Rammstein provides sensory onslaught

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Rammstein frontman Till Lindemann wields a large flamethrower on stage at the MTS Centre Thursday. (PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store

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The German word for fire is feuer, but it may as well be Rammstein.

The German industrial metal band made its first-ever stop in Winnipeg on Thursday and set the inside of the MTS Centre ablaze with a blitzkrieg of a show. It's a safe bet to say the concert featured more pyro in one night than the rest of the shows at the arena combined will for the rest of the year.

There were burning microphone stands, flamethrower microphones, percussion cannons, dozens of flame pots that shot towers of fire and smoke into the air and more explosions than a half-decent Canada Day fireworks display all on a stage that looked like a bomb hit it.

Arena rock shows don't really come any more epic than this.

The spectacle/performance art event was witnessed by an excited crowd of 6,000 who were practically scorched by the heat coming off the stage no matter where they were in the rink.

The sextet even made a unique entrance, crossing a platform that descended from the MTS Centre's ceiling, over the heads of fans, across half the floor of the arena to the stage.

Of course, a torchbearer led their way.

From there it was a sensory onslaught with a grinding two-guitar assault, heavy electronics and a throbbing rhythm section as the band ran through their greatest hits as part of the Made in Germany 1995-2011 tour.

Every song was in German and it all sounded menacing, disturbing and harsh; then again, they could have been singing about puppies and rainbows (they weren't: online English translations of their lyrics disprove that theory).

Booming vocalist Till Lindemann is a licensed pyrotechnician and used his skills to the fullest as he played the role of human sparkler shooting fireworks out of his hands, bathed himself in a shower of sparks and played the role of the God of Fire.

During Mein Teil he brought a smoldering cauldron on stage featuring keyboardist Christian Lorenz hiding inside. Lindemann roasted him alive by shooting him with a flamethrower before pulling out an even bigger gun. A flame cannon?

It was a bit of humourous theatre for the band, since Lorenz emerged and ran around the stage with explosions shooting out of his rear. Despite the seriousness and heaviness of Rammstein's music, they do have a lighter side as evidenced in some of their videos featuring them dressed up in fat suits or attending a 1960s beach party.

Lorenz — looking sharp in sparking S&M gear — also provided a few other lighthearted moments by running on a treadmill during a few songs then hopping in an inflatable raft and being passed around on the floor by fans during the creepy Haifisch.

The special-effects madness was the perfect backdrop to the music. Sonne and Mutter were slow, dirty Gothic sounding dirges; Keine Lust featured grinding thrash riffs and some double bass blast beats; while Links 2-3-4 had a military feel and had the crowd singing along.

The audience was loudest for the anthemic Du Hast, one of the most visually spectacular bits of theatre with a multitude of flames blasting on stage and shooting out from the overhead lighting rig before Lindemann shot fireworks at a tower by the soundboard, which in turn triggered four fireballs that were shot back at the band, crashing into the stage with a huge explosion.

The band got up close to fans at the back on a satellite stage, but didn't just walk there: drummer Christoph Schneider had everyone but Lindemann crawling on their hands and knees across their entrance platform while whipping them before they submitted to playing the roles of slaves on the B-stage for a trio of numbers.

So what do they do for a finale? Haul out a giant industrial fan as a backdrop, amp up the already impressive light show and shoot off confetti cannons during the first three-song encore.

The second encore started off with the pulsating Engel. For the song — angel in English — Lindemann was decked out in huge metallic wings that shot fire out of its tips during the Ennio Morricone-esque whistling chorus. And just to put things completely over the top, Rammstein ended the two-hour event with fan-favourite Pussy featuring Lindemann riding a giant mechanical penis that shot foam into the crowd.

Really.

It was that kind of night and that kind of concert, which could just end up as the arena rock show of the year.

rob.williams@freepress.mb.ca