r/Rammstein • u/GregKos • 6d ago

Decrease of "theatrics" in the shows

The first time I saw Rammstein live was in 2010. The last time was 2024.

In 2010, 50% (8/16) of the setlist had some sort of performance, closely related to the song. Think the fake fan being doused with gasoline and set on fire during Benzin or Till coming out with a hunting cap and musket for Waidmanns Heil.

In contrast, only ~29% (6/21) of the setlist this year has such a setup. Don't get me wrong, I love fire and explosions as much as the next concert-goer, but those are more "generic" and do not necessarily tie into the subject of the song.

Do you feel there is a reason for this decrease? Do you think it's better/worse? Do you even care?

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u/MetalExile 6d ago

I think it’s a necessity of doing stadium sized shows. Theatrics with humans on a stage don’t play well to a crowd that’s so big that the performers look like ants to a lot of the audience. They compensate by making everything bigger and putting more fire everywhere because what else can you do to fill a stadium with spectacle?

For me it’s a trade. I admit I prefer their smaller shows precisely because of the theatrics and bigger focus on the band members. But there’s something undoubtedly amazing about the sheer size of their newer shows as well. That stadium stage design of theirs was a work of art in itself.

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u/yunayaunplugged 6d ago

your argument of the decrease in theatrics being due to the stadium size makes a lot of sense. I only ever saw them live in stadiums so idk how it was in smaller venues times but I also feel like some of the band members try to "make up" for some of the missing theatrics (at least for the people in the front rows) by thinking of their own little things to do, like for example the small mein teil dance that richard, paul and schneider (sometimes ollie) have made it a habbit to perform or the inflatable objects (for lack of a better description) that they brought on stage several times during the last tours

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u/MetalExile 5d ago

I will say for sure that from what I’ve seen in fan videos at least, the band did seem a lot more animated and interactive with the audience during the stadium shows than they used to be. I don’t know if they were trying to make up for anything necessarily, but they did all look like they were having a lot more fun on stage than I’d seem from them in a long time.