The break was unintentionally long: Only now can Rammstein continue their European tour that began in 2019. Prague is the first of 19 European cities.
Rammstein end the tour through European stadiums that started in 2019 and was interrupted by Corona
The fans of the Neue-Deutsche-Härte-Band Rammstein will think that what takes a long time will finally be good: On Sunday, May 15, 2022, part two of the “Europe” will start, which started in 2019 but was interrupted due to the corona pandemic ;Stadium Tour” (also called “Stadium Tour”). In August we will continue to Canada, the USA and Mexico. A resumption planned for 2021 had to be postponed due to ongoing bans on events and restrictions in connection with the pandemic. The band's website read that the band and everyone involved was very disappointed.
So now the time has come and Rammstein can be seen live again in 2022. Corona is not over, but relaxation in the European countries involved now apparently offered sufficient planning security to put events of the magnitude for which the band is known into action. The tour starts in the Czech capital of Prague . At the Letňany airfield there, on 11. A rehearsal concert took place in May in front of a few hundred people, as reported by Rolling Stone magazine, citing the French fan site “Rammstein World”. Tickets for the dress rehearsal, where special effects were already being tested, could be won on the official fan page “LIFAD” (“Love is for everyone”).
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Rammstein concerts: what fans can expect
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Germany's largest pop export
At the rehearsal concert, the band played well-known songs as well as tracks from the brand new album “Zeit”. This was released at the end of April 2022 and climbed to the top of the German album charts within a week. Rammstein opened the Prague dress rehearsal with the first song, “Armee von Tristen”. Also heard from the new album was the song of the same name “Zeit” and “Zick Zack”, the release of which was accompanied by a marketing campaign. Before saying goodbye with the aptly titled “Adieu,” the group performed a few older songs, including “Sehnsucht,” “Diamant,” and “Du hast.” The controversial “Germany” is also said to have been there.
Expect Rammstein to play mostly older songs at the tour's concerts alongside some of the recently added tracks; including those known for their provocative potential. The stage in Prague is already set. First impressions of the towering towers, which formed the setting for the first part of the tour in 2019, can be found on social media under the hashtag #rammsteinprague2022. According to media reports, there will be no skimping on special effects, as is known from the German sextet.
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There will also be Rammstein support acts again. One of them: the duo Jatekok. As early as 2017, the French pianists Naïri Badal and Adélaïde Panaget were allowed to open a band concert in the arena of the French city of Nîmes. Shortly before the start of the new tour (on May 6th, 2022) their new album “Duo Jatekok plays Rammstein” with cover versions of Rammstein songs was released.
Political classification of Rammstein
The musicians around singer Till Lindemann have been polarizing since their formation. His chanting does not come without the distinctive rolling “R”, the band logo is reminiscent of the cross symbol of the German armed forces in World War II, the lyrics do not stop at brutality and violence (e.g.: “I hurt you “, “Stein um Stein”, “Roter Sand”) and in videos they use excerpts from the works of Leni Riefenstahl, who made propaganda films for the Nazi regime. Are the musicians from the new federal states to be located politically on the right? Lindemann denied this to the music magazine Rolling Stone. They grew up as socialists in the GDR and “used to be either punks or goths”. He added: “We hate Nazis!” With the song “Links 2 3 4” from 2001, they wanted to make it absolutely clear where Rammstein should be politically classified.
Rammstein started out as a band in 1994 in the East Berlin district of Prenzlauer Berg
Nevertheless: In 2019 it rained criticism – especially for the video of “Deutschland” from the untitled album, of which only a teaser was initially released. The short clip shows Rammstein frontman Till Lindemann and three of his band members lined up on one Gallows, each with a rope around his neck and in convict's clothes. This aroused associations with concentration camp prisoners, which the Federal Government Commissioner for Anti-Semitism, Felix Klein, described as “a tasteless exploitation of artistic freedom”. Criticism went as far as condemnation as a “form of desecration of corpses”, according to historian Michael Wolffsohn.
In the nine-minute video, which contains scenes of explicit violence, the placement of the National Socialist era appears as one episode among many. The journalism and media scientist Joachim Trebbe told DW at the time that placing this period in the same vein as the wars of Charlemagne or the defenestration in Prague was “still open to criticism – at least in the specific German constellation.” The song itself doesn't glorify anything and wouldn't misuse symbols, Trebbe continued. A line from the song reads something like: “Germany! Your love is a blessing and a curse. Germany! I can't give you my love.” In general, “love” is the most frequently used word in the group's texts.
The 2022 tour – the end in sight?
Rammstein's latest work is called “Zeit” – now the fan base is speculating whether it might be time to say goodbye to the band
In Europe, 32 concerts in 19 cities are now on the program. In Germany, Rammstein will play in the stadiums of Leipzig, Berlin, Stuttgart, Hamburg and Düsseldorf from May 20th. Most of the spectators, over 120,000 in number, came to the Munich stadium for part one of the tour. In total, almost 1.3 million people attended one of the concerts in 2019.
Information about a tour for the new album “Zeit”, which should have taken place in other places in Europe in 2023, appeared briefly on the Internet. As Rammstein's European tour promoter announced, these dates were fake. The fact is that Lindemann's solo concerts, which should have taken place in Russia at the end of the year (in December 2022), have been cancelled. In a statement on their website, Rammstein declare their support for the Ukrainian people “standing up against the shocking onslaught by the Russian government.” The Berlin band recalls that all members have had their experiences with both countries and have connections to people in Russia and Ukraine. They conclude: “We recognize the desperation that many Russian fans feel at the actions of their government and we want to commemorate the humanity that Russian and Ukrainian citizens share.”
Whether the album “Zeit”, off which now some songs come on European stages, could be a farewell album, it was rumored. As the Berliner Kurier, who accompanied the Prague dress rehearsal, noted, a few lines from the song “Adieu”, which is included on the album, were rewritten during the performance. Instead of “you have to go the last way alone” it should now – addressed to the fans – have said, “you have to go the last way alone”.