If it was possible to kill a virus like the Covid by burning it, we would have call the crazy Germans from Rammstein for sure. Unfortunately, the pandemic was stronger. And we’ve wait for them to return. On 3rd and 4th August, they made their comeback with a big C! We were there enjoy this mix of Tomorrowland, Barbecue and Metal. A real family meeting with the good and bad sides that it implies.
In 2019, they played a soldout show at Stade Roi Baudouin in front of 50k fans. The morning of the show, they announced their tour for 2020 with a show in… Ostende. A very unusual location for a show! Who knew the Park Nieuwe Koers before they announced the show there? Not a lot. But one thing for sure: we should have more shows there in the future. A big park near the Sea – 15 minutes walk – different than the usual Werchter place. So many acts played stadium-shows (or equivalent) this Summer in Belgium: Rammstein, Ed Sheeran (x2), Coldplay (x4), The Rolling Stones, Stromae (Werchter Boutique), Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds (TW Classic). But the limited amount of events allowed on the Werchter field and maybe at Stade Roi Baudouin, promoters need to find new places. Like they already did a few years ago for AC/DC when they played on the field of Graspop Metal Meeting.
That being said, we enjoyed a few hours at the beach like many metalheads before making our way to the show. A small festival feeling. First thing we can’t miss – even 1km away – is the huge stage of the band. The same as 2019 but still so impressive! Second thing: a set-list looking a lot the same and with the same effects/pyro for many songs. If you saw Rammstein for the first time, you’ll have – potentially – the time of your life. If it’s not, you’ll enjoy it but have a feeling of “déjà vu”. It was our case. And the boring audience of Rammstein didn’t help: it’s a metal show but without the metal vibes. Try to launch a small pit and everybody around you will stay still and hate you…
Rammstein are there to promote their latest album “Zeit” so it’s not a surprise to see them starting the show with 2 brand new tracks, Armee Der Tristen and Zick Zack. A good response but nothing compared to the third: Links 2-3-4. Gonna be the same during the whole night, like it’s for all the bands: the old songs always got the preference from the public. But even with that, the first third – almost half – of the show was a bit disappointed. Tonight was the last show of the tour was they were a bit exhausted. But it’s really from Deutschland, song number 10 of 21 that the level finally got better. The killer trio Mein Teil / Du Hast / Sonne really helped and was definitely one of the highlights of the evening.
For the first “encore”, they were helped by the 2 pianists who played as “opening act” during Engel, played on the B-Stage. Before going back to the Main Stage for a few more killer songs: Ausländer, Du Riechst So Gut and Pussy with the usual penis-canon confettis with Till Lindemann on it. The final encore Rammstein / Ich Will / Adieu was a bit strange. We can understand they wanna put the light on their latest album but Adieu is way more softer than Ich Will. Change the order would have been a better choice.
Like we said earlier: if it’s your first Rammstein show, you should have love it for sure. We met some people who said it was the best show they’ve ever seen. The word is important: “seen”. Attend a Rammstein show is not only about music, it’s a full spectacle with lights, effects, music. More like a circus. More like a Tomorrowland with this impressive stage. But if you saw them before – especially in 2019 -, you could have been a little bit frustrated like we were. This show deserves a nice 7/10, not a 9.5/10 like 2019.
