Children of Bodom

The Ugly World Tour, Rock City, Nottingham, 7th April 2011-04-08 Supported by Machinae Supremacy, Ensiferum and the mighty Amon Amarth.

I’ve mentioned the thrill of discovering a new live band when going to a gig with no expectations.  Unfortunately the opposite is true when you have high expectations, and it’s not all that.  The band I was most looking forward to seeing in 2011 was Children of Bodom.  I even booked a half day off work to go to the pre-show signing, my first for a band.  Why?  Alexi.  If you are a girl reading this, then no further explanation needed.  If you are a guy, let me spell it out; A-L-E-X-I.  I admit it is rather sad for a woman of a certain age to be queuing up with teenagers to see a boy in a band.  I texted a mate to tell her what I was up to, and she texted back ‘Loser’!  Indeed! But for me the formula hasn’t changed since my teenage years: Cute Guy + Flying V = Swooooon.   Back to reality and the signing process was very impersonal and a bit of an anti-climax.  The band looked bored, as if it was just another day in the office.  In fact, I have seen colleagues show more enthusiasm for their office jobs, one of which had asked if I was going to see Children of Boredom.  He may have been on to something.  And who wouldn’t be bored of their jobs without the human interaction.  Security guard grabbed the single out of my hand and handed it to the first band member, who signed it and handed it to the next, until it made its way to the end of the assembly line and back to another security guard who handed a signed copy back to me.  There was no interaction or photo’s with the band, not even the opportunity to tell them how excited I was at the prospect of seeing them play later.  Surely bands feed off the energy, devotion and love of their fans?  The only hint of a facial expression was when I took a photo and Alexi looked up, surprised and caught off guard.  I was really hoping the mood of the band would change when they got on stage.  It was clear they didn’t want to be there. 

Children of Bodem

Children of Bodom



Alexi Laiho

Despite a long queue to get into Rock City, I still managed to get right to the front.  An almost coveted position…the most coveted is centre stage, right in front of the lead singer.  I was to the right of the stage, in the same position where I had seen Hardcore Superstar two weeks earlier.  My excitement dissolved when I realised I was standing near someone who smelt of cabbage.  No chance of moving though.  The kid next to me also spent most of the gig with his arms folded!  Maybe there was another show called Children of Boredom, maybe that kid should have been there.  What he should have done was give up his space to the girl behind us who was desperately trying to worm her way to the front for Amon Amarth.  Sorry sweetheart, but I had to suffer through the first support band who were awful (I only googled to see who they were to ensure that I never see them again).  The next support band, Ensiferum, were a vast improvement.  They came out in the kind of outfits I have always hoped to see Amon Amarth in, viking skirts! They did however make the mistake of going topless.  Reminder to bands: unless you have a taught tummy, don’t go shirtless on stage….  I’m not saying that all band members should be in perfect shape, as great musicians come in all shapes and sizes.  It’s just not a pretty sight to see someone bent over their guitar with fat rolls distracting you from an otherwise magical moment.  Cover it up with a nice band tee-shirt…please.  

May I suggest a nice band tee Ensiferum

Ensiferum

The support bands only got better and I already liked Amon Amarth. The lead singer is a beast of a man, and it wouldn't work any other way. This is a band of Vikings, so a petite pretty boy for a lead singer wouldn’t be very convincing at all. The audience LOVED Amon Amarth, and once done, wanted an encore. Come back, come back, they wanted more of the Vikings. Now this is a band that really enjoyed themselves on stage. They lapped up the love and gave it back in abundance with an awesome show.  

Amon Amarth



Amon Amarth - having fun on stage

  

Amon Amarth



Amon Amarth

Amon Amarth

If I had to describe in one word how I felt about seeing Children of Bodom on stage, it would be ‘meh’. It wasn’t a bad gig but it lacked enthusiasm and the band didn’t appear to be having nearly as much fun as Amon Amarth had earlier. Alexi seemed more reserved on stage than I expected. I expected showmanship, and there was an ooh moment when he did that guitar swinging around his neck thing – but that was about it.  I am used to band members ‘visiting’ the sides of the stage to connect with the audience on all sides. Now I appreciate that being the lead singer and a guitarist can’t be easy and you have to stay close to a mike so can’t spend too much time running around the stage. However, he choose to spend his non singing moments stepped back into the centre of the stage, or up with the keyboardist. We had noticed the keyboardist; he had a pair of bright red knickers and other ladies undergarments attached to his keyboard, so he was unmissable. I would have been in my element if Alexi had made his way to my side of the stage, but sadly that wasn’t going to happen. My camera also decided to break halfway through the show (system error…) which was a blessing in disguise. He wasn’t going to get close enough or pose for the shot I had in my head, so I gave up my front row place for what turned out to be a better position closer to the bar. The sound was a lot better from there as well. Highlight of the evening for me was when they played Angels Don’t Kill. Before the show I had thought that if there was one song that I wanted to hear, then that was it.  So although the show wasn't exactly what I expected, it was still definately worth it.


Children of Bodom



Children of Bodom



Children of Bodom



Children of Bodom



Children of Bodom

In the end I didn’t end up running away to rock n roll heaven with Alexi, and some of you may be wondering if boyfriend is at all bothered by my ooo’ing and ahhhhhing over pretty band boys. For the record, he’s not bothered at all, and finds it quite amusing that he has a groupie for a girlfriend. He knows who I wake up next to in the morning, and the morning after the COB gig it wasn’t Alexi. On the bright side, boyfriend does make a nice cup of coffee, and what more does a girl need first thing in the morning than a nice hot steamy…. cup of coffee.



Alexi Laiho