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Rammstein live, Copenhagen (July 5th, 2024) ☆☆☆☆☆ #music

My impression of the Rammstein concert in Copenhagen last Friday was that it was a sad and pathetic affair.

The stage was huge and the fire show impressive, but the rest was lackluster when it was not outright disappointing.

I arrived in Valbyparken half an hour before the warm up act went on the smaller stage. Until they went on music was played over the loudspeakers. They were playing... Rammstein.

Then the warm up act ran out into the smaller stage - two classical pianists, who played piano covers of... Rammstein songs.

I know people go to a Rammstein show because of Rammstein - and the spectacle - but it seemed a little on the nose.

After around 45 minutes the warm up act finished their set.

Rammstein arrived on the stage coming down on a platform/elevator in the huge central tower of the stage.

The lead singer waddled around, hunching over when singing - looking tired when shown the the big screens.

To me it seemed very much like a band going through the motions - but the lighting and the stage were impressive, as were the huge columns of fire that erupted from the stage and from the tops of the 4 large loudspeaker towers in the field. I was standing quite far away from the nearest one, and I felt the heat on my skin when the burners fired. Impressive.

Half way through the concert the band left the stage and a DJ started descending from the big tower while playing a dance remix of Amerika - which then transitioned into the band returning and playing the song and continuing the concert. This seemed like a misplaced interlude to me.

After a number of songs more the band left the stage before the encores. In the meantime the big screen was switching between cameras zooming in on various people in the audience - when people recognized themselves on the big screen they started cheering and clapping. This went on for a while. At one point the camera was pointed at a woman sitting on the shoulders of someone. She lifted up her t-shirt and flashed the camera. The crowd cheered. The screen kept switching between different members of the audience, and caught two other women sitting on shoulders. One of them flashing the camera as well, the other hesitating; the crowd cheering. As the screen switched to showing other people in the audience some men also lifted up their t-shirts, and the crowd laughed. Several times the camera returned to the first woman, who exposed herself again to cheers. It also returned to the two other women, and this time the second woman also pulled up her t-shirt, again to cheers from the crowd. Some of the female fans that were subsequently shown on the big screen looked a little less cheerful as the camera went to them. This went on for a while, with the camera returning to the flashers more times.

The whole scene was embarrasing to witness. Of course the people making the show can't control whether somebody chooses to lift up their t-shirt, but they can control whether they return to the people who do. It was a clear choice trying to make more women do this. They clearly made the wrong choice.

After this demeaning spectacle the band returned to the stage and started their first encore.

During the encores a small group of fans ended up standing quite near me, one of them enthusiastically cheering the band just a little bit too close to me for comfort. I took a step aside, but there was beer mugs and cardboard holders lying on the ground, so I did not get that far away. At some point the person enthusiastically tapped me on the should, apparently wanting to share the cheeriness with me, asking me: "Are you ok?" As I was quite annoyed at my personal space being invaded and by being touched by a stranger, I looked the person in the eyes and said: "No." He asked again, and I repeated my answer. He then asked: "Bad concert?" and I looked him in the eyes again and said: "Yes."

He then returned to cheering the band and fortunately left me alone.

I know drunk people often have problems respecting boundaries, but come on.

Shortly after this altercation Rammstein started playing one of their few songs in English: Pussy. This song was embarrasing back when it was new, and it is not less embarrasing now. Upon hearing the lyrics:

You've got a pussy
I have a dick, ah
So what's the problem?
Let's do it quick

I realized that, no, I don't want to be part of this shit-show any longer. So I left the concert with a bad taste in my mouth (and an ugly smell of cigarette smoke in my hair).

During the exchange with the fan I was quite annoyed - but on the way home I realized that if I hadn't been provoked by this person to reflect more on the concert, I might have stayed for the last 3-4 encores and not really thought about how sad and pathetic the whole show was - so something good came out of it.

I recommend everybody not to attend the shows on this Rammstein tour.