ZhZhZhZh-D-D-D-D-ZhZhZhZh-D-D-D-Bah!!! – this is how the great and terrible Rammstein died down in Kyiv on March 9, 2010. Going to the concert, I prudently plugged my ears with cotton, and therefore for me it was a little quieter (zhzhzh-d-d-d …), but the general principle is still the same, and you can’t plug your eyes with cotton – THIS had to be seen , this needs to be EXPERIENCED.I am writing this review very late, 10 days after the concert. Passions had time to cool down, my own impressions had time to dilute others (I read many other similar reviews). But I still have something to say about Rammstein in Kyiv.
Not a full house?
People are flocking from the Levoberezhnaya metro station to the exhibition center. But apparently, they are not in a hurry, since the crowd in front of the entrances, although large, is not amazing. There are many free spaces in the parking lot. Speculators walk back and forth through the crowd and quietly but persistently offer to buy a pack of tickets and, in addition, a water pump. Isn’t it a full house?From the point of view of the mind, the less people, the more oxygen in the concert hall. That is, you should be happy. But subconsciously I want there to be a lot of “ours”. It’s nice to feel a part of something big and strong. And therefore, although not too much unites me with this crowd (addiction to loud rhythmic music), nevertheless I perceive my neighbors in turn as comrades-in-arms in storming the fortress, and not as competitors in the struggle for a place in the sun.
Direct hit.
I get inside relatively quickly (compared to other concerts). I don’t even have time to freeze (winter, you bastard, it’s impossible to retreat) and get bored. Friends more experienced in concert matters later told me that at similar events in Russia, security works much more professionally, and the audience is more conscious (they stand in a linear queue, and do not crowd into a narrow funnel of doors). But for me, the very fact of getting into the hall WITHOUT LATE at all was like a miracle.On the way I look into the toilet. Everything is right there: a pillar of smoke (smoky), infernal women (not older than 18), and there is almost no queue. In the next booth, someone tirelessly praises Rammstein (loudly yells the names of their favorite songs). I sincerely admire his enthusiasm and the strength of his vocal cords.
Heated feed.
Norwegians Combichrist are supporting Rammstein today. In fact, it was I who later climbed into the Internet and found out that they are Norwegians, that they play TBM / Aggrotech, and in general have existed for a long time, and did not fall from the sky specifically for a concert in Kyiv. And “today” (on the night of the concert) I just saw four exotic looking guys on the stage (a vocalist, two drummers and a keyboardist) with a “Combichrist” banner hanging over them.The vocalist perky jumped around the stage and wheezed, the musicians DESIGNED that they were playing furiously. I guess the music was actually more or less a backing track. In this formulation, it sounds unattractive, right?And actually it was great. The music is simple and clear, a clear rhythm, juicy drums, almost nothing but drums and short simple lines of text “Fuck this shit!”. The drummers with the keyboardist may have fooled around with the players, but they did it very energetically and with inspiration. The most important thing is that I really started to warm up, it became interesting, the energy went through the body.Of course, not everything was perfect – the songs are too long, the drummers too often (and therefore unnaturally) throw sticks and water bottles into the crowd. It was also upsetting that when I came home and downloaded a couple of Kombichrist albums, I did not hear anything resembling a live driving sound. The studio albums were boring and 100% synthetic. Not an ounce of life. What can not be said about the show they put on for Rammstein fans.
Electric train “To Berlin!”.
Even in the middle of the warm-up, I finally decided that I wanted to watch the Ramms not from the gallery, but right from under the stage. Therefore, without delay, he began to move in her direction through the thickness of the merry people. So far, people have not had time to compress and the first 10 meters I squeezed through almost freely. But then the ranks closed and I stopped. I didn’t want to brazenly push through, because everyone here is our own.In the meantime, the support group finished their performance and the technicians began to dismantle their equipment, which, however, was started by the musicians themselves (scattering the drums a little around the stage). I was surprised by the slowness with which the work was going on, I wanted to quickly move on to the main course. How could I have known then that not all the spectators were still in the hall, and the concert was still too early to start.My legs began to numb, which really excited me, because only an hour had passed, and there were at least two more ahead. To relax my paws, I slightly leaned my body on those in front, closed my eyes and began to smoke (work at night = eternal lack of sleep).My light pressure on the neighbors turned out to be a very effective way of influencing them. Without noticing it, they let me through and I, without waking up, began to slowly (5 centimeters per minute, no more) move forward. The scenery of Kombikrist was dismantled a long time ago, and so far there was no smell of Rammstein.Hmm, this is an idea! Release cologne or perfume with the smell of gasoline, of course under the Rammstein brand. Well, Google check, who else had this idea… Kate Moss? ??!!! Slightly not the person from whom I was ready to hear such an idea.Time passed, I moved on. I started doing it more consciously. Every 5 minutes, I sort of woke up, stretched, looked around and chose the direction for the next “race”. When an uncle, really twice the age of the main mass of spectators, began to push past with cries of “let the old and infirm pensioner (blind and deaf) go,” I realized that this was my chance. The pensioner, like an icebreaker, cut through the crowd and I only had to settle into his wake and keep up. To Berlin, comrades! For Stalin, for the Motherland!
From pawns to kings.
The energetic uncle disappeared somewhere a long time ago, and I am practically at the goal – in the third row from the barrier. No one else closes the review, the scene is in full view. The truth about comfort is out of the question – people squeeze from all sides. Hot and stuffy. It’s a pity that I only took off my jacket – I had to undress down to my T-shirt. Now it’s too late.Right in front of me, the guards grab by the arms and drag some girl from the second row through the barrier!!! What are miracles? I sharpen and immediately everything clears up – the young lady sucks, she is almost unconscious. Yes, this is not a woman’s business – metal :). It’s good that I didn’t take my wife to the concert.The concert, by the way, is still delayed. The crowd starts to get excited and loudly call their favorite band. In response, behind the curtain, someone “knocks out” a chord from the guitar. People are even more worried. The crowd leans to the side a couple of times. Poor girls…A few more metalheads move from pawns to kings (carried over the barrier with the help of caring guards). The funny thing is that the analogy with checkers-chess is absolute – there is no way back, if you are weak and want to survive, you have to break forward.With my right foot, I feel for something oblong on the floor. Curious… But it’s unlikely to be able to look down before the end of the concert. How can it end if it hasn’t started yet?
Real Rammstein.
Hurray, the show has begun! The short man in front of me starts jumping and shaking his head so much that I just have to jump in place too, in order to save my nose. In fact, I don’t feel like jumping at all, all the energy charge left by Kombikrist has long dissipated. Will have to warm up again. I hate long intermissions.The group on stage is working according to plan. Everything exactly corresponds to the video and photos from the Moscow, St. Petersburg and Minsk concerts. You can read about all the special effects and jokes of the concert in reviews of the performance of Ramms in St. Petersburg. In Kyiv, everything was exactly the same, only without Till’s flights over the hall.
Call a friend.
In the middle of “Sonne” the guy to my left pulls out his cell phone and dials someone’s number. When the phone is picked up on the other side, he raises the phone above his head and points it towards the stage. That’s right – good music and good mood should be generously shared with friends.The girl from the front row often, often looks back. Somewhere out there, her less energetic friend was stuck in the crowd. They are looking for each other’s eyes in order to at least exchange impressions.In between songs, people around me scream desperately, they are overwhelmed with feelings. I slightly envy their happiness, for my buzz is by no means complete.
Unrecognized effect.
I lack knowledge of musical terminology, but I’ll try to explain anyway. Heavy music is characterized by a high density of sound in the low frequency range. There are no great silences between sounds. The guitars hum almost constantly. And in order for this hum not to merge into a continuous “white noise”, certain conditions must be observed.Have you tried listening to metal in the car? If you do it quietly – the music is lost, if you do it loudly – distortion in the bass begins. We need a golden mean. It was this golden mean of loudness that I missed at Rammstein’s concert in Kyiv. Make the sound engineer a little quieter the sound of the guitars and the music would immediately cease to be a continuous hum and would acquire more rhythm and pulsation.Old “non-guitar” songs like Engel sounded the best. The rest were sometimes hard to recognize (I’m not talking about choruses).Well, for a complete buzz, it was not bad to have more free space in the hall. Listening to Rammstein at attention is not very natural.
Give a disco.
Reflecting on my own wishes expressed in the previous section, I unexpectedly found a solution. Metal – listen at home on good equipment, and go to the disco to rage. The usual disco with electronic dance music. And from rock concerts, go to acoustic ones more often. Give Rammstein Unplugged!Kirill Yasko March 19-21, 2010.