2010-10-23

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.

2010-10-21

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.

2010-10-20

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!

2010-10-19

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.

2010-10-16

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.

2010-10-14

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.

2010-10-13

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!

2010-10-12

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

2010-10-09

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.

2010-10-07

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 :)

2010-10-02

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.

2010-10-01

Very Nice People

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