I will start with the positive and there was plenty:
- the sound was huge and the band sounded very thight. Especially Till is going strong with his voice. Fantastic!
- they played quite a long set and a good combination of both records. The whole thing flowed nicely.
- the attention to detail for the video material was stellar. I haven't seen a show where they produced clips soley for the concert in such high quality.
- the whole thing is very creative, no song looks the same, no light flahses like the other, it's dense and unique
- my highlights: Blut, Fish on (the fish thowing stuff was a bit lame though), Platz Eins (of course), Steh auf, ich weiß es nicht
But then there's this... The nudity, sex and porn stuff is way too much on the nose and contradictory to who Till is in private. The man ist just too intelligent for me to buy that he actually likes that stuff. This stuff has no filter and at least in my opinion not alot of artistic value. There isn't much to decipher or understand. Yet, the way it (could) all connects is the interesting part.
What struck me yesterday is something way more concerning and some people on Reddit already pointed it out or at least alluded to that. It's Til's current state of mind.
It's not very visible from clips on the internet, but throughout the whole show I wasn't sure if this is indeed Till Lindemann standing in front of me. I got pretty close and could see all of his antics and the picture I had in mind, most of the time was that of a sad clown. And that goes very well with the eye-witness account of that lady backstage that Ryan posted from Reddit and alot of other stories I heard over the years. Till seemed sad, not just the make up, and his energy level was way less than it is with Rammstein. He's not the hulking, larger than life but sometimes goofy persona here. With Lindemann he's batshit crazy and very loose. No "Till-hammer", but mic smashing, hitting himself and saying even less than with Rammstein. He seemed estranged and angry.
My theory after rewatching all videos up until "Till the end" and witnessing the whole live show is that it is indeed a form of criticism. Criticism against consumption, the media and a corrupted form of sexuality present in these times due to the over-offering of sex, nudity and porn. And Till Lindemann, this quiet man from East-Germany, a humble soul born into a brute body, a man who rose to fame but prefers the outdoors and family time, is deconstructing himself by overexploitation. He doesn't care anymore and he goes full on. 110% and so extreme that it's on the brink of being illegal. He seemed pissed, tired and bored and with these shows he gives the audience more than they asked for. More that they can chew and by that, he lets the audience take a look in the mirror. Their neverending demand has pushed him this far. How much more do we want?
Whilst standing there, having laughed at some of the stuff that was going on as well as rolling my eyes, I thought to myself, just for a blink of an eye, if I have truly gotten what Lindemann is about. He actually wants me to hate what's going on. And if I liked what I was seeing, I've become the very thing he actually despises (maybe even within himself). The whole thing left me a little worried about him, if I'm right. Could he be THAT unhappy? Is he so desperate? Usually I'm pretty good in pointing out if somebody's not doing well and not talking about it. In the end it is all a huge marketing scheme, of course it is, but I don't think this is going too well with some people really being concerned. And that should never be the goal of getting attention, whether it's personal or business/media.
OOOOOORRRR maybe all of this is just one obscene media orgy indeed and a big party that I don't necessarily feel comfortable with. Then I will have to agree with @
ManBurning that Lindemann is indeed an elaborate midlife crisis induced penis joke. Bloodhoung Gang on speed, if you will. But ultimately that is not the Till Lindemann that I want to be entertained by and that kept me entertained and sometimes even touched me since the late 90s. Note taken: this is just a band, and a guy I don't know personally, but: I just care.
What about you guys?