The Rasmus in Kiev [Ukraine]

So that’s it: today we have Jamiroquai and after that we can start planning our vacations. There are no more important concerts in Kiev coming any time soon. The planned concert of Tarkan was rescheduled for fall. That show, just like The Rasmus’s concert, was organized by “Anshlag.” And while we’re on topic – it wasn’t done professionally. But The Rasmus themselves played well, though little – about an hour. Their support was the vocalist from the band ‘Green Grey’ Dmytro ‘Murik’ Muravyc’kyi with his solo project MRK: rock music with nothing to make it stand out, with big ambitions and a very aggressive singer. On the press-conference Murik was behaving so defiantly and provocatively that it was disgusting to have to listen to him. After his performance he threw a phrase into the audience: “and now we listen to Finnish pop” and disappeared backstage.
Despite performing all their tracks best suited for dance-floors like No Fear, Dancer in the Dark, and Keep Your Heart Broken, The Rasmus devoted part of the set to the acoustic songs. For convenience, the stage was set with a whole row of different guitars that ‘rasmusers’ switched from time to time. The vocalist Lauri performed Imortal and Fade Away with acoustic guitar. Later, for even more ‘acousticism’ the four musicians seated themselves in a semi-circle, while the drummer Aki performed the role of a percussionist. Such cozy atmosphere that took over the Palace of Sports when the band played, for example, the acoustic F-f-f-falling can’t even be found in all pubs and clubs. In one word – charismatic. That adjective can also be applied to the vocalist of The Rasmus: thin and short, Lauri in his signature black beanie at first looked more like a sleepy gnome than a rock-star. But his (and the other musicians’) sincere behavior on stage did its job. Bassist Eero and Lauri stood on top of the boxes of equipment in the center and left side of the stage trying to reach out to the audience, and Aki’s drumming would leave all young beginners breathless.
The Rasmus came to Kiev from Moscow and decided that ‘kalinka-malinka’ would be fitting here as well. But one beautiful song was devoted to Finland, and the last one was sung in Finnish. During the performance of the band’s most popular ‘First Day Of My Life’ and their last one ‘In The Shadows,’ the crowd went wild. Lauri said from the stage that he did not expect that many fans there (there were fewer than for Black Eyed Peas, and most of them were actually very young. The tickets cost 60-260 gr.) A lot of youth copied Lauri’s look: of course, they put on black clothes and fixed their hair with feathers. Olga told ‘UM’ that a couple of feathers she had in her hair she bought in a store. ‘I came to this concert just to relax. I usually listen to heavier music, but I have all The Rasmus albums. Frankly, I was expecting a little more, the ads said to expect massive amounts of sound, but it wasn’t there. Most of all I enjoyed the last Finnish song, I’m trying to learn it myself.”

On the press-conference before the show, the musicians said that they took a walk in the city the night before and were pleasantly surprised with the attention they got from people that were following them around in a small line. “I couldn’t even buy new underwear, so I had to wear the dirty ones today,” the drummer confessed, getting uncomfortable. The Rasmus stayed in the Dnipro Hotel and – attention! – took a swim in the Dnipro river! It was written in their rider with bold letters that the tour was alcohol- and fast-food-free, so they ate only in restaurants.
It was impossible to avoid the questions about the so-called phenomenon of Finnish music, which is full of ‘interesting heavybands.’ Lately there’s been a lot of talk about one of them, popular in their homeland band Lordi. “Finland isn’t such a big country,” Lauri says about the relations with other Finnish musicians. “That’s why we often meet in clubs where we all love to go, we see each other almost every day during different music events or for work, collaboration. The idea to sing with HIM and Apocalyptica was actually one of those “drunk ones.”
On the 20th of June the band will perform in Odesa, after which they will head to the Czech Republic.

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