The Rasmus
- Rock Metal Machine
- 4 hours ago
- 7 min read
Artists: The Rasmus, The Funeral Portrait, Block Of Flats
Venue: Shepherds Bush Empire (London)
Date: 4th December 2025
"The Rasmus are far from being a one hit wonder. They have created an incredible body of work and I sense there is still a lot to come. "
One of the many things I like about being a music photographer is that I get to see bands I wouldn’t normally get the opportunity to. On this particular occasion, I knew of the headline act, and had heard one of their songs, but knew absolutely nothing about the first two bands on the bill, Block Of Flats, and special guests, The Funeral Portrait. So once again I make my way into central London for the privilege of watching musicians perform.
I like the Shepherds Bush Empire. It’s steeped in history, and you have a good view of the stage from every angle. The security are excellent, and they treat the photographers with respect, unlike some venues I could name. Even though it was relatively early, the venue was already busy when Block Of Flats took to the stage. After a little post gig research, I discovered this band hail from Finland, Helsinki to be precise. Their line-up consists of Jonne Nikkila (vocals), Jesse Kataja (guitar), Kauri Koponen (bass) and Ossi Agren (drums). Their debut album entitled ‘No Hope For the Hopeless’ was released in 2023.
Immediately, the blond hair and good looks of singer Nikkila catch your attention. Tall, slim and confident, he looks perfectly at ease on stage. But most importantly, he also has a very good voice. It doesn’t take long to realise the whole band are accomplished musicians. Their songs are built around big guitar riffs, powerful bass and drum arrangements, and strong top line melodies. They fit right in with the current music trend and were extremely well received by the audience. You can hear Linkin Park & My Chemical Romance influences in their writing, but as they are two of the most influential bands of the last thirty years, that’s hardly surprising. Block Of Flats used their thirty minutes to full effect and delivered a performance that saw them make a lot of new fans. I’m sure we will be hearing a lot about them in the future.
Photos by Myke Gray Photography
After a quick change over, special guests The Funeral Portrait took to the stage. To say vocalist Lee Jennings is a larger than life character would be an understatement. He’s huge. A dominating stage performer, very cinematic, and could easily be a character from Beetlejuice. It takes him less than 30 seconds to take control of the entire venue. They opened with ‘Generation Psycho’ taken from their 2024 release ‘Greetings From Suffocate City’. I was a fan by the end of the first song. This is a band that will unquestionably become headliners in their own right. You would have to be deaf, dumb and blind not to see their star quality. The brilliant ‘You’re So Ugly When You Cry’ quickly followed the opener. This is quality songwriting with an instantly rememberable chorus.
Even though The Funeral Portrait are new to me, this was not the case for the rest of the audience, who were not only singing along to every word, they were living every word. Guitarist Cody Weissinger looks about ten years old, but is more than capable of unleashing a ferocious guitar solo. The line-up is completed by Robert Weston (bass) and Homer Umbanhower (drums). You can hear early Queen influences throughout ‘Blood Mother’, and that is not an accolade I hand out lightly. Three songs in and I’ve been smiling throughout all of them. It was around this point that I realised that I wasn’t just watching a great frontman, I was watching one of the greatest frontmen around. You can’t take your eyes off him. Whether he will go on to the dizzy heights of Paul Stanley, David Lee Roth and Dee Snider only time will tell, but he certainly has all the attributes. Three songs in a row, ‘Voodoo Doll’, ‘Chernobyl’, and ‘Hearse For Two’ give you more of the same. All great songs, performed by a great band.
Their image and branding is meticulous, but the quality of their music is what everything is built around. A word here for bassist Weston, who is a great stage performer in his own right, covering a huge amount of ground while engaging with the entire audience. ‘Dark Thoughts’ is one of the highlights not only of their set but of the entire evening. This is a song that really showcases their songwriting ability. A classic that people will be singing for decades, and is now one of my favourite songs of the year. The roll of Rock & Roll preacher is one that Jennings was born to play, and on ’Holy Water’ he steps up to the altar and delivers a sermon to the faithful. They closed their set with the title track of their second album, ‘Greetings From Suffocate City’. Yet another classic. It’s not often that I have gone to see a band, not knowing any of their songs, but loved every one of them upon a first hearing. As soon as I got home, I went onto YouTube to see if my state of euphoria was delusional, and I’m happy to report that it was firmly based on reality. The Funeral Portrait are one of my top musical finds of the year, and this was without doubt one of the best live performances I’ve seen in 2025.
Photos by Myke Gray Photography
Onto this evening’s headliner; The only Rasmus song I had heard prior to this evening was the classic ‘In The Shadows’. A song that has sold over 1 million units worldwide. Rightly or wrongly, I had lumped them in with the Nu-Metal genre that was very popular at the time. Bands like Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach and Alien Ant Farm were all breaking through and The Rasmus seemed like the European division of this movement. I was completely unaware that they’d released eleven studio albums and have been a touring band for over two decades.
It was clear from looking around at the audience, this was a crowd devoted to the headline act. There was an undeniable gothic vibe to the proceedings, and a lot of fans had gone to great lengths to dress appropriately. For anyone that doesn’t know, The Rasmus are from Finland, and formed in 1994. A line-up consisting of founding member, Lauri Ylonen (vocals), Eero Heinonen (bass), Aki Hakala (drums), and latest addition to the band, Emilia Suhonen (guitar). Generally, one hit wonders don’t have a twenty-year plus career, so I was genuinely curious to see and hear what I’d been missing out on for all these years.
Cue the dramatic build up… Except for a drum kit, there was no visible backline. A narrow but long video screen stretched across the width of the stage, showing dramatic images to great effect. A huge cheer erupted as four figures emerged from the shadows. With a flash of light, the opening song blasted through the PA. The main focus of attention was on the charismatic frontman. He danced around the stage with a huge amount of grace and agility.
The first three songs were a blur as I was taking photographs, but it was obvious that I was watching and listening to a highly polished and sophisticated band. Great songs, great players, and a great stage show. But the one thing that stood out more than anything else was the complete devotion from the audience. Their love for this band was palpable, and you could see that to many of them this was their all-time favourite band.
As I left the photo pit and made my way around the venue, I was able to listen more intently to what was coming off the stage. ‘Time To Burn’ is a fabulous song with a great chorus. Their writing and arrangements are full of drama. I was starting to grasp why they had such a strong and loyal following. There was great unity between the band members. All were reading from the same script. For me, one of the key factors to a band’s success is belief. Do they look like they believe in what they are performing? The resounding answer was yes. It was at this point that I thought guitarist Suhonen looked like the killer girlfriend in ‘Die Hard With A Vengeance’.
‘Justify’, ‘Bullet’, ‘Immortal’ were next on the set list. All great songs and the audience were loving every second of it. All fully immersed in The Rasmus experience. The delicacy of ‘October & April’ and crossover appeal of ‘Living In A World Without You’ showing the depth in their songwriting. A real standout moment for me was ‘Creatures Of Chaos’. A classic that I will be listening to for years. You could sense that ‘In My Life’ was the start of the climatic finish that all great shows build towards, and when the intro to ‘In The Shadows’ rang out the energy from the audience went up another gear. They closed their main set with ‘Weirdo’, a song that shows this band are still as relevant in 2025 as they were in 1994. A remarkable achievement, as historically not many bands have progressed with the times. The final song of the night was ‘Love Is A Bitch’ and the whole audience left happy and content.
The Rasmus are far from being a one hit wonder. They have created an incredible body of work and I sense there is still a lot to come. The moral of the story is, never judge a band on just one song, no matter who they are.
Photos by Myke Gray Photography
Review: Myke Gray
Photos: Myke Gray Photography
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