Crazy Town (On The Rocks, Helsinki) - 30/7/2019 • GRIMM Gent

Crazy Town (On The Rocks, Helsinki) – 30/7/2019

09/09/2019

It seems like 2019 really caters to my nostalgia needs. This time around another relic of my youth decided to make the trip across the Atlantic to visit Europe for a tour celebrating 20 years of the band. Everyone from the early 2000’s know them for at least one specific track, for a period you couldn’t avoid hearing “Come come my lady, you’re my butterfly, sugar baby…” Of course we’re talking about Crazy Town here! Ready to go back in time and feel young again, I went to On The Rocks in Helsinki to catch these legends live.

Lähiöbotox (***)

Opening for Crazy Town, we got the locals of Lähiöbotox to warm us up. Fitting the situation, they play a nice blend of rap rock and metal. Opening with a sample of metro messages, almost all the guys came on stage to take up positions. And right after that intro the 2 rappers/vocalists bounced on stage and there we went on a groovy and at times aggressive ride.

The typical hip hop gig element of shouting the last words of every sentence with 2 people was there, there was some soulful singing and even a very energetic and powerful guest vocal appearance by Tyrantti‘s vocalist/bassist Nahka-Sami. Add to that a group of talented musicians that clearly were performing with passion and you got a decent warm-up for the rest of the night.

Crazy Town (****)

Woop woop! Crazy Town is in the house! As soon as they started playing, it felt like we were basking in the Californian sun. The funk was high, the grooves playful and the love between the band and the crowd was real. Despite only vocalist Seth “Shifty” Binzer being left as the original member, he really managed to bring across the feeling and sound that I expected from this poppy rap rock outfit.

I really felt a bit like a teenager again and it seemed as though the packed venue had the same feeling going for them, singing along with hits like “Born to Raise Hell” and of course “Butterfly” and the emotional “Drowning”. The band members Seth has gathered around them really add a lot of energy to the show and I truly enjoyed myself from start to finish. It’s rare for me that a concert flies by before I notice the time passing. The love and sun charged my batteries for the rest of the week for sure!