RAMMSTEIN JOHANNESBURG!! 11-02-2011

So Friday dawns and I’ve been up since 3.3am waiting and itching and over excited and ready!
Ready for RAMMSTEIN!!!

Eeeek!!!

Now see I didn’t know I was going to go until the very last week before the concert so when I realized I was going to go! Oh my! Excitement central!! I was actually annoying myself! (And probably a few other very diplomatic people…)

My partners in crime were Brendan and his sister Anthea, whose daughter had canceled and thereby freeing up a ticket and making me her eternal fan forever and ever or close enough!

The event was held at the Coca cola dome in North gate. I’d never been there so visiting it alone was mighty interesting. We didn’t even hit that much traffic there, which was really nice. Swimming upstream in crowds or trying to find parking on top of a tree isn’t one of those pearly memory moments.

Walking along to the concert we could pretty much tell who was going and who wasn’t. Not only by the fact that every second guy had a Rammstein shirt on, black of course but mostly by the phenomenal amount of black people were wearing in general. This turned out to be the colour of choice for pretty much 100% of the audience.

And yes, I wore a black dress, but at least it wasn’t jeans! The concert goers clothing of choice. AND I was the only brightly red head there, everyone else being bottle black or shades of brown and blonde and boring. So there!

Waiting was the worse part. Esp as we were trying to find a place to stand where we could actually see the stage! Of the three of us, Anthea was the shortest and guess who had every tall guy in the room standing in front of her? I swear she was an absolute magnet! Like she had a sign saying, “If you’re 6ft or taller please gather ahead of me”

The other thing that wasn’t kosher were the smokers. Geez they stank! Ciggies and weed! And no one offered me any! Um…. Which was a good thing! Kids, just say no!
But then the lights went down and the crowds roar went up!
The music built, the black curtain fell, and there they were RAMMSTEIN!!


[The opening of the Concert! Can they build tension or what? Those little lights all over the place? That's people filming with their cellphones! The 80's had people swaying lighters above their heads, we have blackberries!]

OH
MY
WORD!!!

Did they deliver?! Awesome pounding music (that didn’t rip your ears to shreds), flames, fireworks and a vibe that went right down to your bones!!!


We didn’t stop moving and bouncing along for the entire show! Magnificent!! I’ve never shouted that loud ever!!!
[Pyromaniacs rule!]
[Yes, that's a flamethrower!!]
[Just W O W!!]

[Because you deserve it! Enjoy!]


When it was over we ended up leaving, dazzed and confused, like refugees who sort of got used to being squashed in the dingy. We were dripping with sweat from the dancing and flames, we were tired, we were groggy and we were elated!! HOW FRIKKING AWESOME WAS THAT?!!!

I only have two complaints:-
1. The show was too short! Only an hour and a half! I was hoping it would be a full 3 hours. Boo!
2. For a first concert, that’s set my bar pretty damn high for what I expect from now on! How will anyone else hope to compare?!!

So next time they come round to South Africa, who wants to go with me?! ^_-

Because you never know!

So I snapped this photo at the Joburg zoo. It's the first red squirrel I've ever seen. I really had to zoom in to even get this foggy, blurry shot and of course, the second I had him in focus, the little beastie had to go and turn his back on me, so that now I have to reassure you that yes, this is a squirrel and not the back of a cleverly shaped stone that’s ignoring me.

But you have to wonder what a red squirrel is doing there in amongst the dustier brown squirrels native to South Africa?
Obviously he's up to something.

We suspected he could well be an arms dealer.

No think about it! Ground squirrels dig tunnels all over the place, which they certainly have in the zoo. There’s holes all over the place that the general public tend to find with their feet at awkward moments.
Red squirrels don’t tunnel however. They usually climb trees and gambol about fancy free. So why is this one down on the ground? What nefarious reason could he have to be on the ground with the “lesser nut-munchers?” Sure he could just be stretching his wee, fuzzy legs.
BUT!

What if it’s really leading a resistance movement? Cleverly coordinating the building of tunnels that could stretch as far as Israel or Iraq or other stupidly war torn nation! There’s no telling what sort of dog tunnels he might be organizing there! Full of ammunitions and supplies and clever booby-traps that have taken out more then one unsuspecting zookeeper in his time.

I wouldn’t know why a squirrel would be a world renowned arms smuggler. It could be he’s a misguided freedom fighter? Perhaps he lost someone close in the war? (I don’t know which war but there’s always a number to chose from), or perhaps he just had a bad childhood experience? (There’s nothing worse for a young squirrel then having someone inappropriately touching his nuts…)

I can’t pretend to know the story of this little enigma. His world is his own. (Heck it could be her world, it didn’t’ exactly flash me…) So let’s continue on with our lives, knowing these brave little fighters are out there, eking out their own little place in the world.

Mr Squirrel – I salute you!