Venue: Brixton Academy, London         Date: 2nd December 2001

Setlist (incomplete):  5/4   / Mein Herz Brennt / Links 2 3 4 / Sehnsucht / Feuer Frei / Rein raus / Adios / Mutter / Spieluhr / Zwitter / Weisses Fleisch / Asche Zu Asche / Du Hast / Bck Dich + more

Originally scheduled to play at the London Astoria in June, these German Industrial giants were in the course of building their set when they were informed by Westminster Health and Safety, that they would be unable to use much of their stage-pyrotechnics for reasons of public safety. The band decided to cancel that gig rather than to play without their toys and promised their UK fans that they would return to play a venue which allowed them to use all of their stage-set.  It was no surprise then, that they chose the larger Brixton Academy, a venue with a huge stage which afforded them the space to use as many fireworks as they liked.  No surprise either, that given the publicity afforded by the cancellation, the rescheduled date sold out even faster.

Arriving at the venue midway through Clawfinger's set it was immediately obvious that this was not an audience that one could easily pigeon hole. There was the Goth crowd, the metal crowd, the old and the young and even the dance crowd - a real mix indeed. Clearly the band have a wide appeal and though almost everybody watched Clawfinger's set, one sensed that they were only there for the headliners.  The crew then spent an age working on the stage, arranging lights and priming the pyrotechnics.  Throughout this process, the tension built visibly amongst the crowd, who eagerly anticipated a visual and musical spectacular.  And so it proved to be...

After the umpteenth change onstage, the lights went down slightly in the auditorium and the odd-looking keyboard player Christian "Flake" Lorenz, dressed like a cross between someone from Kraftwerk and a doctor about to enter the operating theater, strode on stage and moved his keyboard into position.  The crowd watched him as his arranged his overhead lighting, when suddenly the 6 huge light holders began to descend from the rig above the stage. Even bigger cheers went up when they realised that vocalist Till Lindemann was perched on top of one of them and he began to sing the opening bars of '5/4'. As he leapt down from the chandelier and the lights began to rise back into position again, a wall of light lit up the venue from the back of the stage and the other musicians hit the stage.

With twin guitarists Richard Kruspe-Bernstein and Paul Landers positioned either side of Till, and bass player Oliver Riedel located to the back of the stage on the left, the band proceeded to play the vast majority of their current, and hugely successful album 'Mutter'. With the guitarists and bassist pounding out chunky riffs like that to 'Links 2 3 4', which would clearly please the metal fans in the audience, the other embellishments added by keyboard player Lorenz, filled out the sound. As lots of the people around me began to dance, it became clear to me why that section of the public also appreciates this band. Big fat riffs and dancey beats, plus those powerful German vocals which the Goths love so much, no wonder these guys attract so many different musical clans to their gigs.

Huge green fireworks added to the atmosphere during 'Sehnsucht', before I saw just about the craziest thing I've ever seen onstage in nearly 30 years of going to gigs. During the closing section of 'Feuer Frei', stagehands came onstage and strapped devices to the heads of all the musicians.  Suddenly there were huge flames leaping from their heads as everyone in the audience realised that they were in fact flame-throwers.  The band members then staged a mock fight with each other as walls of flame from both sides of the stage met in the centre above the head of poor drummer Christoph 'Doom' Schneider. No wonder these guys cover themselves in gunk and wear what looks like asbestos garments on stage. Crazy indeed!

A couple of further numbers followed before Till stood stage center and sucked his thumb.  It was obvious what was to follow - 'Mutter' - the title-track of the current album, which unfortunately is a fairly unremarkable song.  Further tracks from the album followed along with more fireworks and crazy effects, but by this stage the music had become rather monotonous and second place to the theatrics and pyrotechnics.  'Asche Zu Asche' enabled things to pick up a little and allowed the crowd to chant along to a song that they were clearly familiar with.

As the band moved into 'Du Hast', their most successful single, the place just about erupted. The floor of the venue shook as the crowd stomped along and chanted along with the band. The simplicity of the lyrics helped, but it was clear that everybody in the venue was familiar with the band and that this number more than anything what they wanted to hear.  "Du.  Du Hast.  Du Hast Nicht" - it's hard to get the words out of your head. It even moved the band to conduct the crowd's chanting and Till spoke for the first time to say "Thank You London".  With the audience eating out of their hands, the band continued to bathe in their appreciation during 'Bck Dich' and a string of other tunes.

Unfortunately I had to leave before the end of the concert, but it was evident that the audience loved the show as much as the music. Some of the antics onstage were a little obscene and perhaps not suited to the younger audience, but that aside, the band deliver a stadium-sized show. I'm sure that they will return soon and that they'll play an even bigger venue.

Charlie