It may be close to the end of 2025, but for one night only, The Rasmus transported us back to 2003 for the final night of their Weirdo tour at Rock City, accompanied by fellow Finnish band Block of Flats and American emo rockers The Funeral Portrait. From within a beautifully mixed crowd of longtime fans, younger listeners and older fans reliving their youth and chasing that sweet feeling of nostalgia, the show was full of energy and enthusiasm, from the bands and fans alike...
Kicking off the evening was Block of Flats. The band had plenty of energy, especially for an early Saturday night support slot; choosing to have a backdrop of a cosy Christmas fireplace scene to accompany their melodic pop choruses and heavy metal riffs. Starting the evening as it was sure to go on, someone dressed as a black teddy bear appeared on stage, adding to the energy of the room, and leaving many wondering what on earth they were going to see as the night went on.
Continuing the energy was The Funeral Portrait, with the enigmatic, green-haired vocalist engaging with the crowd like a true front man. Having recently headlined their own tour in the USA, with The Rasmus as support, it was only right that they returned the favour. Both the on stage and off stage interactions made for an exciting show, where the earlier black teddy bear made a return appearance.
The Rasmus came onto the stage, draped in the purple hue that has draped the Weirdo album era, and the room filled with electricity. For a band three decades into their career, the Finnish quartet proved they’re not simply revisiting and leaning on past glories, they’re reshaping them.
Opening with Rest in Pieces and following up with Guilty, the band immediately established a dark, atmospheric tone for the evening, layering Lauri Ylönen’s crystalline vocals over a wall of guitars that leaned closer to shoegaze than their early pop-punk leanings, such as F-F-F-Falling which soon made an appearance a little later on in the set. The transitions were seamless: No Fear, Time to Burn, Still Standing (though this was a shorter version, sadly) and Shot carried the weight of their early 2000s catalogue, while newer cuts including Banksy and Weirdo, where Ylönen was joined on stage by Lee Jennings from The Funeral Portrait, showcased a sharper, more experimental edge. Rock City’s intimate, sweat-soaked walls amplified the chaos.
The video backdrop gave an additional level of crowd participation; with each song, the visuals changed from butterflies, to static, from fire to the Northern Lights. Another track from 2003’s Dead Letters album, First Day of My Life, drew audible screams of recognition, followed by Not Like the Other Girls, which slowed down the pace just a little, with Ylönen draped in a Union Jack flag gifted from the crowd. In the Shadows, still clearly their most iconic track, finally made its appearance, uniting every member of the crowd with the perfectly timed chants of “Oh, oh, oh, oh”. Surprisingly, this was not the final song played.
Another level of absurdity came when a fan somehow managed to jump onto the stage to propose to his girlfriend but Rock City’s ever present Security pulled him off stage before he could get an answer, leaving us all wondering whether she said yes?
The encore was still pure catharsis for many: a playful cover of It’s Beginning to Look Like Christmas, backdropped with the cosy Christmas fireplace scene seen earlier on in the evening, dissolved into the bittersweet Sail Away, before closing with Love Is a Bitch, a track that encapsulates this band's knack for marrying melancholy with melody, and where the ever present black teddy bear made their final, bizarre appearance.
The Nottingham show wasn’t just the end of a tour, it felt like a special gift for many who have waited years to hear those classic songs from their teen years. Bands often choose to end their tours in the bigger cities (London, Manchester...), so it felt special that The Rasmus chose Nottingham for their finale. The show was technically sharp, emotionally raw, and atmospherically charged, as the band proved that longevity in rock isn’t about repetition, but reinvention. It's about bringing a strong mix of nostalgia and fresh, new material to the crowd, showing how you can balance fan favourites with an ever evolving sound.
The Weirdo tour may have been The Rasmus' most aptly named journey yet: strange, chaotic, but undeniably alive.
The Rasmus performed at Rock City on 6th December 2025.
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