It was a Sunday night to remember this week at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, New York, just outside of New York City, as Rammstein performed in front of an enthusiastic capacity crowd. The industrial metal band from Germany rocked the house from the moment the band took the stage at about 9:15PM. A blast of fireworks got everyone’s attention and the opening was brilliant as the band members took their places. The guitarists descended from the rafters and drummer Christoph “Doom” Schneider played a driving beat as frontman Till Lindemann made his theatrical entrance. Complete with a white coat and top hat and stepping in sync with the drum beat, Till’s movements reminded me of the tap dance scene from Young Frankenstein, which happens to be one of my favorite movies.
After tossing the top hat, which descended with explosives, the crowd cheered and sang along with the opening number “Ramm 4” and pretty much kept singing all night long. The lyrics, all in German, sounded hard driving and tough with Lindemann’s incredibly powerful bass voice and sexy rolling rrr’s. This was an action packed show with fists pumping, crowd surfing and a barrage of stimulating sights and sounds. I did notice that the venue’s video screens on either side of the stage remained dark but between the bright lights and the fire throughout the show, the video screens did not seem to matter.
Rammstein’s lineup remains unchanged with guitarists Richard Kruspe and Paul Landers, bassist Ollie Riedel and keyboardist Christian “Flake” Lorenz rounding out the playing field. These are skilled musicians! By the third song “Hallelujah,” the Till Hammer was in full swing as he bent his knee and pounded his thigh. “Feuer Frei!” was another fan favorite and during “Ich Tu Dir Weh” we saw Flake dumped into a tub, spat upon and showered in sparks, glitterbursts and fire before rising up in a glittery suit and making his way back to his keyboard in a clumsy and comical fashion. He then proceeded to walk on a conveyor belt (treadmill) as he continued to play.
“Du Hast” was an absolute spectacle with Lindemann’s boomerang bazooka sending plumes of fire sweeping across the stage to the pillars of the theater and back. The final song of the set was the Depeche Mode cover “Stripped.” The audience went wild as the band returned for not one, but two encores. During the song “Engel,” Lindemann was lifted above the stage wearing giant angel wings that shot fire from their tips.
Rammstein brings an audio and visual onslaught to every performance and if this band comes anywhere nearby, it’s a must see show that’s worthy of your bucket list.
Setlist:
Ramm 4
Reise, Reise
Hellelujah
Zerstoren
Keine Lust
Feuer frei!
Seemann
Ich tu dir weh
Du riechst so gut
Mein Herz brennt
Links 2-3-4
Ich will
Du Hast
Stripped (Depeche Mode cover)
Encore:
Sonne
Amerika
Engel
Photos by Gus Griesinger. We would like to thank Robert Daligdig from Artist Group for the photo pass.
