Wer wartet mit Besonnenheit
Der wird belohnt zur rechten Zeit
Nun das Warten hat ein Ende
Leiht euer Ohr einer Legende
I was not expecting Rammstein to commence their show with that song. It´s been taken from the 2009 record „Liebe ist für alle da“. Rammlied. First song from the record. No doubt that it´s a suitable opener for a stadium show.
Rammstein live experience
It´s the 18th of July. Tuesday evening. Rammstein are playing their third show at Olympic Stadium in Berlin. I have listened to the initial show from my apartment which took place on Saturday evening. My apartment is located four kilometers of distance from Olympic Stadium. I was recognizing Till´s voice when opening the window. I could clearly identify some of the songs being played. Mainly I recognized the bass frequencies accompanied by the deep distorted guitars. Rumms Rumms Rumms. This is how on German language I express the Rammstein sound. Rammstein playing live sounds like there is something going on. Really.
Applying for a ticket
I was not pretty sure if I will ever make it to their show in my life. At the moment when a new Rammstein tour had been announced respectively on the day when the ticket purchase had started the ticket system was confronted with an overwhelming rush of demand. I heard people telling funny stories that they were dialing in with four different devices in order to apply for a ticket.
Usually at 10 am people started to dial in and they were immediately placed in a cue. A minority was forwarded to the next step in order to apply and finally purchase a ticket. I was attempting the same after the 2023 shows had been announced. During that time I was working in the office so I did not focus on my position as part of the cue in a serious way. One hour after dialing in I checked my position again. I was kicked out of the cue. All tickets were already sold. Within two hours. For a Stadium Tour. Across Europe.
Background
It´s worth to mention that at the moment when I dialed in I was not even sure if it´s truly my intention to see them performing live. From the outside I listened to their shows which they played at Olympic Stadium in 2019 and in 2022. It´s not that I mind the entrance fee. I just recognized that the amount of fireworks will likely distract me from following the music being played. I was not sure if I will be able to process this amount of energy. 50,000 people as part of a sold out stadium screaming to intense and heavy played rock music.
The point is that usually I try to avoid masses. Currently I´m going through “Psychology of Mass*” by Gustave Le Bon. By doing so I´m obtaining a better understanding of why I try to avoid masses. With that being said it was crystal clear that when heading to their show I must consider that as an exceptional situation happening in my life.
Why to attend Rammstein’s show
Probably heading to a Rammstein show in order to listen to their music distinguishes me when compared to the majority of the audience. Due to Rammstein’s popularity all across Germany it´s likely to meet someone who already attended their show. While talking about that live experience the majority always mentioned either the great fireworks or other side effects in terms of their performance. Almost none of them was referring to their music.
Interesting. Never experienced that before. Never experienced that some people´s intention to see a band performing live is to mainly experience the effects besides the music being played.
I cannot deny that I enjoyed the side effects in terms of their live performance. I can still feel the heat on my forehead when the pyrotechnicians were firing an intense volume of heated gas up into the Berlin air during the chorus of Sonne. Obviously these kind of effects have been an essential part of their live shows. And it seems that Rammstein itself is fully aware of that fact. Some years ago I went through an interview in which guitarist Richard mentioned it will be interesting to see if a Rammstein show will work without that variety of side effects.
In 2019 and in 2022 I was experiencing the side effects solely from the outside. Dark, blackened and grey smoke was arising from the Stadium within a regular manner. That´s all what my eyes captured. I did not mind. In 2022 when Rammstein were playing the songs which I admire most I focused my eyes on a small piece of stone as part of the outside Stadium wall. I did not move them away. Then I solely focused on the guitar tracks being played. Rumms Rumms Rumms. Incredibly intense.
It´s all about distorted guitars
Since the age of six I´m in love with the distorted electric guitar. Since the age of 18 I consider Rammstein as music which I enjoy listening to. With that being said I perceived an incomparable „live“ experience by just standing outside of the Stadium while concentrating on the guitars being played. While Deutschland being played I went to the area of the back entrance of the Stadium. From that location it was possible to capture a minor amount of the fireworks which were blown up on the inside. At the moment when I started to focus on the fireworks I immediately recognized a reduction in terms of the intensity of the music being played. I quickly went back to my initial position to resume focusing my eyes on that little piece of stone as part of the outside Stadium wall. The intensity returned. Rumms Rumms Rumms.
Live or not live?
There is a lot of discussion out there concerning the songs being played completely live or not. Based on that there appears to be at least a minor amount of tracks which is directly dialed in from the tape rather than being played live. I´m not wondering about it. The shows which were played in 2023 were still part of the Europe Stadium Tour which they had commenced in 2019 and which had been interrupted by Corona pandemic. The estimated revenue which has been calculated when just considering the entrance fees of the shows is expected at an amount of 500 million of Euros.
It´s nearly impossible to verify how much of the tracks I listened to were played live or dialed in from the tape. But considering the fact of the mentioned amount of money it seems to be comprehensible to be in possession of a variety of back up tracks which can be dialed in from the tape in the case that the artists are not able to perform on their highest level.
How I made it to Rammstein´s show
Previously I have mentioned that I was not given access to apply for a ticket on that day when the ticket sale had started. How did I make it to their show?
Five days before the Saturday show took place I checked their website and I was surprised. There were still some tickets available left for sale as part of the upper ranks. At that moment when I checked the website I was not really planning to attend their show. But recognizing the amount of around 50 tickets left for sale triggered my attention again. In 2016 I was considering to attend their show in Poland as the German part of the tour was already sold out. I did not show up. Then I got aware of the Stadium concert in 2019. I did not see them live. Just listening. I did not see them live in 2022. Again I just listened.
It was getting clear that I need to make a decision. I was recognizing that in the case they will stop performing live next year it´s likely that I will regret that I never made it to their show. That being said I had already prepared my mind with the following: I´m a huge fan. Since several years I´m listening to their music and I never made it to their live show. Why? I don´t know. Keep this for your records.
To go or not to go?
The point is that the majority of bands which I consider as a certain kind of influence and inspiration I have seen them performing live. I was really wondering why I was not able to make a clear decision in terms of immediately purchasing one of the 50 tickets left for sale.
“Seeing them performing live will change your attitude towards them. Do not change anything. You´re in deep love. Do not risk anything which may affect the love in a way you did not wanted or expected to happen. You´re in such deep love that in the case you want to see them live you need to be part of the front block. You need to capture the best position available. In addition you need to be in the best physical condition by yourself in order to experience the most of their live show. Can you guarantee that you will be in a good condition that day?”
“It´s essential to see them live. You´re such a huge fan. You admire this voice and these distorted guitars. You have seen more than 100 bands performing live. Why are you preventing yourself from seeing them performing live? It does not matter if you´re part of the upper ranks. You have already been to that Stadium watching soccer. It provides sufficient view and great experience from any seat available. You don´t know if you will get a further chance to see them performing live.”
The decision
I gave it 20 minutes. Then, around 4 pm, I made the decision which I still consider as being the right decision: I purchased one of the tickets left for sale as part of the upper ranks. Finally, on the 18th of July, for the duration of two hours and twenty minutes, I throw myself into the mass of 50,000 Rammstein fans and merged with the songs from which I know every single instrument being played as part of every single song by heart. It was an exceptional situation. It was an intense live experience. It´s satisfactory to know that I was able to handle such a variety of impressions. I´m in love with this music. I´m happy that I have spent some of my money so that Richard is able to purchase a new pair of guitar strings once his current ones are broken.
Rumms Rumms Rumms.
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Martin
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