Opinion
Band on tour in Germany
One year later: I’m a Rammstein fan – but do I want to stay that way?
Everything is the same: The penis cannon is also back on the current Rammstein tour, the days of grace are over.
© Carsten Rehder / DPA
A year ago, the allegations of abuse against Rammstein became public. Now the group has celebrated the start of their tour in Germany – and everything is as usual. Our author, himself a long-time fan of the band, struggles with himself.
“I’m the girl who’s at Rammstein was spiked.”
There were just nine words that triggered one of the biggest music scandals of the past few decades last year. The Irish woman Shelby Lynn claimed to have been drugged with a drink at a Rammstein after-show party. More and more women came forward and described similar experiences. They were invited to parties and sometimes there was a lot of alcohol. Some reported that they found themselves in situations with band members, especially singer Till Lindemann, that they could no longer control. They did not defend themselves against sexual acts. They were amicable – as far as one can say.
Yesterday the band played the first concert of their tour in Germany, three more will follow from today. And you can already see that the stories of women in Dresden don’t play a role. The channel on the banks of the Elbe is full and will be full. Almost 200,000 people want to see what Rammstein is known for: Lindemann’s rolling Rrrr, the pyrotechnics, the penis cannon, the lights – shows that are more musical than concert.
When the myth rings, the believers come. Church service.
The show must go on.
One year after the Rammstein scandal: Still the uneasy feeling of not knowing everything
That’s very strange, because of course the scandal, the damn mountain of accusations not only forced the music industry to behave, to position itself, perhaps even to detoxify – the band’s fans had to do the same, so to speak.
And while most people are loyal to Lindemann and Rammstein, I notice that something has broken inside me as a fan. I still listen to their music, but the basic trust in the band has been destroyed. “Why should megastars like Rammstein feel the need to exhibit such questionable behavior?” I thought at the beginning. Then new accusations kept coming, even more blatant accusations.
It felt like a tear, a tightening in the fan’s stomach, the uneasy feeling of not knowing what exactly happened at the “Row Zero” parties, in the hotel rooms. Is it all just a misunderstanding by women who felt they were being treated unfairly because they were promised something different during the so-called casting? Did the band members around Lindemann simply have no sense of the fact that a dependency is already being created when young women are invited to “parties”? Or were these dependencies deliberately exploited?
The story took a few turns, the narrative turned several times. At first there was talk of abuse, then of abuse of power, later of the responsibility that a 60-year-old rock star should have towards women who are barely of age. Various media outlets followed up with new stories with new alleged victims, including this one star. And the stories were similar – too much for fans to hide behind the idea that there was absolutely nothing to it.
I still object to representations that do not distinguish between the lyrical self in the songs and poems and Lindemann himself. I object to the cheap trick when song lyrics are used as “context” to supposedly prove that sexual Abuse, necrophilia or violence are part of the band’s mindset. “Anyone who thinks, writes and sings like that is certainly prepared to act like that” – no, not! This is wrong, tendentious and under-complex. Not every gangster rapper deals drugs, not every punk rocker wants to overthrow capitalism. If you take song lyrics as a benchmark, artists like Roland Kaiser should have long since disappeared into the poison cupboard.
Only the band has the power to clear everything up
But I’m annoyed by how Rammstein dealt with critics. Press inquiries were answered by lawyers, if at all, and those presumably affected also had to fear receiving mail from the lawyers as soon as they commented publicly. What was missing was a detailed explanation that could have eased our fans’ consciences. An apology, perhaps even remorse, even if nothing criminally relevant happened.
Instead of making their point of view clear and clearing up possible misunderstandings, the band hid behind cryptic Instagram posts and other provocations during some concerts.
Rock band
Phallus, fire and the eternal pleasure of provocation: that’s Rammstein
So many questions remain unanswered when the Rammstein logo appears again on the video screen in the Dresden gutter this evening and the stage lights up in sparks. It stings at the thought of just carrying on as if the allegations never happened.
The band itself could take the sting.
Unfortunately, she doesn’t plan to.