Make Love Not Bottlings
Bristol Academy is renowned for being one of the few venues in the country with fantastic acoustics and a layout that lends itself to intimacy even with 3,000 people present. The Rasmus are a band that use this to their advantage and make the scenes of this year’s Reading Festival seem miles away. The question is – will they be able to please everyone tonight? It’s not your average Rasmus crowd – with fans ranging from age 12 to 40, it’s certainly an interesting mix.
As they open with their recent chart topping single ‘Guilty’, the crowd immediately become intoxicated by what has become an anthem for Rasmus fans everywhere. Shortly after this comes a cover of ‘It's a Sin’ by the Pet Shop Boys which actually manages to produce some respectable axe work from Pauli. As The Rasmus try and build up their musical credibility, it is on to an acoustic section which covers tracks from their debut album ‘Peep’ right the way through to their most recent, and well known, ‘Dead Letters’.
There is one song though that the fans want to hear – and it’s certainly not an acoustic number or a cover from a song that was released years before most of the fans here tonight were even born. Yes, it’s ‘In the Shadows’ which fans sing along to excitedly.
Considering the bashing, in a physical and mental sense, that The Rasmus have received this year in the UK – starting a headline tour is certainly going to be make or break for them on British soil. For The Rasmus, however, the past is the past and they focus on tonight’s show. After a somewhat cautious start, they even begin interacting with the crowd as the set progresses – something remarkably uncommon for Lauri and co. It pays off though – as several pairs of knickers end up adorning the stage and microphones during acoustic numbers. It makes a change to bottles and they jokingly complain as they are removed.
With a stage dressed in eighties-esque multicoloured strip lighting a flag is visible emblazoned with the words "Forget Reading - Your Fans Love You". It doesn’t matter that Lauri misses the odd note here and there – because if you are a Rasmus fan, you’ll love every second of their performance. If not? You should at least have some fun.
Next time they’re in your area they’re definitely worth going to see and you may even end up coming away surprised.