Olympiastadion, Helsinki, Finland – May 27 & May 28, 2023
Rammstein’s two concerts in Helsinki, Finland did not have any major changes compared to the tour start in Vilnius. However, the band had made small, but effective tweaks as they continue to fine tune their show.
By KidArctica
Olympiastadion in Helsinki is situated slightly outside the city centre of the Finnish capital. Completed in 1938, it was intended to host the 1940 Summer Olympics, though due to World War II, the stadium had to wait until 1952 before it could be used as intended. Since then, the venue has hosted many major sports events and concerts, and now, it was Rammstein’s turn to fill the stadium with cheers.
27.05.2023
Coming off a stressful three-entrance queuing experience with lots of running in Vilnius, Helsinki seemed to be a lot easier. Feuerzone entry was located at the Marathon Gate at the east side of the stadium, where a tunnel lead directly into the floor area. As usual, dedicated fans gathered early for the first concert, finding their spots along the fence by the gate to start the wait. It has become common for earlygoers to number themselves in order to keep track of the queue, and the hope is always that security will appreciate and accommodate this fan-organised queue system. After talks with Helsinki security, those waiting were told that they, too, would do a staggered entry where the numbered people would get to enter first.
In Vilnius, lining up in a park made mosquitos quite a nuisance. Luckily, Helsinki didn’t have many of those. Instead, it offered cold weather and biting wind. While the sun came with searing heat now and then, as soon as it was gone, it didn’t take long until people started freezing, and some people may have regretted their choices of concert outfits these days.
Regardless, mood was fairly good until suddenly – a mere few hours before gates were to open – people were informed that TWO gates would be opened for Feuerzone. Two. At the same time. To make matters worse, the other gate was closer to the entry tunnel than the initial one. And of course, once word got out, people ran to the new gate, many ignoring the numbering system and the people who had waited in line for hours in order to secure themselves a better position. Furthermore, both gates would be opened simultaneously with no staggering or regard for the numbers.
Naturally, this created some animosity, though people waiting finally fell into now two groups. Barriers were set up to create four lanes, in the original waiting line, those who had numbers were able to position themselves accordingly, and the wait continued. Everything seemed as good as it could be, given the circumstances – until five minutes before gates, when security decided that only three of the four lanes would be used. At this point the crowd was packed, and it was impossible to uphold the numbering for those who had waited the longest.
The next issue was that people were let through one gate slightly before the other, and people had to yell in order for security to realise they should start letting people in. Then, after security, ID check, ticket scan, and Feuerzone wristband handout, people were stopped again at the entrance to the floor, and when they were let go, they faced security holding barrier tape, in the Feuerzone, to try and get people to move to the middle of the area before going to the rails. No one really understood why, and let’s just say that very few people respected that tape, instead, it was just yet another obstacle in what became quite a marathon of entry issues. To put it mildly, many were infuriated by how entry was made messy for reasons no one understood whatsoever.
After finally getting inside, the next leg of waiting began. Cue more freezing and occasionally regretting the life choice of becoming a Rammstein fan. The latter was obviously forgotten the instant the gong sounded and our pleasant evening with Rammstein started, which happened at 9:36 pm – Abélard didn’t go on stage until 8:30 pm, probably due to it getting dark really late in Helsinki.
Already during Rammlied, the first few tweaks became apparent. The band had gone back to showing the zoomed in picture of Till Lindemann‘s glowing mouth on the screen, then zooming out to reveal the singer as he slowly descended in the elevator, alive and kicking despite his fall at the end of the Vilnius show. The music was accompanied by black smoke seeping out against the blue sky. This visual effect was quite stunning, and it worked really well in the light. A small explosion was added at the beginning of the song, when the main riff started, in order to kick off the show. In addition to this first, smaller explosion, there was still a bigger one at the end of the song to make sure fans were properly awake for the concert.
Another thing that became apparent, was that tweaks had been made to several of the band members’ costumes. Going back to photos from Vilnius, there were tweaks made already at that point, but they were subtle, and not that easy to catch unless looking for them (which I have to admit I didn’t).
As for the changes that I have noticed so far: Paul Landers has had white stripes sewn into his costume (at least some were there in Vilnius), though for Helsinki, he had also added black parts at the end of his sleeves and on the back of his collar. He has new grey and black wristwraps, and he entered wearing some quite distinctive sunglasses. Flake Lorenz has exchanged his red shoes for golden ones. Richard Z. Kruspe has a red panel in his black pants on his left hip and butt area, which enhances the visual effect of the studded belts. He started out the concert wearing his 2022 asymmetric black top with a red stripe, along with his long sleeves, possibly because of the low temperature in Helsinki.
The set list did not hold any changes. However, the band members seemed more loose and playful than in Vilnius, which could of course be attributed to Vilnius being the opening show of the tour. Fans of Richard and Paul were probably thrilled to see them share a microphone again in Mein Herz brennt, and Paul seemed cheerful and interacted a lot with the audience.
One of the biggest tweaks came with much anticipated Angst. The band started the song with the stick man urging people to clap and HUH! loudly, but the end was different – instead of going into the viking clap, the band ended the song as on the studio version, with an added jam outro where Christoph Schneider got to flex his drumming muscles. This new end worked really well.
Funny and cute moments happened when Schneider couldn’t get his hood on for the start of the stick man dance, when the background dancers were back for Mein Teil, and when Oliver Riedel went front of stage too early during Sonne and snuck (almost) unnoticed back up to his regular place.
The next big tweak took place when the band moved to the B-stage. Ohne dich was previously performed by Till alone, but in Helsinki, the entire band joined him on stage to sing the last part of the song. Another tweak happened after Ausländer, where Richard played the outro without Paul, but with the rest of the band instead.
Another interesting detail was that during the Du riechst so gut freeze, a stage worker snuck around stage to film the band members for the big screen. This added a new and interesting aspect to the freeze, and audience further away from the stage could also get a good glimpse of the action (or lack thereof.)
In sum, all the tweaks that had been done to the show seemed to enhance it and kick everything up a notch. The band seemed more comfortable on stage together, and this feeling was further cemented during the concert the following day.
28.05.2023
Two concerts in a row can be rough, probably also for the band, but mainly for the fans who aim for the best spots in the front row. Helsinki’s bone-chilling wind had taken it up a notch to punish already sleep-deprived concert-goers. Armed with layers of clothing, insulation to protect against the cold ground, blankets, and even a few sleeping bags, it was time for another long wait. Numbers were written on cold skin. Early morning became day, and with day, came some great news.
One fan had taken it upon himself to organise the line, and not only that, security had realised that entry on day one had been a total mess and decided to do it completely differently on day two. Only one gate would be opened. The numbered people would get in first, with a staggered entry for the first 100 or so. People would be walked from the floor entrance and into the middle of the Feuerzone area, and were warned that if they ran, they would be put all the way at the back of the line.
It almost sounded too good to be true, but when push came to shove, they came through, did things as planned, and everything worked so much better, with just a tiny bit of running once people came to the middle of the Feuerzone area and couldn’t (wouldn’t) contain themselves. Everyone seemed a lot more satisfied with this way of doing it, and kudos to Olympiastadion Helsinki for being reflected enough to change something that clearly didn’t work. Thank you!
While the concert the day before had been good, the second one was even better. Again starting late, (timed so that darkness had started to fall just in time for when the audience created an ocean of cellphone lights for Ohne dich and Engel), Rammstein kicked off a show that sat even better than their previous ones. Perhaps Saturday’s fire had warmed up the Finns, because Sunday’s audience seemed a lot more lively, and the atmosphere was great from the moment the band was lifted up onto the stage, until the last tones of Adieu faded out.
After having heard this new set list a few times, I have to say that even though I miss Armee der Tristen, the opening is very solid, and Bestrafe mich is easily one of the highlights of the set for me. On the opposite side of the scale, Giftig still feels like a bit of a downer. Sure, the logo dripping is a bit cool, as is the green-ish lighting, but generally, the atmosphere has dropped noticeably during this song at every concert so far. With only four Zeit songs, this tour cannot be said to be Zeit-centric, and Rammstein has such a strong catalogue that I keep wondering how Giftig made it onto the setlist. At least it is followed by Sehnsucht, which picks the crowd back up really quickly.
Angst has easily become the song I look forward to the most. Even before it starts, the excitement of the crowd is palpable, and the clapping at the beginning creates an incredible boost of anticipation. The melody Till has created for the verses of the live version the song is interesting and it works, and the crowd participation and screaming during the choruses has lifted this already brilliant single to new heights for me.
Counting the LIFAD Rehearsal, the Helsinki shows were Rammstein’s third and fourth this year, and the band has sounded tighter with each concert. In Helsinki’s second show, the biggest surprise was that Till (unintentionally) gave everyone an extra verse in Deutschland. Some people are quick to criticise mistakes, however, I think irregularities are what make concerts so great. Those are often what you end up remembering from the shows. For me, it is incredibly impressive to see how fast the band adapts to such things. I was looking intently at Paul when it happened, to see if his expression would give away anything, but he was totally stone-faced. Anyone not too familiar with the song could easily have thought everything was in order.
An interesting tidbit was that Till brought out his 2019 “snakeskin” top for the very end of the Sunday concert. While this set list has stripped Oliver of two solos (Zick Zack and Zeig dich) and the Heirate mich stomps, he seems to find other places to move around, or dance with his bass. And while PaulChard fans may be sad that the two guitarists still don’t kiss on stage, at least the Mein Herz brennt and Mein Teil interactions are back, and the two of them also took a bow together, sparking happiness among the fans. It is a pleasure to see the band enjoying themselves on stage, their playfulness, and their interactions.
Rammstein kept the tweaks from Saturday for Sunday’s concert, which means they may be falling into what will become the standard for the 2023 tour leg. I suspect some may be disappointed by the lack of changes in the second half. Apart from Ohne dich, everything is the same as in 2022. Still, the set is solid, and it should provide most fans with a little more than two hours of Rammstein joy.
- Rammlied
- Links 2-3-4
- Bestrafe mich
- Giftig
- Sehnsucht
- Mein Herz Brennt
- Puppe
- Angst
- Zeit
- Deutschland RMX
- Deutschland
- Radio
- Mein Teil
- Du hast
- Sonne
- Ohne dich
(Piano version with Abélard) - Engel
(Piano version with Abélard) - Ausländer
- Du riechst so gut
- Pussy
- Rammstein
- Ich will
- Adieu
KidArctica is a RammWiki editor and has been part of the website for years, working in the background with edits and content. Fun Fact: After leaving for Helsinki, KidArctica did not sleep in a bed before getting back home.
