Markthalle, Hamburg, Germany10th October 2022
The Rasmus - “Live and Never Die 22 Tour” - Special Guests: Icon For Hire
What better way to brighten up a rainy Monday evening than with a concert by one of your favourite childhood bands? A long line of people in black lined up at the Markthalle for the sole purpose of seeing THE RASMUS live.
Icon For Hire
As support in front of them was a band from the USA ICON FOR HIRE. Formed in 2007, the band’s current line-up consists of singer Ariel Bloomer and lead guitarist Shawn Jump. The band’s sound combines Pop Punk and Alternative Metal elements with strings and electronics. In describing the band’s sound, lead singer Ariel has said that the band is “first and foremost just a Rock band. That is where our roots are and where our hearts are. However, a few years ago we started really getting into synths and programming. We love the combination of brutal, in-your-face riffs, with the fun candy of Pop production sprinkled all over it.” The band does not deny the influence of such musicians as LINKIN PARK, BREAKING BENJAMIN, PANTERA, MÖTLEY CRÜE, and RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE, as well as Pop and Hip-Hop-oriented artists such as Skrillex, THE BLACK EYED PEAS, DESSA, and LADY GAGA.
Music & Performance
At the moment ICON FOR HIRE has no bass player, so the only sounds on stage were guitar, drums, and vocals. From the first notes, the musicians created a great atmosphere with eight songs in different genres, including Hard Rock and Metal. ‘Ready For The Combat’, ‘Pulse’, ‘Get Well’, ‘Dismantled’ etc. - songs from the band’s repertoire indisputably captivated the audience. It was noticeable that the audience quickly picked up the tempo of the songs and tried to sing along, even without knowing the words. A front-woman in a Metal band is not a common occurrence, but Ariel handles her tasks well and gives it all she can on stage. Thanks to her efforts, the fans were already in a great mood by the time THE RASMUS came on stage.
Setlist
01. Ready For The Combat
02. Pulse
03. Get Well
04. Dismantled
05. Brittle
06. Make A Move
07. Last One Standing
08. Venom
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 7
Light: 8
Total: 7.8 / 10
The Rasmus
In their home country Finland, THE RASMUS has been one of the most sought-after Rock bands for a quarter of a century. They have always been firmly anchored in the Scandinavian alternative Rock scene and have exerted a great influence on up-and-coming bands in this genre over the past 25 years. With their album ‘Dead Letters’ from 2003, they also achieved their international breakthrough - unforgotten, thanks in large part to their super hit ‘In The Shadows’, which, according to the musicians, opened all the doors for them. On 26 February 2022, the band won the national preliminary “Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu” 2022 with the song ‘Jezebel’ to represent Finland at Eurovision 2022. In the second semi-final on 12 May, they qualified for the final on 14 May by finishing in 7th place, where they finished in 21st place with 38 points. In addition, in September of this year, the band released a new grandiose album ‘Rise’ with which they went on the “Live and Never Die 22 Tour”, starting in Hamburg.
Music & Performance
The excitement of waiting in the hall increased. Finally, THE RASMUS appeared on the scene. In the familiar image for everyone - the famous black feathers in Lauri’s hair, since the creation of ‘In The Shadows’ this has already been like a visiting card of the band. I was very interested to hear how the band sounds now live with their new guitarist Emilia “Emppu” Suhonen, who replaced long-time guitarist and founding member Pauli Rantasalmi who left for personal reasons. However, I will say right away that I was not disappointed. Emppu is awesome. THE RASMUS is definitely music for all generations. The setlist traditionally includes songs from all decades of the band’s existence, so all those present easily pick them up in the hall. “My little sister is also here today and will be writing a report on THE RASMUS for a music magazine,” my colleague photographer shared with me as we stood together under the stage. This is so cute, I thought. It can be said that the band has raised not only a new generation of fans of their music but also a new generation of music journalists. This is how it works.
Lauri emphasised many times during the evening that they were insanely happy to be on tour again. Moreover, it was obvious that they were happy to be back in the arms of the audience. We looked at each other and smiled ear to ear. I was so happy because they were happy to be here with all of us. After such blockbusters as ‘First Day of My Life’, ‘Guilty’, ‘In My Life’ or ‘No Fear’ the band played some songs in an acoustic format. For example, Lauri had a kazoo with it and performed ‘Sophia’ with it. Then ‘Ten Black Roses’ and ‘October & April’ followed, also on acoustic. Somewhere in between these songs, the musicians dragged a young lady from Ukraine out of the audience who sang along with Lauri in Finnish. It was a very touching moment. The real magic was done with ‘Liquid’, ‘Livin’ in a World Without You’, ‘F-F-F-Falling’, and of course ‘In The Shadows’, when nobody could contain their emotions anymore and it seemed that we were transported in time and space to the distant 2000s.
The new song ‘Jezebel’ was left for an appetizer. By the way, for the creation of this single frontman and creative leader Lauri Ylönen teamed up with none other than Desmond Child, who had already worked on the superhits of KISS, BON JOVI and AEROSMITH. According to Lauri, “‘Jezebel’ is a homage, an ode to today’s strong women who own their bodies, who choose their sensuality and sexuality for themselves, and who are determined to fight for their equality.” ‘Sail Away’ ended this wonderful evening, which will remain in our memory for a very long time.
Setlist
01. First Day of My Life
02. Guilty
03. In My Life
04. No Fear
05. Paradise
06. Time to Burn
07. Live and Never Die
08. Wonderman
09. Sophia (Acoustic)
10. Ten Black Roses (Acoustic)
11. October & April (Acoustic)
12. Playboys
13. Ghostbusters (Ray Parker Jr. cover)
14. Liquid
15. Rise
16. Immortal
17. Livin’ in a World Without You
18. F-F-F-Falling
19. In the Shadows
20. Jezebel
21. Sail Away
Rating
Music: 10
Performance: 9
Sound: 10
Light: 8
Total: 9.3 / 10
All Pictures by Iryna Kalenska
Comments powered by CComment