Flake's Pyro Show

Some bastard burned down Flake's barn...but, apparently, not his wonderful car collection. I am assuming this would be his personal collection, as opposed to the fleet he operates as a business in Berlin.

Flake's Echo Acceptance

A translation of Flake's acceptance speech from the Echo Awards has been posted to Herzeleid by erikire. Thanks, dude:

"This is what happens when they let the public to decide. / / Thanks to Vattenfall*, because without it, everything would be darker"

*Vattenfall = Electricity & Gas Supplier in Germany & Europe

Update 20110326: I also have a version from a German (erikire is from Mexico), Felix:

That happens if the public decides. And we wanna say thank you to Vattenfall. Otherwise it would be dark in here.

Thanks Felix!

Shark Attack!

Thanks to Magdalena for sharing the link.

In Ukraine Bra Takes Itself Off

Here is a lovely review of the Kiev show. There are some slight inaccuracies, but it's worth a look, and I love that some Ukrainian chick threw her bra at Flake.

AutoFlake

I'm probably showing my terrible ignorance here, but I've just found out that Flake is a classic car buff (original German here). I like cars a lot. We have an old Mercedes coupe, which is our baby, and my brother-in-law has a similar business to Flake's here in NZ. This adds a whole new dimension to Flake in my mind. Thanks to Claudia for the link.

Session Video Context

I've found more from the MTV Masters episode that I linked previously:



This is from 2001, and was posted on YouTube by TheNight5.

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Interviews Galore

I'm laid out with a bad back again, so I've been lying here with my notebook idly browsing the intardweb. I have managed to find a butt-load of old Rammstein interviews that I have never seen. Now, I'm sure you guys have seen most, if not all of these, but I don't really care. What if you haven't and I don't share? You could be deprived for life. That would be terrible.

Note that I've never really sought out this sort of thing and the copiousness of the Rammstein interviews I have found has been kind of insane, so I'm linking to a small selection from some old and very varied material here:

Paul, Till, and Schneider in the single most delightful interview I have ever seen (thanks in large part to a charming interviewer). This was posted by YouTube user bubblecrabremix September 2008, but I have no clue as to the vintage of the interview itself. [Update 2010.01.26: This has now been dated August 2001 - thanks to the ladies of Zerstören and their research on Rammstein MX]

Paul interviewed in November last year by About.Com. Not hugely riveting, but not bad.

Till and Flake interviewed by Dante of Spinefarm, for Blistering. This is a good one, which I can't believe I've never read. It predates the Reise Reise tour.

Till interviewed by Muffin (Russian mixer/masher) in 2004.

Enjoy, unless you've seen it already, in which case there's nothing to see here...

Whisper & Shout

There's another item out that obsessive Rammstein collectors will need to get their hands on. The 1989 Whisper & Shout documentary seems to have been released on DVD...tomorrow?*:

Documents important parts of the East German rock music scene of the late 1980s, from well-established bands like Silly, to underground rock bands like Feeling B. This road movie features young people using music to express their take on life, opposition to their parents' generation and opinions on the social and political climate in East Germany. It includes clips from concerts and interviews with fans and members of various bands, such as Feeling B's Christian Lorenz and Paul Landers, now members of Rammstein. This documentary played to over one million viewers in sold-out theaters in East Germany. Audiences were drawn not only to see their favorite bands on the screen; they were also surprised that this film made it past the censors.

* it's the evening of 2010.01.19 here

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Tall Till

I realise that I am probably the last Rammstein fan on the planet to work it out, i.e. watch the videos and see it, but tonight I have discovered Till's trick on the ITDW tower. If you too are a little slow on the uptake and have been amazed and astounded by Till's ability to stay put on top of that ruddy great pneumatic phallic thingie then wonder no more. They've attached a snowboard binding or similar to the thing, and he puts his right foot into it while he's battering Flake in the bath. Tricky.

I also love Flake's schmetterling-ähnlich* emergence from the bath. It's so purdy, and he's such a consummate flutterer, especially in that gorgeous suit.

* Yes, I do think I have actually managed to extrapolate what this should be. No, I still don't speak German. I just hacked it.

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Flake Back

Sparkie has posted on Herzeleid that Flake was on stage for the latest show, which is great news.

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Warm-Up Gig Set

A Herzeleid user, called Konkelo, has posted the set-list from the first warm-up concert:

1. Rammlied
2. B*******
3. Waidmanns Heil
4. Keine Lust
5. Feuer frei!
6. Weisses Fleisch
7. Wiener Blut
8. Frühling in Paris
9. Ich tu dir weh
10. Liebe ist für alle da
11. Links 2-3-4
12. Haifisch
13. Du hast
14. Pussy
15. Benzin
16. Sonne
17. Ich will
_____________

18. Seemann
19. Rosenrot
20. Engel

Apparently Flake gets more shit from Till, they make use of a bath, and Flake plays while on a treadmill. It all sounds fairly Rammstein to me.
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Indomitable Buck

If you've read this site back to the beginning you might remember me discussing the characters the band members adopt on stage, in particular Flake's "indomitable rabbit buck". I have a rabbit buck myself, called Heikki, who is very gentle, affectionate, and rather attached to me.

On Easter Friday my rabbit and that belonging to my husband had a fight, and as my much smaller rabbit was getting the shit kicked out of him I decided to try and extract him from the fray. Unfortunately I didn't tell him first, and he thought I was the other rabbit and bit into my hand. He then, while still holding onto me, kicked out twice, hard. He was contrite as soon as he realised it was me, but the damage was done. He ripped a hole in my hand that I couldn't cope with, and I ended up at the local hospital being super-glued shut [while huffing nitrous], given a shot, and put on antibiotics.

I guess what I'm trying to say is my point about Flake's on-stage character is a good one. Never underestimate your prey. Never write off anyone (or thing) based on superficial characteristics. Never disparage geeks. Never push someone around until you know what they're capable of. You'll just get reamed, and deservedly so.

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First: Rein Raus

I've bought two of the Rammstein concert DVDs, and I've noticed a definite set of roles these guys adopt in their live shows.

Till very quickly establishes himself as the sinister central character. It's all about domination and humour. He's scary as hell, and very brutal, but is also comical and appealing.

Richard and Paul are his henchman. They're equally wicked and fun, and are as prone to debauchery, but also let him take the lead. They work as a team.

Ollie is somehow untouchable. He's remote and relatively contained, and is like a sentinel watching the central three. He's still part of what they're doing though. He's still a bit sinister.

Schneider is completely different. While the four described already all seem couched in violence the drummer is almost angelic in comparison to them. He's more of a guardian, watching over the warriors. He's calling the beat, but not raising a weapon if you like. He's got clean hands.

Then there's Flake. He's wonderful, because he's the only band member representing natural prey for the others. Don't get me wrong, he's no pussy, but he's very definitely some kind of indomitable prey animal, like a rabbit buck. They may be food, but they can also explode into violence if they need to. Flake attracts all Till's displays of brutality, but shakes them off. He's no loser and no weakling.

The only thing missing is the passive soul. I don't suggest the band take on another member merely to round out their character-set, but I reckon the next stage show should include a woman. A silent, passive, blank woman, as a prop for Till's antics, and a pale, sympathetic foil to his vividly rendered dark demon. It's this woman that my ideas have centred around so far. I've had a lot of them. She's developed into quite an amazing piece of stage equipment!

Anyway, back on-topic, I've started work on my first draft of the Rein Raus poem/lyrics in English. I'll post it when I've completed the draft. All I'll say for now is I've kept the 'rein, raus' refrain in German, as the English 'in, out' lacks the symmetry and flow of the German, and quite frankly sounds dumb.

I'll post more as it comes to hand/mind.

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