a rock voice. I can imagine her belting out filthy Till poetry with Rammstein. I wonder if she could sing in German without making an arse of herself...

That or get someone to LILT some Till lyrics for her to sing with them or record a cover with. I'd be game.

Rammstein in the Pink

Another new Rammstein fan?:

Rammstein show was the best show I've EVER seen, not knowing words. Holy shit. I want to be in a metal band. I want to invite them to dinner

End of Me Video Out

Apocalyptica have released the video for End of Me, featuring Gavin Rossdale, from Bush:



The full version is on their site.

Sonne Live

Thanks to jenstt.

Richardstiltskin

Moshpitmum has found a somewhat freaky resemblance between RZK and Rumpelstiltskin in Shrek Forever After:



RZK with red hair, perhaps after someone has confiscated his cigarettes? Grumpy.

Pearls

There's something very frustrating about Rammstein. Their work has been described as 'music to invade Poland to', the live show with 'Rammstein don't play, they burn', or something like it, but both are fairly trite and inadequate.

Rammstein's music, live show, and public life are authored to fuck with the programme. On the latest album there's a heartfelt Piaf tribute about the deflowering of a young man, a very poppy pop song about European sex tourism, and a heavy anthem about Rammstein and its fans. If you got the bonus disk you can listen a very pretty track about the rape of a goose-girl, and a operatic piece centred around the image of conjoined twins. The live show includes as much drama and choreography as any classical ballet, and a foam canon dressed up as a cock. The front-man only opens his mouth to sing and otherwise stands back and stares, and their lyrics are almost entirely German. Yes, fuck the programme. Let's just confuse the uninitiated and drive our fans to distraction, shall we?

To me Rammstein resemble nothing so much as a grain of sand in an oyster's shell. Consider the grain of sand. It gets into the oyster shell and irritates the shit out of the oyster. The oyster is forced to protect itself by coating the grain with crystalline calcium carbonate, and the end product is a pearl, and an overwrought oyster.

Despite the fact that their albums are coherent, thematic, and well-balanced Rammstein manage to avoid fitting into any pigeonhole you might care to invent for them. The tracks are distinct and disturbing, the hooks and riffs keep your body involved, even if you stop consciously listening, and that's without considering the actual meaning of the lyrics, around which this site is built.

Rammstein's stock in trade is their live performance, which I have never experienced. If they don't come down this way I expect to turn out a lot of pearls. Please support this Facebook group, and save me a lot of frustration.