Even with all the support bands upping their game, there was still only one main band, and one reason for me taking yet another trip to Germany. And that was Pain. And it was time for them to take the stage at Klubsen.

As I’ve mentioned in my other reviews, the stage at Klubsen seemed smaller than the one the band had played in Berlin.
However, practically everything else about the show had grown! The lightshow in the new stage setup was great, and the energy in the band was breathtaking!
Ok, fairs fair. André Skaug took it a little bit easier I think, but on the other hand, that man has an enormously high level of action in him to begin with, so a little off the top with him is no disaster. On the other hand, I could see that Sebastian Tägtgren had been properly warmed up by now, maybe he even read our previous review? Anyway, he could still play like the best of them, we established that already the last time, but now he added a lot of show to it as well, and it was good to see.
Peter (Tägtgren) is always Peter, and I love to see him on stage, but I noticed that Greger Andersson had upped both his game and his gimmick. Not only was he more at ease in the band than he had been the last time around, but he had also played around with his looks, dying his hair and beard with a greyish tint. Andersson also took a walk off the stage during It’s Only Them. Here he climbed a high ramp on the right-hand side wall of the hall, where he then stood headbanging in piece, as other things happened on the stage.

Pain’s show had grown in other aspects as well. You remember us writing that they had played around with looking for Joakim Brodén (Sabaton) during his vocal parts in Call Me? Well, now it made better sense, because here there was a performance to go with the vocals – from the puppet from the video! Surprising, and quite a lot of fun, I don’t mind telling you. And being Brodén, there was of course “noch ein bier” for him.
This wasn’t the only guest Pain had on stage with them either. No, in true Iron Maiden style, the Pain-head character came out and acted threatening towards the band during It’s Only Them. Now you see why Andersson needed some private space. That is to say, until a man in a bowler hat came after him (the Pain-head, not Andersson), caught him, and dragged him off the stage again. Good fun for everyone.
And then there was, what by many surely must be considered the main guest of the event – Till Lindemann (Rammstein/Lindemann)! Yes, as a very special treat for the Hamburg crowd, Lindemann (the band) made its live debut this evening, as the band struck up a lively version of Praise Abort. Who knows when, or even if, this will ever happen again? I’m surely glad I was there to see it!

We were drawing closer to the end by now, and Shut Your Mouth closed the set, even though it apparently wasn’t on the setlist for this show.
Pain, or half the band at least, still had a bit of excess energy to burn off before leaving, and thus we saw Skaug and Andersson take one last walk over to the ramp Andersson had previously visited, and after a flip of a coin, it was decided that Skaug was the lucky winner of a stage dive into a crowd that was still quite well packed, and ready to catch him! After a short time of deliberation, Andersson decided to follow him, coin or no coin, and also jumped into the fray!
And thus, Pain in Hamburg was over, for this time. And I’m sure everyone who came out was as ecstatic about the show as I was. Pain had given it their all, and I’m not afraid to proclaim this to be the best Pain concert I have ever been to. And I’ve been to a lot.

Setlist:

Designed To Piss You Off
Suicide Machine
The Great Pretender
A Wannabe
Zombie Slam
Monkey Business
End Of The Line
It’s Only Them
Pain In The Ass
I’m Going In
Coming Home
Black Knight Satellite
Call Me
Starseed
Dirty Woman
Same Old Song
Praise Abort (Lindemann cover, feat. Till Lindemann)
Encore:
Shut Your Mouth