Rammstein @ First Mariner Arena 4/25/2012

After about 11 years (my first concert), Rammstein came back to the DC area. They played at Nation last time (now defunct, similar in size to 9:30 club), and this time the First Mariner Arena.My brother and Milla and I met up (briefly, as we apparently were running late later) with John, Kate, and a couple of their friends. Merch was OK, didn't really see anything I loved. Shirts were like 35, they had a bunch of posters, and I think a bag.

Some member of Combichrist (Joe Letz) DJ'd some Rammstein remixes (dubsteppin'), which seemed like kind of a faux pas - playing songs that Rammstein would be playing later. They sounded decent tho. He had a stuffed Unicorn, apparently. Similar to Straftanz's Unicorn obsession? Not sure.

My brother and I got to Baltimore early (I took a whirlwind day off) and parked across from the venue ($20! bastards) and watched a crowd of the unwashed queue up and slowly get frisked and let in. There were def a few cuties including this one girl with a very short skirt (cheek was seen). A lot of Rammstein shirts, a smattering of other metal and heavy music shirts too. A lot of black too of course. We rolled out to eat then walked back with Milla from her superlong boating trip.

The seats were SMALL. I don't know how you could sit in that seat with no legroom for an extended period of time. John had an aisle seat, otherwise I think he would have gone mad. I was next to a ...big boned... gentleman. So I was a little crushed. We had a decent view from the left side of the stage.

Rammstein came on around 9 to start a very elaborate show. They marched in from the floor, with a torch, Rammstein flag, and a Maryland flag (cheap pop). The whole band marched to the middle, where a giant catwalk was lowered and then they walked across that, over the crowd to the stage. Ominous music played to the cheers of the crowd throughout this time to further set the mood.

They started off with a bang and didn't really let up until Haifisch (a song I could have done w/out zzz). The pyro  was so hot that we could feel it from our far away seats. Imagine what it was like on stage or on the floor!! See below for the full show report. Some ...enthusiastic...fan jumped and tried to climb on the catwalk during the intro to Bück Dich. Security freaked out and got him down quickly- he was dropped into the crowd.  And it looked like he was escorted from the venue. There were about 3 different pits at a couple times during the show also.


Sonically, I had no complaints- they sounded loud, crisp, and great. Performance was as professional and a bit more elaborate than the last time. They sounded great, put one of is not the best show. I coulda done w/out Haifisch and Ohne Dich, but I suppose one needs a break too. Def worth the money- I think probably show of the year for me, despite the distance from the stage and crammed space.



Rammstein
Sonne (fire)
Wollt ihr das Bett in Flammen Sehen
Keine Lust
Sensucht
Asche zu Asche
Feuer Frei!
Mutter
Mein Teil Du Riechst So Gut
Links 2-3-4
Du Hast
Haifisch (raft over crowd, mini inflatable shark was thrown in too)

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Bück Dich (some nut tried to climb the catwalk and was tackled by security)
Mann Gegen Man
Ohne Dich

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Mein Herz Brent
Amerika
Ich Will
Engel
Pussy


(since someone else already wrote this, why write it again?-

Show Details:(from: http://www.metalsetlists.com/showthread.php?t=20242&highlight=rammstein )
Sonne - fire during the chorus
Wollt Ihr Das Bett In Flammen Sehen - the sleeves of Till's jacket shoot out firework sparks
Keine Lust
Sehnsucht
Asche zu Asche
Feuer Frei! - flamethrowers on Paul, Richard, and Till's faces at the end of the song
Mutter - Till stands under a shower of firework sparks
Mein Teil - the song starts with Till (dressed like a chef, covered in blood, with a butcher knife for a microphone) pushing out a giant cauldron with Flake inside (like Volkerball). After the middle section of the song, Till comes out with the flamethrower, and then brings another much larger torche and torches the pot. Flake jumps out with the fog machine on his back shooting smoke and such, he runds around the stage and is chased by falling fireworks.
Links 2-3-4 - Till comes out with the big crossbow which shoots fireworks around him. Later in the song, they shoot off 2 red fireworks that circle around and explode on the stage.
Du Riechst So Gut - flamethrowers on Richard and Paul's arms; band freezes on stage after the tapping section
Du Hast - so much fire. At one point, the stage just looked like it was actually on fire. But no... it wasn't.....
Haifisch - Flake rafts over the crowd
(bridge comes down, and they all crawl across to the other stage on all-fours in leashes with Cristoph holding them, and whipping them as they crawl. Richard is already on the other stage doing the intro to Buck Dich from the infamous live video.)

Buck Dich - Till wears this odd contraption on his face (kind of like a muzzle) that shoots out liquids like the dildo in the aforementioned video
Mann Gegen Man - Flake hits one of them (couldn't really tell which one) with a large fluorescent light bulb
Ohne Dich
(bridge drops down, they all go back across, and bow. Till says "thank you very much," and they all walk off stage.)

Mein Herz Brennt
Amerika - AND SUDDENLY... confetti... EVERYWHERE
Ich Will
Engel - Till comes out with the metal wings with the torches
Pussy - foam-shooting penis cannon