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CAUGHT LIVE...RAMMSTEIN

fter a 5 year absence Rammsteinreturned to the UK in literally blis-tering form. On this, the first nightof their short UK tour they cer-

tainly prove why they are one of the mostentertaining bands currently active.Sporting a new stage set (costing awhopping 2million approx.) no expensehas been spared.

Opening act Combichrist set theball rolling with their brand of industrialdance metal, reminiscent ofpre-Downward Spiral NiN.

Energetic vocallist AndyLaPleglua, soundingvaguely similar to Static-X'sown Wayne Static gets thecrowd fired up through ashort set including theshoutalong 'What the F***Is Wrong With You' but it isdrummer Joe Letz and per-cussionist Trevor Friedrichwho steal the show withtheir entertaining albeit attimes chaotic drummingwhich called for a short-

ened set as they got toocarried away and con-stantly smashed their re-spected kits up andthrowing drumsticks aboutlike no tomorrow.

Known for their shock factor,Rammstein controversially stick to mate-rial from latest album 'Liebe Ist Fur AlleDa' as well as throwing some old hits into the mix. Other bands have tried andfailed this formula but not all bands areRammstein, whose live ethic remains the

same: blasting their audience's face offwith as much pyro and explosions as hu-manly imaginable. And that is just whatthey do. Guitarists Kruspe and Landersuse their respected guitars to smash theirway through walls either side of frontman

Till Lindermann, who kicks things offmaking his way through a doorway on-stage thanks to the use of a blowtorch.They begin explosively with 'Rammlied'with Till sporting a red apron and a hair-net, singing with a glow in his mouththanks to a white light fitted inside.

Keyboardist Flake is legendary amongRammstein fans due to the on-stage'abuse' he receives from Till (past inci-dents include a staged sodomoy that re-

sulted in both members' arrest) but thistime must be the craziest. During recentsingle 'Ich Tu Der Weh' Flake is dumpedinto a bathtub after a staged bout offisticuffs. Till then raises himself highabove the platform and dumps a tirade ofsparks from a milk churn onto the bath-tub, which then exploded. Shortly after

the skinny keyboardist reappeared wear-ing a sparkling full bodied suit. And itdidnt just stop there. With props such asexploding dolls with lasers in their eyesand guitarists wearing fire breathingmasks it would be shocking to hear any-

one complain of being even slightly chilly.

Classics such as Ich Will, KeineLust and of course Feur Frei (with full onpyrotechnics across the stage) got thecrowd ever more pumped up includingthe Industrial legends themselves whostormed through a note perfect 'Benzin'whilst firing a petrol pump shaped flamethrower around the stage. Also duringFeur Frei one 'fan' ran around the stagemaniacally, only to be set on fire and

kicked down by Till. Ofcourse, breakout songs

Sonne and Du Hast wereplayed with precision andwere just as captivating asthe visuals that accompa-nied them.

One particular highlighthad to be Till straddling agiant pink cannon during'Pussy' (a song alreadyknown for its more thanrisque music video) travel-ling left to right of the frontbarrier firing foam towards

the crowd. Flake did his rou-tine of surfing the crowd in agiant raft and successfullyavoided being capsized, fly-ing a British flag as he wentaround.

Finally on their second encorethey end with 'Engel', made ever morespecial by a metal winged Till Linder-mann (guess what was fired from thewings?). After such an explosive finalewhen Rammstein return to these shoresin August for Sonisphere it'd be interest-

ing to see what they can do to be able totop one of their greatest live perform-ances ever seen.

SUPPORT:

COMBICHRISTMEN ARENA, MANCHESTER

12.2.10

Man the lifeboats! Love is indeed for everyone as

Rammstein invade Manchester!

A

CLASSIC!

BRILLIANT!

BIT AVERAGE

NOT THAT GOOD

WHY DID I BOTHER?

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SHINEDOWN

LIVE!

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