München – Sex castings and tequila shots with KO drops – the band Rammstein is currently facing serious allegations. More and more young women are taking to social media and reporting alleged traumatic experiences at the band’s concerts.
June 2023: Four Rammstein concerts in the Olympic Stadium in Munich
The band around front singer Till Lindemann is currently on a stadium tour in Europe. Rammstein is playing four concerts in Munich: on June 7th, 8th, 10th and 11th in the Olympic Stadium – in other words at a concert location that belongs to the city.
All dates are sold out. No wonder, because the only German concerts of the internationally successful group take place in Munich in addition to two dates in Berlin.
Rammstein tour kick-off: The concert in Vilnius
Is the anticipation, especially among the female fans, still so great? After the opening concert of the Rammstein tour on May 22 in Lithuania’s capital Vilnius, harsh allegations circulated through social media – triggered by Rammstein fan Shelby Lynn and her Twitter and Instagram postings after the concert.
What happened to Shelby Lynn at the Rammstein concert?
It’s about the so-called “Row Zero”, i.e. the area directly in front of the stage to which only selected fans have access. In the case of Rammstein, it is apparently standard procedure to select fans and bring them to “Row Zero”. They should also be offered the opportunity to take part in parties with the band before, during and after the concert.
According to her own statements, the young Irish woman was invited to such a private party before the concert, where Rammstein singer Till Lindemann is said to have asked for sex with her, which Lynn refused. She doesn’t know exactly what happened after that.
Did Till Lindemann drug Shelby Lynn?
Lynn woke up the next morning in her hotel room with big bruises, kept throwing up and could hardly move – she hardly drank alcohol at the party. But Lynn also stated that she was not raped by Lindemann and never claimed so.
However, she is certain that she was drugged. After receiving emergency medical attention, she reported to the police and took a test. This yielded no results.
However, there are substances such as liquid ecstasy that are no longer detectable after just a few hours, which is why she reported them anyway. Shelby Lynn documented her allegations meticulously on social media – other women quickly got in touch.
Other women also report assaults at Rammstein concerts
More and more women are now reporting on Twitter and Instagram that, before the concerts, they were cast by the tour manager for exclusive parties, among other things, where Lindemann allegedly expected sex from them.
Anyone who has “qualified” with photos for the Rammstein pre- or after-show party is allowed to stand in the front row at the concert and is provided with drinks – which are said to be drug-laced.
That’s what Till Lindemann’s ex-girlfriends say about the allegations
Till Lindemann’s bandmates are rarely present at these parties. Meanwhile, two of his prominent ex-girlfriends have already commented on the allegations that primarily affect him.
Podcaster Leila Lowfire, who was photographed as Lindemann’s companion on the red carpet in 2017, was only cryptic. In an Instagram story, she generally showed solidarity with victims of sexual assault.
Sophia Thomalla defends ex-boyfriend Till Lindemann
Ex-girlfriend Sophia Thomalla suggested different tones to “Bild”. Although she wasn’t there herself, she says: “This ‘incident’ in Vilnius never happened! It’s fictitious by a person who wants to gain fame for 5 minutes on the back of a rock star. I don’t give a self-proclaimed victim Stage, still I support that for a second. Till is a man who protects women.”
“No investigations known”: statement by the band Rammstein
The band itself also commented on the allegations on Twitter and denied them: “Regarding the allegations about Vilnius circulating on the net, we can rule out (sic!) that what is alleged to have happened in our environment. We are not aware of any official investigations known about it”.
The presumption of innocence applies to all those named. The Munich concert promoter Propeller only responds to an AZ query with a reference to the band’s official statement.
Rammstein statement: Band “very affected” by serious allegations
On Saturday, the band again firmly rejected the allegations in a second official statement. “The publications of the last few days have caused irritation and questions in the public and especially among our fans. The allegations have all hit us very hard and we take them extremely seriously,” says the message that was published via social media .
It is important to the band that the fans “feel comfortable and safe at our shows – in front of and behind the stage,” it says there. They condemn any kind of transgression and ask you: do not participate in public prejudice of any kind against those who have made allegations. They have a right to their point of view. But we, the band, also have a right – namely also not to be prejudiced”.
Consequences for the Rammstein concerts in Munich?
But does this vortex have consequences for the big Rammstein concerts in Munich? The concerts take place in the Olympic Stadium, which is owned by the city. So she earns money from the concerts through Olympiapark GmbH, a municipal subsidiary. When asked by AZ, she said: “Should the allegations made by the 24-year-old Irish woman be confirmed, this would of course be terrible and despicable,” said the spokeswoman for Olympiapark GmbH.
The matter is “obviously still unresolved at the moment”. The Olympiapark GmbH “currently assumes that the four Rammstein concerts will take place in the Olympic Stadium” and would like to state that it is only the lessor of the stadium. “The organizer is responsible for security and access authorizations in the backstage area”.
Rammstein in Munich: Help for threatened women in the stadium required
But is the city doing something to ensure that women feel safe at the concerts or that they can get help if necessary? An AZ inquiry shows that the municipal equality body sees a need for action. As a municipal staff office, you have “no direct access to the site”, the organizer Propeller is primarily responsible here. And worst of all, the police.
Nevertheless, according to the city’s equality office, improvements are needed. As a positive example, she cites the “Safe Wiesn” action alliance, which is such a contact point at the Oktoberfest. “As far as we know, no comparable concept has worked for other events, even if this is necessary, as is clearly shown here”.
Trained contact persons would be “definitely desirable”
The concept of “awareness teams” is familiar from the rave scene, i.e. specially trained contact persons who are also clearly visible at events. For the municipal office, it would “definitely be desirable” if these teams “were present at such events and the protection of victims was a top priority.” This could be contractually regulated with the organizers.
Green City Councilor David Süss knows the topic of “awareness” from the club context and from festivals. There are “good experiences” with the work of such teams. The municipal pop department organized a specialist day on the subject about a year ago. “I think it would be a worthwhile goal if the awareness work were also started at major concerts.”
At least at the four major Rammstein concerts from June 7th to 11th in the Olympic Stadium, it doesn’t look like it. A renewed AZ inquiry to the organizer about this has so far (Friday, June 2nd, 6 p.m.) remained unanswered.
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)
{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};
if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;
n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,document,’script’,
‘https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’);
fbq(‘init’, ‘2523508247947799’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);
2023-06-03 14:45:47
Even more allegations against Rammstein singers: Now the band is turning to their fans
1685837595
#allegations #Rammstein #singers #band #turning #fans
