Swedish Demolition Commando

Hovet, Stockholm & Malmö Arena, Malmö – 5 & 6 December 2023

As the temperatures drop even lower for two gigs in Sweden, the enjoyment of the concert attendees remains unwavering. “If you haven’t seen this show yet, then go and see it. Even if you don’t know the songs well. The whole show is a huge event in its own right as Till brings his unique vision to the stage and is backed up by five of the best and most dynamic musicians you are likely to see” says guest reporter Stephen Boyle about the show in Stockholm, Sweden.

by Stephen Boyle @emiliruvidichfans (Guest Reporter), Therese @stenlundt (Guest Reporter), Tina @sirisaysewok (Guest Photographer), KidArctica, and Sez

Emily Ruvidich in Stockholm by Stephen Boyle @emilyruvidichfans

After two fantastic concerts that the blog crew could personally attend, it is now time to hand over the reporting reins again for the next few shows. Starting this serious of guest reports off are Stephen Boyle, who was kind enough to share his experience from the Till Lindemann show in Stockholm, Sweden, as well as guest reporter Therese, who recounts the Malmö concert for us with some additional photos from guest photographer Tina.

Here is what Stephen had to say about the Stockholm show:

It was a very cold evening as I set off for my first Till Lindemann concert in Stockholm; -19 Celsius according to my car temperature gauge, so I was glad the wait outside was short. The venue itself, Hovet, is a good one with a capacity of around 9 000 people. There weren’t many standing in the queue, which was probably due to the cold temperature more than anything else, so getting in and to the front was relatively simple. I positioned myself at guitarist Emily Ruvidich’s side of the stage and waited.

Phantom Vision kicked the whole event off and were received warmly by the crowd, even though their music was new to many, certainly to me. It was enjoyable and their Gothic/Darkwave style sat well with the Stockholm crowd.

Next up was Aesthetic Perfection, who were excellent. Daniel Graves doing an amazing job of pumping the crowd up. Recent posts have hinted that the band are not used to playing in arenas, but that really wasn’t evident as they tore through their set, to the delight of the Stockholm crowd.

Then the wait was over and Till Lindemann took to the stage. The band appeared along the back of the stage, behind the drums. Silhouetted against the video screen as the intro to Zunge started. The band made their way down to the stage with Till taking up the centre and singing the soft intro, then the band exploded into the song in full. The guitar sound was incredible, and Emily Ruvidich flavoured the whole thing with an impressive riff played over the main song. The whole sound was big and heavy, and it was clear the band was fully into their groove as they moved from song to song with ease.

Allesfresser started and it was time for the cakes. I had it on good authority that I may be targeted for a cake, and sure enough, as Emily picked up her second cake she moved right towards my section of the crowd, called my name, and threw the cake. I am grateful for the 2 people who semi shielded me from the full force of the impact, but I did get covered, as did most of the people in front row from other band members, who were having so much fun launching the cakes at people. I was grateful for Blut and the water spray as I was able to use that to get most of the cake remnants off me, even though I was now damp.

The pace slowed for Tanzlehrerin, with Jes Paige accompanying Till and then later joined by Constance Day on keyboard. This is a beautiful song and the lighting around it gave an ethereal feel.

Platz Eins saw Till paraded around the outside of the standing area on a seat, carried by staff with Constance dancing around in front of him as the rest of the band wore flashing glasses and played from the stage. Danny Lohner played a great bass solo from the ego riser to end the song. Fish on was next, which saw Till, Jes, and Constance move around the stage, throwing fish into the crowd. Some people threw them back and they were duly returned to the crowd by the stage crew. Then the fish cannon came out. Jes and Constance loading it up and Till firing it over the heads of the people in front, at one point toying with everyone at the very front by pointing the cannon towards them before firing it high and over their heads again.

Knebel saw a very animated Jes Paige smash the acoustic guitar and hurl it to the side of the stage, rapidly followed by a mic stand. The mic stands were getting plenty of abuse tonight. During Praise Abort, Emily kicked one out of the way so she could get her foot on the monitor to play.

I have had too many concerts in my time, but this one will rank right up there as one of the very best I have ever attended. It was a whole experience visually and auditory as well as physically with the cakes, water and fish that were liberally fired into the crowd. Till’s vocals were on point and the band were super tight together. The guitarists being, for me, the focal point, personal bias aside.

Danny Lohner in Stockholm by Stephen Boyle @emilyruvidichfans

My advice to anyone reading this. If you haven’t seen this show yet, then go and see it. Even if you don’t know the songs well. The whole show is a huge event in its own right as Till brings his unique vision to the stage and is backed up by five of the best and most dynamic musicians you are likely to see. My only regret is I am unable to get to any more shows on this tour, but for the next tour, I will make a point of attending as many as I am physically able to. I also want to send a huge thank you to Emily Ruvidich. You totally rock.

Till Lindemann band in Stockholm by Stephen Boyle @emilyruvidichfans

The band was not quite done with the country of Sweden just yet, as Malmö was next on the tour schedule. This is guest reporter Therese’s report from Malmö:

The show in Malmö started with a cold wait in the snow.

Phantom Vision did a great warm up act, and the audience got to warm up their frozen bodies. We heard the sound being a lot better than seen from previous recordings of other shows, and were hopeful for the rest of the evening.

Aesthetic Perfection delivered as always and the vibe in crowd was great. They did the same set list as for the earlier shows.

Till Lindemann with band came on stage at 21:15, and the whole band gave it their all from the first number. The sound in the venue was great throughout the evening. Till made his stage crew work hard this evening by constantly kicking over microphone stands all over the stage.

He also gave away one microphone to someone in the crowd. The person got the the microphone after it had been kicked over, and Till signaled the crew to just unplug it and give it away.

After Platz Eins, Till decided to walk in front of the stage along the first row to get back on stage.

Thank you to all the people on stage and backstage for making it a great evening.

05.12.2023

  1. Zunge
  2. Schweiss
  3. Fat
  4. Altes Fleisch
  5. Allesfresser
  6. Golden Shower
  7. Tanzlehrerin
  8. Ich weiß es nicht
  9. Sport frei
  10. Blut
  11. Praise Abort
  12. Platz Eins
  13. Fish On
  14. Gummi
  15. Steh auf
  16. Knebel
  17. Ich hasse Kinder
  18. Skills In Pills

Sez is a RammWiki editor who has been part of the website for years, working in the background with edits and content.

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