THE RASMUS
12.02.2009 'Universiada' hall, Sofia, Bulgaria

Words by: Metal Willie, photo: Begemot

The Rasmus - reviled by many a "serious" music fan and adored by their shrill-voiced legions of pubescent girlies. And it is, of course, the latter who make up most of the 1,500 + crowd in this 3,000 capacity venue in Bulgaria's capital (the attendance for the Rasmus gig in Macedonia was 700, so I guess they've struck more of a cord with us Bulgarians).

Some of them have been brought here by their parents, others have managed to drag their embarrassed boyfriends along. The merch stall offers some interesting items, not least some rather kinky Rasmus bikini...which I'm wearing as I write this report. There is no support act tonight and curfew is 10p.m. Figures...

At around 8:30 p.m. the lights dim and one of the most successful Finnish rock bands of all time (the Rasmus have sold around 3.5 million units worldwide) arrive onstage to be greeted by a whirlwind of squeals and shrieks, akin to a thousand mice hammered on alcopops. The band are on tour to promote their BLACK ROSES album and immediately launch into new single "Living In A Wolrd Without You". Hands go up in the air, as do mobile phones and the two rather large screens both sides of the stage show a dressed down Lauri and a slightly podgy Pauli (guitar).

The sound is clear, nut too loud or powerful for that matter. This is quickly corrected though. Contrary to popular opinion there really isn't that much of an "emo" vibe to the Rasmus' music. In fact it's more along the lines of traditional Scandinavian melodic rock than anything else.

Frontman Lauri isn't half as mobile as he is in the bands videos, but he is undoubtedly the focal point for all female eyes in the crowd. "Hey Sofia, we have a song called Sophia on one of our older albums" - quips Lauri, "we were thinking of playing it tonight, but it's too fast and we can't. We'll try the intro though and maybe you can sing along!"

Which all at the front do. There aren't any fancy pyrotechnics during the show and at times the Rasmus really do ROCK, but they're definitely no Metallica or the Sex Pistols...or even H.I.M. for that matter. Nevertheless the crowd lap it all up and the set is a good mix of new and older material.

The band had planned only one song for the encore, but decide their Bulgarian fans deserve a bit more for their enthusiasm and thus invite a near-fainting girl onstage for a rendition of "Rakkauslaulu". They then wrap up with "Sail Away" and off they go to Istanbul. "When we started this band, I made a promise that we'd play Sofia and here we are" - said Lauri. Erm....if you say so mate...