I just had a magical night thanks to spontaneity, luck, Rammstein and a plucky 27 year-old co-worker. In Berlin again for business, which is becoming a regular for me every 3 weeks or so. The city reminds me of San Francisco and aside from the language could easily be plopped down in the Bay Area without the blink of an eye.
This trip I met a new co-worker at the office, 27 year-old Uruguayan young lady, Caro, who upon seeing my Metal shirt mentioned she liked Rammstein. Like most of you I would assume, that prompted me to immediately check their tour dates, lo and behold they were playing at the Berlin Olympiastadion and they were still a handful of seats My body is 59 years old, but my mind is no older than 30, so my first thought was "Fuck Yea!" however it took Caro's joyous "We have to go!" to move me to action. The adventurous spirit she has to jump at the chance to go to [/b]Her first ever big concert[/b] with an old man she met the day before!!
Thankfully Caro had lived in Berlin previously and took over the navigation to the show, which was a train packed with raucous fans chanting, singing and drinking beer the entire hour long ride. Another co-worker I had just met had just returned from Amsterdam and gave us a brick of a pot brownie for the show. I'm a serious lightweight and exercised caution, but Caro was all in - ultimately she ate 3/4 and I had 1/4 of the 0.5 gram brownie. Slight moment of panic as we are walking through security and I have this large, illegal brownie in my pocket - the dude frisking me stopped his hand over the brownie bulge, felt around a bit as to determine the nature of the lump in my cargoes before waving me through. The entirety of Midnight Express flashed through my mind at that moment.
We found our seats, decent mid-level stage right close enough to feel heat from flames location, ate our brownie and settled in for an amazing evening. Caro was practically crying tears of joy as the show started. She turned to me and said every time she tells the story of her first concert, seeing her favorite band mind you, that I would be in it.
I know some Rammstein songs, the popular ones, have seen several of the videos and generally knew what I was getting into, but I had no idea how amazing the show would be. Along with 75,000 passionate fans we were delighted from the get-go. I have seen my share of shows, like most of you, in the hundreds if not a thousand or more, but never anything as spectacular as this. Rammstein are true stadium show pros. As pure musicians and songwriters they are masters of their craft, writing and performing intense, catchy, throbbing, metal and prog-like songs about relevant issues, real life baring their soul personal tragedies, and undying love for Germany but empowered to criticize. I was impressed by their musicianmanship across the board. The unsung rhythm section carried much of the load laying down the foundation for vocal, guitars, and keys with driving beats and insane bass lines. Every song was amazing and i only really knew two enough to sing along, kind of. Caro was in heaven, energetically dancing and singing the entire show flashing the kind of grin you get from your first magical moment, I think the brownie helped a bit.
The music is only half the event. Rammstein are the masters of the stage show, mixing lights, fireworks, explosions and pyrotechnics to an extent that dwarfs every other show. The choreographed effects for the 3 hour set was syncopated wonderfully, manipulatively timed to elicit crowd fervor and delight. The pyrotechnics alone are indescribable and for the first time in decades something literally took my breath away!
This show, the joy of watching Caro's magical moments, and the surprise and delight of seeing a band mostly cold, is a lifetime highlight that has usurped many of my previous top concert moments.
Thank you Caro and my immature brain.
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Originally Posted by SteveSly
- the production is the show. Which is cool and old school...
Yeah, like that gag Till & Flake do in "Bück Dich." (No, I won't post the gif, but I'm tempted.)
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