Show Review & Photos: Rammstein @ the Tacoma Dome

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Rammstein @ the Tacoma Dome, 5/14
Review & photos by Dagmar

I’m not really sure what just happened to me, but I think I just saw a Rammstein concert. Let me rephrase that, I know I saw a Rammstein concert but I am not sure what it did to me. There was fire. There were explosions. There was one gimp onstage, plenty of leather and metal on the band, there was showmanship plus supreme sounds and vocals.

I am going to make no secret of the fact that I love Rammstein. They have never misfired on any song. Their videos are fascinating, their image just as fascinating, and to see a Rammstein show after so many years? Well, I think I had a really big grin stuck on my face throughout the show. As most American fans, I got my first exposure to Rammstein via “Du Hast,” off their second release,Sehnsucht – a song which remains their most recognizable. The video for “Du Hast” demanded that I found out more about this German band.


Rammstein

Rammstein’s created five shining albums since 1995, plus last year’s compilation. I wondered what they would sound like live, and the sound quality at this show was perfect. I could make out all the lyrics, and the lyrics are very important in Rammstein songs. You don’t know any German? Familiarize yourself with the translations just enough to follow along. It’s well worth it. Do you need to understand German to enjoy the music? No, but it will add to your experience, as any amount of research into say, seeing an opera would help.

Which brings me to opera. Conceptually Rammstein reminds me as much of opera as it does industrial or metal. Maybe an especially wicked and violent opera. Why? The sheer enormity of what they’re doing onstage. The band breathes fire; they take risks that are insane. I am sure it’s all safe enough, but as close as I was taking photos it seemed like some dangerous engineering. For “Engel,” Singer Till Lindemann appeared onstage in angel wings, which folded and unfolded – and shot fire. Also Lindemann’s voice is cruel, forceful and completely captivating.


Rammstein

Midway through the show a giant ramp extended from the stage to a smaller stage at the other end of the venue. Four of Rammstein were led (as in the “Mein Teil” video), while on all fours, via a leash held by drummer Christoph Schneider. After everyone got situated, then performed “Bück Dich,” “Mann Gegen Mann,” and their beautiful ballad “Ohne Dich.” Gorgeous.

Photographers were allowed to photograph songs 6, 7, 8 of the show. This meant I got to see the performance of one of my favorites, “Mutter,” up close. I caught “Sehnsucht” while waiting, another favorite. “Mein Teil” featured a gimp in a saucepan, with Lindemann as a bloodied butcher equipped with a knife and the world’s hugest cooking torch. And “Haifisch,” another of Rammstein’s more sensitive songs, was moving. Other standouts for me were “Mein Herz Brennt,” “Ich Will” and “Engel” – all passionate songs.

The show ended with a second encore ending with “Pussy,” featuring Lindemann riding a giant pink rocket, which spurted foam. “Pussy” should have been a much bigger hit in the States. It’s damned catchy, it’s in English, it’s funny. Censors ruin everything. The audience appreciated it anyway.

I really felt among fellow fans who get Rammstein’s humor, power, intensity, significance and Lindemann’s poetry. I never thought I’d get to see this band live, and it was a high point surpassing all hopes.


Rammstein

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Show Review & Photos: Arctic Monkeys @ KeyArena

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Arctic Monkeys @ KeyArena
Review & photos by Dagmar

Arctic Monkeys are viciously important. The way they attack their instruments, well, you can hear it on record and live they take over a room – gently when they need to, a bit harder when it suits them. I first saw them at the Crocodile in 2006, and have caught all of their shows here except one (I was ill) and have adored every album they’ve released. Lyricist/guitarist Alex Turner stomped out immediately as a poet in early Arctic Monkeys music and on Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, and has just increased his strengths. Each band member is 26, so I think creatively they’re just hitting their stride. How were they opening for The Black Keys? Delicious and intense. KeyArena is the largest venue I’ve seen them play, and it showed they’re very at home in an arena. This shouldn’t be a surprise as they’ve played giant festivals and venues, but it was the first time for me seeing them in this setting. To hear their music – music that’s so personal to me – along with thousands of other fans was a first. A few key songs of the night were “Brianstorm,” “Still Take You Home,” “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor,” “Crying Lightning,” “Brick by Brick,” “Fluorescent Adolescent,” and the elaborately sexy R U Mine?


Arctic Monkeys

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Show Review & Photos: The Black Keys @ KeyArena

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The Black Keys @ KeyArena
Show Review & Photos by Abby Williamson

I stepped in the latter half of the show for The Black Keys – my second foray into covering a show at KeyArena. And come to think of it, it was only the 5th or so concert I have seen at the KeyArena that comes to mind.

Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney are by far the most in sync couple of musicians that I have ever seen play live. I mean, they’ve been playing together for many years now, but it’s like they truly are one entity. The dynamic group played bits and pieces from their whole catalogue, with songs from the Thickfreakness era to the hugely catchy “Tighten Up” from 2010’s Brothers, whistles and all. I still marvel at musicians that can whistle on key.


The Black Keys

But the finale of the evening was beyond epic. The stage was embellished with perhaps the largest disco ball I have ever seen, and when the lights were shined upon it, the whole Key Arena lit up like one of those swirly mobiles you hang above a baby’s crib. The Black Keys had been playing for just over an hour when they hit the encore so hard it knocked the crowd back to what felt like 1977, with the subdued “Everlasting Light,” heavy “She’s Long Gone,” and “I Got Mine.”

The Black Keys are truly rock music at its best, and it’s encouraging to know as a music fan that real, rough, and talented rock bands still do exist.


The Black Keys

Photos: Kool and the Gang @ the Tacoma Dome

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“I am the genie of sound/everybody get down!” commands the genie in the disco funk Saturday Night Fever song “Open Sesame” and title track of Kool and the Gang‘s 1976 album. Just as I had the privilege of taking photos of Van Halen on Saturday evening, I took photos of Kool and the Gang, another band whose music you must appreciate. Their hits and awesome songs are too numerous to list here, but oh my check this list out: “Too Hot,” “Get Down On It,” “Ladies’ Night,” “Joanna,” “Cherish,” “Tonight,” “Celebration,” “Steppin’ Out,” “Emergency,” “Mighty Mighty High,” “Fresh,” “Rated X,” “Misled,” “Funky Stuff” “Hollywood Swinging” and “Jungle Boogie.” Any one of these songs would make this a huge band for me.


Kool and the Gang – all photos by Dagmar

Gallery of Kool and the Gang @ the Tacoma Dome

Photos: Gotye @ Showbox SoDo

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International star Gotye performed on April 10th at Showbox SoDo. Gotye, whose real name is Wouter De Backer, was born in Belgium and grew up in Australia. He’s been recording since 2001, but it was last year’s “Somebody That I Used to Know” which threw him into a whole new level of recognition. That song hit number one all over the world. When photographer Amy Elyse heard Gotye was coming here, she jumped right on it. Thank you Amy for these handsome photos.

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