On July 15th, 16th and 18th, Rammstein will play three sold-out concerts in the Berlin Olympic Stadium. That means they want to play those gigs. Because for a few days there has been a petition that wants to prevent exactly this. The background is the allegations of abuse against singer Till Lindemann, which are a reason for the initiators to boycott the band’s performances.
The reason given by the campaign network Campact for trying to cancel the concerts at the last moment (the state of Berlin, as the owner of the arena, should be persuaded to intervene) is clear: young women and girls should be protected when gigs by Rammstein could become a possible danger for them.
“No stage for Rammstein”
In the meantime, Till Lindemann is taking action against the petition, which was started by a woman from Berlin. As the “Tagesspiegel” was the first medium to report, Campact received a cease-and-desist declaration requesting that certain wording in the text be deleted. This is the allegation that Lindemann is said to have sexually abused young women at concerts in rows and systematically.
The law firm Schertz Bergmann, which represents the musician and the band, set a deadline of July 7th to comply with the request to change the text of the petition entitled “No stage for Rammstein”, but ultimately did not want to agree to any more express the consequences of the cease-and-desist declaration.
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Campact said, according to “Spiegel”, that the declaration would not be signed. “We consider it our duty to support the courageous people who have spoken out publicly about the incidents at Rammstein concerts and are demanding consequences,” Managing Director Felix Kolb is quoted as saying. This also includes “not letting the use of clear words be forbidden”.
The Causa Lindemann has been moving Rammstein for several weeks now. Several women had accused the frontman, partly anonymously, of sexual assault and abuse of power. Some were selected during the concerts by a kind of “casting agent” of the band and asked if they would like to come to after-show parties. According to some women, there were also sexual acts in which drugs also played a role. Till Lindemann’s lawyers are taking legal action against several allegations of fact. In the meantime, the Berlin public prosecutor’s office is also investigating. The after-show parties in the capital have already been banned.