Before you dive into our gallery of photos of Rammstein at Gillette Stadium, indulge me in a story or two.
First of all, I was not at the Gillette show this past September 9. Which destroys me, as Rammstein are quite literally the greatest live rock band I’ve ever seen. When the band headlined the Worcester Palladium in June of 1999, I was in the crowd. OK, technically, I was in the Mezzanine. And that’s an important distinction You see, the pyro the band was using back then–indoors!–was so wild we could feel the heat all the way up in the Mezz. I’d never seen anything like it. Of course, it was after the show that the band felt the heat. Here’s a bit of the report from the MTV News archives:
“Frontman Till Lindemann and keyboardist Flake Lorenz were arrested Saturday night after a concert in Worcester, Massachusetts and charged with lewd and lascivious behavior. The men were released on Sunday and are expected to play Toronto Monday night.
The portion of the show that spurred authorities into action should be familiar to anyone who caught the band as part of last year’s Family Values tour: during the song “Buck Dich,” Lindemann simulates anal sex with Lorenz using a fake phallus. Both men remain fully clothed during the act.”
Legendary. Two years later, I helped get Rammstein booked as the headliner for Edgefest, the annual Big Shed Show for the radio station I worked for in Albuquerque, NM. That was outdoors, and the fire was flying even higher. This was during the era where Rammstein would open their shows with the song “Rammstein” and frontman Till Lindemann would be set ablaze for the entirety of the song. And that was the opening bit! . Greg shot Red Hot Chili Peppers at Fenway, too!
Rammstein at Gillette Stadium
Flash forward two decades, and the band has raised the stakes tenfold. Words won’t do it justice, so I’ll just leave it to our amazing photographer partner, Greg Caparell. Greg shot Red Hot Chili Peppers at Fenway Park, too!