Rammstein in Concert

In the Northern Summer of 2010, I mentioned to my son, who was going to Sonisphere, that Warren would probably kill to see Rammstein in concert.

Well, it's 6 months later and we've just come back from seeing that very act live on stage in Joburg.

It was Warren's first live concert ever, and only my second, for all that I grew up in Europe. I just prefer my music without the crowds, usually.

Driving in to the venue at The Dome (just up the road from us) this afternoon, I wondered if wearing a black T shirt was an entrance requirement, from looking at the walk-in crowd. In my black jeans and Damh the Bard black T shirt depicting the antlered skull of Herne, just for a change I blended right in. Although Warren later said it was a pity I'd tied my hair back, I was thankful I was wearing a plait as I would otherwise have roasted even more than I did.
I'm not a particular fan of Rammstein - I don't buy their music and metal is usually too edgy for me - but I truly loved that concert.

For a start, the people - gosh, where do I begin with the people?
Not  a lover of crowds of even moderate size and easily irritated by human beings in any numbers greater than about two, I actually drank in this bunch's wonderful energy.

There were Goths and latex fetishists, skinheads and longhairs, White Power dudes and Rastafarians, Pagans, Satanists and Metal Heads of all orders. Heavily tatooed skin and lily-white purity of flesh. Grandparents, parents, twenty-somethings and a couple of toddlers.

It was a heavily White crowd, for sure, with just a sprinkling of Indians, but otherwise the sheer range of types was breathtaking. Apart from the almost omnipresent black attire, I've rarely been in such a diverse mass of people. All loving Rammstein.

The show itself was fantastic. A sound and light and heat spectacular which had me firmly trying to ground myself at a couple of stages, as I was in danger of soaring right out of my body at times. Shamanic, yes.And the Horned God was widely worshipped amongst whipping heads of hair and raised salutes all night....ahhh....