After Multiple Delays Out Of Their Control, Rammstein Finally Return To Chicago With Jawdropping Stadium Tour

Sep 06, 2022 admin_bitlc Features, Music News, Reviews 0

By Cesar Glanville

Five years after their U.S. tour and after 2 covid related postponements spanning 2 years, the massive stage production that is Rammstein finally descended on Chicago.

To prep for the audio visual onslaught this reporter recently watched the documentary “Rammstein in Amerika” which detailed their struggles of ‘breaking’ in America and how they stuck to their guns and didn’t do what record executives and publicists requested: sing in English, compromise their stage show, etc.. Well if you’re almost 30 years in as a band and playing American football stadiums, per usual, you’re smarter than ‘the suits’.

As for the show, I thought the massive time between tour dates may have been for rest and recuperation for the band, but the stage production is so massive it takes days to set up each show and woof, does it deliver. Multi-level adorned with elaborate lighting, video and …of course, pyro.

Ascending to the stage like entering from the bowels of hell, the band took their places one by one lead by enigmatic keyboard player Flake and ending with the mouthpiece Till. Sonically, the show shook the foundation of the third coast spaceship and probably created its own waves in nearby Lake Michigan.

Starting with “Armee der Tristen” and firing through a 20 plus song onslaught with military like precision, the band of course brought the fire, bringing the heat that could be felt hundreds of feet away. An interesting concept was the inclusion of a second stage in the middle of the crowd to provide a respite of sorts, a beautiful piano version of “Engel” where the band was joined by opener, Duo Abelard. Question, if you do a song way out in the middle of the stadium how do you get back? Well naturally you ride rafts over the top of the crowd … have I seen this before? I think Pigface made that a thing back in the early nineties, this just on an amplified scale.

Loud music, great stage show, tons of energy… what more could one want? Well the city of Chicago / Soldier Field knowing how to handle the traffic and maybe not charging $55+ for parking would be a good start, but minor details – the near Southside became home to a German love fest, now just don’t wait five years to return, boys.