Live Review : Rammstein @ Coventry Building Society Arena, Coventry on June 26th 2022

It may seem like lazy journalism to cite Rammstein's show in Coventry as indescribable, but for two very distinct reasons that is exactly what it is. Firstly, it completely and utterly disregards all existing precedent about what a stadium show should be, essentially it takes the rule book and literally sets fire to it. For decades and decades convention has been that the stadium shows should all be presented in the same formulaic way. Box at the end of the playing field, lights over the band, a couple of makeshift screens either side and Bruce Springsteen's your uncle. Since the sixties this has been the way and whilst some bands along the way have made variations to the model, nobody has outwardly challenged it, until now. Rammstein’s stadium stage set-up is not only astonishing it is quite simply game-changing. It towers over the audience and is so expansive that it can be seen from outside of the stadium.

It isn't just about showing off, the staging is designed in such a way that no matter where you are sitting or standing you are pulled into the show. It is frankly the most immersive and actually intimate experience I've ever had in a stadium. Rammstein had broken the two-dimensional divide between the band in a box and the audience. Their show operates on four dimensions as looming towers are peppered around the stadium meaning that no matter where you are standing you are still going to be warmed by immense sheets of flames and you are still going to get covered in a cacophonous amount of confetti. There are no bystanders here tonight, everyone is absorbed into the show.

The second reason why it is indescribable is the fact that I don't want to spoil anything for those heading to Cardiff on Thursday. The show is one spectacular set-piece after another, each of them more daring and death-defying than the other. It's a string of “what the fuck” moments and I don't want to take away the surprise of any of them. What I will say though is for a show that is obviously precision engineered (what else would expect from Germans) and intricately rehearsed, it still retains a feeling of warmth (and that is not just the fire) and spontaneity. There is no feeling of going through the motions, it may contain the most theatrics I have ever seen in a live setting, but it is still essentially a rock 'n' roll show. 

There is an irony in that I still have tried to describe something that I that class as indescribable. However, the point is that twenty hours later I am still trying to process what I saw in Coventry on Sunday. I am still trying to express the full scale and majestic elegance of that evening’s show. But the simple fact is that it is something you need to see to believe.

Rammstein has always been part rock band and part avant-garde cabaret act but this show turned everything up to eleven. It managed to be a spectacle of gargantuan proportions, but it also had a heart and feeling of pure humanity to it. By using colossal pillars of flames, gravity-defying hydraulics and more toys than a S&M convention, Rammstein have found a totally unique way of truly connecting with their audience. This is why for all its magnitude; I have never felt as unified with a band as I did on Sunday night.  Astounding, Incredible and really really indescribable.