Music Review: Krammpstein concert turns the yuletide gray
The observance of Christmas is as joyous as it is complex. Over the centuries it has evolved from pagan Winter solstice celebration to reverent commemoration of Christ’s birth to today’s confluence of religious devotion and secular materialism, all bound together by a deep, multilayered history of ritual, fantasy and tradition. Thanks to local holiday rock ‘n’ roll freak show Krammpstein, Christmas revelry will crash into a bizarre, menacing new dimension this Saturday night at Glendale’s Complex.
Led by veteran rocker Greg Reynard, Krammpstein deftly exploits the horrific holiday mythology of Alpine Yuletide demon Krampus and the industrial strength rock of infamous Germanic metal beasts Rammstein. The resulting collision is a strikingly lurid, brand-new old-fashioned blitzkrieg of howling musical intensity performed by the whip-brandishing, fang-bearing, furry monstrosities who, Austrian legend holds, assist Saint Nicolas by punishing, oft severely, naughty children who the Krampus snatches from their beds and carries off in baskets strapped to their backs.
Now in its second year, the self-propelled Krammpstein phenomenon eerily ordered its own inception. “I have a friend, Al Ridenour, better known as Reverend Al from the L.A. Cacophony Society, who had to gone to Austria a few years ago and came back with these photos of Krampus,” Reynard said. “He thought it was something that needed to be brought to the United States, so he started putting together the Krampus L.A. society and their annual Krampus Ball in 2013.”
“By the next year, he and I were talking about it, and I’d been listening to a lot of Rammstein and thought to myself ‘Hey, Krampus and Rammstein, that’ll work!’ So last year we did the first Krampus Rumpus at Complex and it was great. We’ve done about five shows now, and this past weekend we sold out at Alpine Village, which was 750 people! This gets a lot more attention than almost all of the legitimate rock and metal bands I’ve been in over the years.”
Reynard is definitely the man for the job: he has long served in the offbeat field of theatrical, heavily costumed comedic rock, most notably with 1990s favorites Green Jelly. “I’d had some experience with costuming from my band in the ‘90s, we’d gotten technology from GWAR — it was basically liquid latex papier mache back then, but now, for Krampus, this is real costuming. We just get together and do it all ourselves. And some of the Krampus L.A. people are real costumers — one works for L.A. Opera — so they are really something to see.”
“For Krammpstein, my conceit was basically just to look like Krampus who happen to be Rammstein fans, so it’s like industrial metal with Krampus fur. We start with latex masks, repaint those. I have actual ram horns mounted on a motorcycle helmet, with the mask going over that, and added some fur.
“The songs, some are in German or half-English/half-German. I used a combination of Google translate and had some German friends who helped me,” Reynard said. “We just chose the Rammstein songs that we felt were hits, the ones people would want to hear. Like their song ‘America’ which is about American culture taking over the world — we changed that to ‘Norden Pole’ and made it about American commercialization taking over Christmas.”
“It’s challenging in that it gets really hot, with all the lights and you need to put out a lot of energy for a good show, so it does get pretty crazy. I have an ice vest, with frozen gel packs, that I wear to mitigate that but by the time we come off stage everyone is drenched in sweat and ready to pass out. But it’s all worth it for the response we get.”
It’s an irresistible rock ‘n’ roll concept and Krammpstein is at the forefront. “The people just keep coming back. The audiences, for the most part are prepared for it, they have some idea of what to expect,” Reynard said. “They come ready to rock out, and I must say there is a surprising number of females who come right up front — which, with most of the metal bands I’ve been is definitely not the case.”
“We try to really put on a show. We throw Christmas cookies out in the crowd, we have dolls that we toss out, so people can throw them back into the basket I wear. Someone has to scare children into behaving. It may as well be us!”
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Who: Krammpstein, Marilyn Krampson
Where: Complex, 806 E Colorado St., Glendale
When: Saturday, Dec. 19, 9 p.m.
Cost: $10
More info: (323) 642-7519, complexla.com
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JONNY WHITESIDE is a veteran music journalist based in Burbank and author of “Ramblin’ Rose: the Life & Career of Rose Maddox” and “Cry: the Johnnie Ray Story.”