Rammstein

During a typical Rammstein show, Lindemann wears special boots and gloves that spit a shower of sparks; sometimes, he jumps from a speaker cabinet and rolls on the ground across the stage like a Fourth-of-July pinwheel.

The frontman, a onetime Olympic swimmer, performs another trick where an explosion completely engulfs him for a second.

The band also uses a spark-emitting rocket attached to a cable. Using a bow made of metal (which spits sparks, of course), the singer pretends to launch the rocket like an arrow over the concert-goers’ heads.

Other members partake in the pyromania, setting their instruments and mic stands on fire while playing.

For the finale, Lindemann brings out a flame thrower and shoots fire above the audience.

Some talent buyers are surprised — and shocked — upon seeing the three-page pyrotechnics and special effects rider for Rammstein. But those concerns of safety in the minds of promoters and others are also ever-present in the band and its stage crew.

It’s obvious: How can you have a successful tour if no one will book the shows for fear of disaster?

As Rammstein’s guitarist and founding member Richard Kruspe shared with POLLSTAR, venue owners cease to worry after they see the band and its crew in action.

“The second time, it’s not a problem,” said Kruspe in his native German. “It’s like with sex.”

In the past year, Rammstein has brought its heavy, German-sung music to the States in the form of Sehnsucht (Hunger), released on PolyGram’s Motor Music. Though it is the band’s second album, it marks Rammstein’s strong debut into the U.S. market.

The band’s album has moved up steadily and is now in SoundScan’s Top 50. As a recent article in The Wall Street Journal pointed out, a German band has not done that well Stateside since Nena hit No. 27 on the charts some 14 years ago.

Even Kruspe is somewhat surprised at the U.S. audiences’ reaction to a German band. “At first, that’s what we thought as well, that it would be very hard [to connect with English-speaking audiences]. But we’re very amazed at how easy it is in actuality, how open the people are and how well the response is to our music and to Rammstein.”

Rammstein is a band assembled of players from various punk outfits in the former territory behind the Iron Curtain. Motivated by Kruspe’s long-time dream to form a group that combined “hard guitar riffs with melodies,” Rammstein exploded onto the German music scene in 1993.

Early in its career, the band played as a supporting act, prior to securing a recording contract. “At that time, there was no East Germany anymore; it was 1993 or 1994,” said Kruspe via a translator. “So we played mostly in the former East German area, little villages or wherever we could play, just to get a feeling of hearing the songs live.”

From that run of gigs, Rammstein signed on with the manager of a band they had admired. Through one of Kruspe’s former bands, he had met manager Emanuel Fialik, who was a club promoter in the early days. Over breakfast, the members met with Fialik, sharing with him their dreams and ideas for the band. The meeting resulted in sealing a bond that continues today.

As a recommendation from Fialik, the band signed a recording contract with Motor Music. “With Motor Music, we felt best, human-wise,” Krupse said.

Upon signing with Motor, Fialik knew the band needed the right agent. That person came in the form of Scumeck Sabottka with MCT Concerts. “What we really like about [Sabottka] is that he puts about as much energy into Rammstein as we put into our careers.”

The MCT agent was well-versed on the European concert scene, but when it came to the States, both Fialik and Sabottka realized another agent would be necessary. Enter QBQ Entertainment’s Michael Arfin.

Arfin became hooked on the band after seeing a show on Rammstein’s U.S. debut tour, opening for KMFDM in December 1997. The combination of the band’s stage show and musical performance led Arfin to seek involvement with the band, which was just breaking into the domestic market.

He booked the group on a five-date tour of the States this past May. On one of those shows, May 4th in Chicago, Rammstein was prohibited from using its pyro effects due to a city ordinance.

Reluctantly, the band performed the show. But, as Arfin told POLLSTAR, the outcome of it was the realization that the effects weren’t a crutch for the band. Yet, if given a choice, the band prefers the fire.

With KORN’s Family Values tour set to kick off September 22nd in New York, Rammstein is preparing to further its place in the worldwide music scene. Concert-goers and promoters alike can expect a full-blown pyro and effects show for Rammstein’s set on the tour.

And venues should remember: Rammstein requests at least four fire extinguishers and two water buckets, just in case.