Rammstein & Deathstars

Birmingham, LG Arena (NEW)

I've seen Deathstars quite a few times now. The first was at Bloodstock when there were not well received. No one who saw their performance tonight could be in any doubt that they are a proper metal band. Their songs may not be complex, in fact they're quite simple, but the band are excellent and put on one hell of a show. And they were only the support band tonight! My only complaints are that Cyanide and the amazing Play God were missing from the set.

I've also seen Rammstein before. In the same venue. I was only going a second time because my wife wanted to see them. I had clearly forgotten what a spectacular piece of theatre a Rammstein show is! I won't be making that mistake again. I'm not a huge fan of their music. I don't even own any of their albums. Tonight, however, the music played second fiddle to the fire, the set comprising of a bridge that was lowered over the audience to link a podium near the sound desk to the stage where the band played for about half an hour at one stage and some excellent play acting from the band. Normally I would be bitterly disappointed that the music wasn't the best thing about a band's performance, but not tonight. Rammstein played for a good two hours with two encores and it all went very, very quickly. I can't wait until they play again.

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