GIVING fans a rocking and stellar performance is every rock band’s dream. Setting them in a moshpit and just rocking out with full force and stage presence with amplifiers and loud, explosive sound systems is what every rock band strives for at each live performance.
And when it comes to wowing crowds, fire has become a concert standard employed by many artists ranging from Muse to Taylor Swift.
Having said that, is there a band that has made playing with fire – including almost always setting a stuntman or band member on fire – a trademark of their concerts around the world?
VERDICT:
TRUE
This is in fact true, and the band is none other than the German Industrial Rock band Rammstein.
With hits like “Feuer frei” which means “open fire” and songs like “Benzin” which is filled with lyrics encouraging people to burn things, it should come as no surprise that playing with fire forms a focal point of a Rammstein concert.
Indeed, their go-to pyrotechnician was once quoted by online heavy metal portal Metal Injection in a November 2021 article that the band uses 265 gallons of fuel for every night it holds a concert.
In the article, Nikolai Sabottka said that while the band's lead singer Till Lindemann is a trained pyrotechician, he also works extensively to plan just how Rammstein can light up the night.
"This is one of the main jobs; looking at the size of the venues you will be playing first and then designing the show accordingly and choosing effects wisely so you're always able to 'sell'
this to the local authorities,” he said.
Sabotka then said that while pyrotechnics – the stuff that explodes, such as fireworks – is generally heavily regulated around the world, this is not the same for flame effects.
“So, we most often need to deal with different authorities for different effects and we had everything from zero to roughly a hundred firemen on site,” he said.
As for why Rammstein brought Sabottka on board despite Lindemann's qualifications, he had an explanation for that too.
“While it increased their popularity pretty quickly, it also had left some venues and fire authorities not so happy. A good part of my work for several years was to reverse this while the show had to look even more spectacular and we were and are continuously pushing the envelope."
At the end of the day, rock and roll needs flash, spectacle and a certain 'wow' factor to pull in the crowds – and Rammstein does it with fire.
As the band sings in Benzin, “Willst du dich von etwas trennen, dann musst du es verbrennen” or “if you want to part with something, you must burn it!”
References:
https://planetradio.co.uk/kerrang/entertainment/music/rammstein-pyro-stadium-tour/
https://www.nme.com/news/music/rammstein-2-2-1248621
https://exclaim.ca/music/article/heres_how_much_fuel_rammstein_use_on_pyro_per_show
