Concerrt rreview [Japan]

The Rasmus at Ebisu Liquid Room, Tokyo, on Monday, January 31
The Finnish unknown-but-tenth-year-band finally came to Japan for the first time. Their fifth album, which made them famous in the United Kingdom, “Dead Letters” is filled with melancholic melodies that touch a string in our heart. It then came to attention of the keen Japanese music fans, so the band proceeded to come on tour to Japan. And as for the performance, in short, they proved that they have been able to stay in business for ten years not without ground.
By the time when it came to the acoustic set (“Life 705,” “The One I Love,” and “Back in the Picture”) in the middle of the gig, they had already showed off their ability by the masterful production of such as the sound, SE, and lighting. Of special note is the guitarist Pauli Rantasalmi who is also a competent producer of other artists. His dominating and snazzy guitar sounds instantly impressed me as I have not heard of such sounds for a long while. His nifty guitar work, particularly the leading role in “Not Like the Other Girls,” boosted the dramatic mood by its impeccable sounds and phrases and so demonstrated his sophisticated talent.
During the acoustic set, in which they were put to the test of their ability, the band seemed much closer to the audience. For a time, the throaty singer Lauri Ylönen, who started playing the classic piano when he was little, played the keyboards. The highlight was “Back in the Picture,” when the bassist Eero Heinonen counted too quick and so Lauri got into a flurry (but the others budged not an inch). At that moment, you can tell that they really enjoyed themselves, and this swinging song showed a different aspect of the melancholic band.
It was also nice that the performance itself was well thought out with ingenuity. As seen in the starting song “Guilty” following a fantastical maestoso, they rearranged the songs in the album by adding some twists even to small details. The transition between the songs was seamless, and the performance was so solid throughout the show. They knew how to arouse the audience to enthusiasm and make them sing along. Due to high pressure or sharpness of the sound, the ambience in the songs was not as treacly as it was in the album, which I think was good. The beautiful melody line and rhythmical rhyme played in “F-F-F-Falling” from the fourth album were like those great euro beat sounds. The elements of funk, hip-hop, and mixture music, in which the band have their roots, were well interacted with the Goth musical scale in composition, which somewhat reminded me of Linkin Park. Depending on how they approach the next album, they are very likely to have a smashing success in Japan.

The following is the set list of the night. And for those who missed the Japan tour, there is “Live Letters” DVD now on sale.
1. Guilty
2. Bullet
3. Everyday
4. Still Standing
5. If You Ever
6. F-F-F-Falling
7. Wellwell
8. Not Like the Other Girls
9. Life 705
10. The One I Love
11. Back in the Picture
12. First Day of My Life
13. Time to Burn
14. Days
15. In the Shadows
16. In My Life
<Encore>
17. One and Only
18. Funeral Song

Text by Naomi Ohno

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