Vielen Dank für eine unvergessliche Nacht in Montreal, Rammstein!

OPENING ACT: Duo Jatekok or Duo Abelard… or maybe both?

Although it’s already August 29, I’m posting this review retroactively to August 22 as I was away on vacation and didn’t even touch my laptop for the past week and a half, and only because the concert in question was beyond perfect to be “ignored” by The Headbanging Moose. Originally scheduled for August 20, 2020 at Parc Jean-Drapeau, and then rescheduled for August 22, 2021 and later for August 21, 2022, Neue Deutsche Härte masters RAMMSTEIN were finally able to return to Canada for one hell of a concert after the Covid-19 pandemic madness seems to be over. I had been patiently waiting for this concert for the past two years, and I knew I wasn’t going to be disappointed at all.

However, prior to Rammstein hitting the stage, two piano duos named Duo Jatekok and Duo Abelard were scheduled for warming up the crowd. I have absolutely ZERO idea which duo ended up being the opening act, or if both were there playing simultaneously, because there was a massive thunderstorm right before the concert that made it impossible to get to Parc Jean-Drapeau before 7:30pm. Duo Jatekok is formed by Naïri Badal and Adélaïde Panaget, and they have been collaborating with Rammstein since 2017, which by the way will lead to an original crossover album named Jatekok plays Rammstein in the near future. Duo Abelard is comprised of Héloïse Hervouët and Katherine Nikitine, and based on what I heard they were supposed to deliver a pure Rammstein setlist including songs like Mutter, Diamant, Früling in Paris, Zeit and Deutschland. As I mentioned, I have no idea who played before Rammstein, but if you like piano music you should definitely give those girls a listen.

RAMMSTEIN

It was only around 8pm when the massive, futuristic/apocalyptic castle-inspired stage lit up the entire city of Montreal to the sound of the intro Music for the Royal Fireworks, by George Frideric Handel, hypnotizing all of the 50,000 fans at Parc Jean-Drapeau (and I still think there were a lot more people than that, maybe close to 60,000 or 65,000) before Till Lindemann, Richard Z. Kruspe, Paul Landers, Oliver Riedel, Christian “Flake” Lorenz and Christoph Schneider hit the stage with their unparalleled performance that lasted for about two unforgettable hours.

As aforementioned, due to the pandemic, RAMMSTEIN were forced to reschedule their performance in Montreal twice, one in 2019 and one in 2020, and that’s the main reason why this tour is a hybrid between their 2019 sef-titled album and their newest opus Zeit, and in my opinion that was a treat to all of their fans as not only we had the pleasure of listening to tons of classics such as Links 2-3-4, Mein Herz brennt and Heirate mich, but also to a bunch of amazing new songs the likes of Zeig dich, Zeit, Radio, Zick Zack and Ausländer.

I was lucky enough to grab a ticket for the “Feuerzone”, or the fire zone, which works like a VIP area that’s closer to the stage and where you can obviously experience all the fire blasted by Rammstein throughout their entire concert, and believe me, there was A LOT of fire, driving the temperature up considerably. A few songs such as Puppe and Rammstein became even more powerful due to all the fire used, and even if you were far, far back from the stage there was still plenty to enjoy as the entire presentation was majestic and incendiary.

Till Lindemann is a superb frontman that can be compared to Bruce Dickinson and Rob Halford in terms of the way he captivates the audience from start to finish with his electrifying performance, but for me the man of the night was keyboardist Christian “Flake” Lorenz. He is such a cool guy, extremely talented and fun, and if you pay good attention to the band’s full performance he is the one that leads the way, spearheading his bandmates with his classy and awesome keys and synths from until the very last second of the concert, always dancing and having a very good time. Well, to be honest, the entire band was on absolute fire, but Christian was literally set on fire during Mein Teil, showing how much his bandmates and of course his fans love him.

As I said their entire setlist was insane, but of course there were a few songs that touched my heart, invaded my mind and took my soul to another dimension, those being their newest anthem Deutschland, their undisputed hit Du hast, my favorite Rammstein song ever Sonne, their funny hit Pussy, and their stunning piano version of Engel together with Duo Abelard (oh yes, there they were!) on a secondary stage which ended with the band being carried by the fans on white rescue boats back to the main stage. It was beyond epic. As a matter of fact, there are no words that could describe their live concert properly, but I can say that without a shadow of a doubt they’re the best live act of the current rock and metal scene, period. No other band in the world offers something so grandiose and unique to their audiences, and if I were you I would try to see them during this rare North American tour no matter what, as who knows, it might take another decade for them to return to Canada and the US (if they ever return). Vielen Dank, Rammstein! I’ll never forget such incredible night! Adieu, Goodbye, Auf Wiedersehen!

Setlist
Music for the Royal Fireworks (George Frideric Handel song)
Armee der Tristen
Zick Zack
Links 2-3-4
Sehnsucht
Zeig dich
Mein Herz brennt
Puppe
Heirate mich
Zeit
Deutschland (Remix by Richard Z. Kruspe)
Deutschland
Radio
Mein Teil
Du hast
Sonne

Encore:
Engel (with Duo Abelard) (Piano-Version, performed on B-stage)
Ausländer
Du riechst so gut
Pussy

Encore 2:
Rammstein
Ich will
Adieu
Sonne (Piano-Version)
Haifisch (Haiswing Remix by Olsen Involtini)
Ohne dich (Piano-Version)

Band members
Till Lindemann – lead vocals
Richard Z. Kruspe – lead guitar, backing vocals
Paul Landers – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Oliver Riedel – bass guitar
Christian “Flake” Lorenz – keyboards, samples, synthesizers
Christoph Schneider – drums, percussion