Pyro and mayhem - Leeds United's Schalke 04 friendly makes way for Rammstein at Veltins-Arena

Having welcomed Hannover 96 to their training camp at Hotel-Residence Klosterpforte on Wednesday, Leeds' 10-day trip to Germany was to be bookended by an away game against Schalke 04. But explosions, fireworks, confetti, foam and the small matter of one of Germany's biggest cultural exports and their tens of thousands of fans ruled out Schalke's Veltins-Arena as a venue for the fixture.

Five years after beginning a monster set of European and world tours in Gelsenkirchen, metal giants Rammstein were back for five sold-out nights of mayhem starting on Friday July 26, so Schalke instead took on Leeds the next day at Kümpel und Hellmeister Arena in Hamm, North Rhine-Westphalia.

One of Germany's Euro 2024 venues, Veltins-Arena was taken over and transformed by band at the very apex of their craft. For 30 years now Rammstein have paired their industrial dance metal with an increasingly spectacular flair for theatrics and from start to finish their tour show is an immersive experience. Eschewing the tradition of taking with them a handful of support acts, up and coming metal bands or big names, Rammstein get the show on the road with French melodic piano duo Abélard. A long-time support act for Till Lindemann and co, they play haunting Rammstein covers to an already colossal and generous crowd on the floor and in the stands, ending with superb renditions of Deutschland and Du Hast.

Then, after numerous rounds of a Mexican wave, Rammstein descend to the stage in what resembles a mining lift and then proceed to lay waste to the arena with smoke, pyrotechnics and their trademark stomping metal. The spectacle somehow doesn't detract from the music, even when Lindemann wheels out a giant pram, which of course then catches fire towards the end of Puppe. Or when he wheels out a giant cauldron, from which keyboard genius Christian Lorenz emerges to perform Mein Teil. Flamethrowers of increasing size and scale are brought out for Lindemann to cook his bandmate.

Deutschland is a highlight, preceded as it is by a dance remix of the same song by guitarist Richard Kruspe, and so is Du Hast, during which Lindemann launches a firework at staging midway through the arena. It fires back at the stage and there's an enormous explosion. Ridiculous and awesome in equal measure.

The encore begins with singalong favourite Engel on the same smaller stage that Abélard graced, before Rammstein surf their way back to the main stage in dinghies. There's a second encore. There's a backpack that shoots out jets of flames around Lindemann and guitars with flamethrower attachments. There's confetti everywhere. And then they're back in the lift, ascending again before a final explosion rocks the stadium. Better than a pre-season friendly? Leeds would have taken more, of course. But it was different, we'll say that.