  Children Of Bodom returned to their hometown festival with a big bang after a seven year break. Since the band had cancelled the previous year's appearance due to a conflicting American tour, the Finnish crowd was psyched about finally seeing the quintet on the Tuska festival stage.
The band's unorthodox stage setup consisted of a bar, a barbeque grill and three car wrecks in front of a goofy, Miami Vice inspired "Bodom Beach Barbeque" backdrop. Winners picked in a competition by a local radio station had great seats for seeing the show on the stage, as the band's friends from the Finnish band Lost Society were serving as 'grill masters' and bartenders, handing out drinks from the bar and cooking food on the grill.
It was at times quite chaotic on the stage, as the band played with a smirk in their faces while a grill party was at full swing and pyros were being fired left and right - all on the same sunny festival stage. Despite the distractions, the band played a really solid, but perhaps a bit too safe set - some comments on the COB Facebook page and forums mention that people wouldn't mind hearing a bit more new material - only two songs, namely Halo of Blood and Scream for Silence, were played from the band's three latest albums. Especially the last outing, Halo of Blood, has received so much praise from the fans that more songs from it could definitely fit the setlist.
Out of the older classics, Kissing The Shadows and the opener Needled 24/7 were met with a lot of enthusiasm. Some fans had even brought an inflatable boat that was appropriately decorated with a COBHC sticker which went really well with the theme of the show. At one point the band's keyboardist Wirman ordered that someone must crowdsurf on the boat or the show won't continue, and it didn't take many seconds until one jolly fellow jumped on board the 'ship' and off it went all over the area.
COB's joy-filled show was definitely one of the standouts of the entire weekend - one that was hard to watch without a wide grin on your face. The grill party theme was clearly a big hit - the white, pink and blue "Bodom Beach Barbeque" shirts were also sold out quickly from the merchandise stand. |
