Käärijä at Chalk, Brighton

Are you ready for some Cha Cha Cha? Buckle up, because Käärijä’s tour has really taken off. The wonder child of Finland is currently wrapping up their second lap around Europe after the success of coming in as runner up of the Eurovision Song Content; just behind another Scandinavian icon - Loreen. Käärijä - the Finnish star who took European's hearts away - performed one of the final dates of his EURO TOUR at Brighton’s Chalk in support of his upcoming 'People’s Champion' long play.

Before Käärija came on stage, the venue's atmosphere was warmed up by DJ Ben Loom. Their set consisted of well-known metal, pop and electronica remixes. The songs they chose for their set were a nice way to make the crowd sway a bit before the main star of the evening. Starting with faster tracks from Miley Cyrus, Charli XCX and Chappell Roan to Rammstein’s 'Du Hast' mix – they made the first few rows bop their heads while singing and waving European flags around.

When the time came for Käärijä to take to the stage, his set started with a powerful, metal-sounding intro and 'Huhhahhei'. From the very start the rapper kept the energy high and made the crowd dance, continuing to 'Auto jää' in collaboration with Finnish music legend, Antti Tuisku and a track from his debut album 'Fantastista' - 'Yhtä Vaila'. Before the third song - he took a moment to express how much 'he hates seagulls' in relation to being in Brighton that is a marine-based city. His sense of humour was fun and full of interesting puns.

'Mic Mac' introduced Käärijä’s counterpart to the stage - Häärijä. They just came on stage like no big deal on their rollerblades, yellow suit jacket and Pikachu socks… And if that wasn’t amusing enough, Häärijä eventually showed their behind in black briefs. If that is not the definition of fun - I am genuinely wondering what else could be.

Next up Käärijä performed his newest single - 'Sex = Money'. Without a doubt, it’s a continuing homage to his legacy music from 'Fantastista' and another nod to the iconic 'Cha Cha Cha' that brought him international recognition. 'Sex = Money' is filled with electronic samples and metal guitars that correspond to the incredibly happy vibes and jolly dancing crowds.

If you thought that we were done with bizarre events, you couldn’t be more wrong - in between songs, someone from the crowd threw a pink bat bikini top on stage, that Käärijä without a thought, put on himself with help from his hype man - Jukka. After that great moment of fun, he proceeded to perform 'Viulunkieli'. Fans avidly shouted chorus lyric 'KIREE' ('Tension' in English)' in Finnish with him like no big deal.

As if this was not enough gifts from fans, someone gave him a £10 note, laughing he said "this is the most money I have ever gotten” and then proceeded to hug another fan who held a sign asking him to do it. I must admit his interactions with fans were impeccable and precious. You can see how much he cares about fans and he gives them so much back in return for the support of his career.

Up next, we experienced his collaboration with another Finnish star - Erika Vikman - 'Ruoska'. Without a doubt that song went very HARD. The inner metal fan in me absolutely loved the heaviness and groovy electronic samples. Not to even mention how amazing the breakdown of this song goes. 'Ruoska' was one of the brightest highlights of the evening.

Häärijä appeared once again for his yellow-tinted show with a special flute accompaniment for their song 'Baila'. Their dancing was as amazing as Käärijä’s stage persona. Watching Käärija’s show for the second time ever I felt like Häärijä is a compulsory persona to appear on tour with him and honestly, I cannot imagine a show without them performing. They couldn’t even leave stage in peace without being rebellious and they threw trash at the hype men from a mysterious leather bag. It didn’t stop the show and Käärija returned to rap his 2022 single - 'Välikuolema'.

Once again Käärija got another gift from a fan - this time it was a cute banana plush that came perfectly in time for an unreleased song from their upcoming album - 'People’s Champion' - 'Bananas'. The electronic track with darker samples was a very powerful homage to the glory days of dubstep. The amazingly groovy and bouncy sound made people go literal bananas for him.

Another wholesome moment happened when he took a fan’s phone and interacted with them, laughing that 'his mom used to do the same, when he was a hockey player'. This further led to the next unreleased track –self-titled 'People’s Champion'. In contrary to 'Bananas' this track was very heavy sounding with prominent guitars, inspired by Rammstein’s signature tones. It also included Häärijä again, dressed up as a toadstool in his Pikachu socks again.

After that Käärijä introduced a mosh pit to his collab song with 2024 Eurovision legend, Dutch performer Joost Klein titled 'Trafik!'. People went wild exactly when he told them to interact with it. In my experience with live music performances - I have never seen such a well-behaved crowd with mad music playing from the stage. When eventually the music stopped - he also continued to outpour his support for Joost Klein's unjustified 2024 contest disqualification.

When the end of the gig was fast approaching - Käärijä invited the crowd to chant the chorus of one of his most recent singles that will also be included in the 'People’s Champion' long play - 'Kot Kot'. This tune included rhythmic samples that fans jumped to and sang their lungs out to. For their final songs of the evening, Käärijä performed his most iconic tunes to Brighton's crowd - 'It’s Crazy its party' featuring Estonian rapper Tommy Cash where he jumped into the crowd to rap this song to fans in the first row as well as legendary 'Cha Cha Cha' to crown a phenomenal set.

Käärijä is neither your regular rapper, nor is he a shy guy from Vantaa as he used to claim at the beginning of his international career. Käärija is an unbelievable showman that steals crowds and makes them fall in love with him. His seasoned stage persona shines way above Eurovision Song Contest waters and it is not a mistake that he is still successful a year after the contest. It didn’t even bother me that I could not understand 90% of the lyrics rapped and sung in Finnish – his natural charisma shines through so bright, you don’t need to understand him to enjoy the art he creates with his team. I see him being still very prominent in years to come. He genuinely loves doing what he does and is true to himself. I am genuinely excited to hear his upcoming album in few days' time and see him rock more international stages in the future. Viva la Käärija!