Till Lindemann’s Controversial Concert in Düsseldorf: Protests, Resistance, and Unsettling Revelations

On Friday evening, Rammstein singer Till Lindemann will perform in front of a sold-out crowd. But there is resistance to the tour – also in Düsseldorf.

There are around 150 people moving in the rain on Siegburger Straße in the Düsseldorf district of Oberbilk. Some of them wear yellow vests, others carry – mostly red – flags. They shout: “There are perpetrators in every city. Form gangs, destroy them.” Only a flight of stairs separates her from the hundreds of people who are currently queuing in front of the Mitsubishi Electric hall. There, on the other side of the steps, derisive cheers erupt as the counter-demonstration arrives.

Till Lindemann will be performing in Düsseldorf this Friday evening. Just six months ago, such a solo concert by the Rammstein frontman would hardly have attracted much attention. But then the summer of 2023 came. Several women made serious allegations against Lindemann. Corresponding investigations against the singer for sexual assault have now been discontinued. But the criticism remains. At the tour opener on Wednesday in Leipzig, around 600 people demonstrated against the concert. There were insults and minor arguments between fans and counter-demonstrators. A broad coalition also called for protests in Düsseldorf.

Demo van and protests before the concert

When the demo vehicle with the large banner “Fight Back. Stop sexist violence” reaches the rally site, admission to the hall hasn’t even begun yet. Some demo participants have set up their posters right on the path between the S-Bahn station and Halle. Only a plastic police tape separates them from the arriving concertgoers.

Time and again, fans (almost exclusively male) stop in front of the (mainly female) demo participants and take photos. Occasionally there are small verbal arguments.

In addition to the local call for demos from several left-wing and feminist groups from the region, there was also a supra-regional letter of protest from the activists of “No Rammstein in Berlin”. At the end of October, they called for Lindemann’s entire solo tour to be canceled. They also appealed to the city of Düsseldorf and Mayor Stephan Keller (CDU), the North Rhine-Westphalia state government and “D.Live” as the hall operator to cancel the concert. “There is a possibility that the recruitment and abuse system will continue,” writes “Kein Rammstein in Berlin”. “These concerts are not safe places and must therefore be stopped.”

Media not permitted

Speakers and topics alternate at the rally. It’s about Lindemann. Because the concert shouldn’t have taken place. But it is also about capitalism and the Kurdish liberation struggle. Lindemann is just a symbol of a larger social problem. In between, battle cries are uttered. “We are here out of pure hostility against your fan community,” echoes in the direction of the snake. Then applause breaks out.

Like many other media outlets, t-online would have liked to report on the concert itself. About what the mood is like in the hall among the around 7,500 spectators. But a telephone request was rejected earlier this week. Accreditation is not possible at such short notice. A reaction that obviously had a method. Regional media in Leipzig and Stuttgart also reported that they had not been admitted. For this reason, the German Press Agency canceled its coverage of the concerts.

“Is this a Palestine demonstration?”

Not everyone who walks past the demo understands what is actually going on here. A young man asks his companion: “Is this a Palestine demonstration?” The vast majority of people in the Lindemann queue do not pay attention to what is being chanted within their line of sight. Anyone who responds and calls something back is immediately whistled down and insulted.

Even for Lindemann himself, not everything is as before on this tour. The infamous “Row Zero”, for which, according to media reports, young women were deliberately recruited, will not take place in Düsseldorf, nor will there be an after-show party in the hall. However, an official celebration will take place after the concert in the Lierenfeld club “Tor 3”. Drummer Joe Letz will play there. He is also said to have been part of the casting system that sparked the scandal in the summer. The day before the concert, at the request of the Greens, the Düsseldorf city council should also deal with protection and safety concepts for women and “other vulnerable groups” at events. However, the application was withdrawn.

Not only are there significantly fewer demonstrators than two days earlier in Leipzig, there are also hardly any direct confrontations. According to a spokesman for the authorities, there were “no special incidents”. Only at the very end of the rally does things get hectic for a moment. A man with a beer bottle in his hand stands provocatively close to the edge of the demonstration and is pushed away by a masked demonstrator. “They’re fucking fascists, why don’t you do something,” the woman then shouts at the police officer who arrives. Then the demo is over. Long before Till Lindemann even appears on stage.

2023-11-10 21:34:31
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