So many songs, so little time...
Ok, so The Rasmus are on the bill this year. Not usual Reading material, but there’s been pop-shite on the main stage before; The All-American Rejects and Good Charlotte last year for example, and they were allowed to make it to the end of their sets!
The Rasmus are a glorified Him, and better in every way, by not sponging off someone else’s success for one thing and by not ruining a beautiful Chris Isaac song for another.(How unpopular have I just made myself?) I’m no fan, but these Finnish, Goth-Power-Poppers deserved to get through more than one song and an intro into to the new single ‘Guilty.’
Put yourself in their position, you’ve arrived at Richfield Avenue to play Reading festival, the festival dreams are made of. You’re taking pictures of everything because you’re so damn excited, then you go onstage. Facing you in the crowd is a home-made flag proclaiming: ‘Burn The Rasmus!’ Then the bottles come, not one or two, but one or two hundred. People must have been hoarding bottles for months just to throw them at The Rasmus, I expect there was a small subculture of crazed sadists who bought their tickets especially for this occasion.
Then comes the mud and whatever else was grabbable and throwable, not a chair though, 50 Cent got that! Something hits the bassist and they’re gone with a quick ‘Thank you very much.' He received medical treatment backstage (Yeah, did you know that, fucko that threw the bottle? You could’ve had Eero’s eye out with that, “naughty, naughty!” just like Mike Skinner said!)
The only problem with this band was their lack of aggression; fight back! Pissing on the front row would have been good, throwing it all back would have been satisfactory, a single swearword would have been better than what they did, which was just to leave and give the crowd the satisfaction of defeating them. That’s where ‘Fiddy’ succeeded.
It must have sucked for those poor bastards who bought a day-ticket to see The Rasmus, more so for those who bought one to see The Rasmus and 50 Cent, even more so for those wearing a Rasmus hoody (yeah I saw you buddy) and it was probably horrendous for that one sad sod wearing the 50 Cent T-shirt underneath his Rasmus hoody, ouch!
You’ve got to feel sorry for Lauri and the boys though… I can’t give them any more than one star; I didn’t see any more than one song, and where’s the fighting back? Go to the gym and get a body like Fiddy’s! Kids, don’t throw bottles, it’s blimmin’ naughty!
P.S An afterthought, It would be a good business plan to collect empty bottles and sell them for 50p each at the next Rasmus at Reading. (Sorry guys, shouldn’t poke fun.)