An explosive announcement. As part of a new European stadium tour in 2024, the German band Rammstein will perform on June 8 and 15 respectively at the Orange Vélodrome in Marseille and Groupama Stadium in Lyon, they announced on Wednesday 11 October. The ticket office will open on October 18 at 11 a.m.
The day before, the band thunderously announced, on its Instagram account, the future series of concerts without revealing the dates and places of the event.
The announcement comes amid controversy surrounding leader Till Lindemann, who was accused by several women of sexual assault last June. These allegations were denied by the leader, leading to the opening of an investigation by Berlin, which was dropped almost 3 months later. The Berlin prosecutor's office said it could not "establish that Till Lindemann had non-consensual sexual relations with women".
The case dates back to the end of May with the testimony of a 24-year-old Irish woman accusing the singer and lyricist of having drugged and sexually assaulted her at the end of a concert the same month in Lithuania. Other young women then testified, all describing more or less the same scenario. The groupies were reportedly spotted in the front rows of concerts, filmed or photographed so that Lindemann could make her choice, before some of them were invited backstage for parties. Some of them were then drugged before being assaulted by the singer who denied it through his lawyers.
Tensions within the group, calls for boycotts, protests... punctuated their tour. In Bern last June, where despite the controversy the band had a full house, around 150 people demonstrated in front of the stadium where they were to perform. Known for his songs with crude sexual references, and his occasional polemics about the Holocaust, Rammstein has sold more than twenty million albums worldwide. In addition to its extravagant concerts with impressive pyrotechnic effects, the German-speaking band owes its success to Till Lindemann's imposing physical presence and deep bass voice.