Children of Bodom
March 23, 2014
House of Blues- Cleveland, Ohio
Anyone who says Sunday’s are just the day to relax and do nothing obviously isn’t familiar with Children of Bodom. They came to Cleveland this past Sunday alongside Death Angel, to rock the House of Blues where there was no shortage of attendance.
Death Angel, who is no stranger to performing in the Cleveland area, put on one hell of an opening show for Children Of Bodom. To make things more interesting, front man Mark Osegueda was battling a cold, which still didn’t stop him from delivering an amazing performance. His passion for what he does gave him the ability to put out those intense and chilling vocals to songs such as Left For Dead and Claws In So Deep. Halfway through the performance he took a moment to talk about the meaning behind their hit song, “The Dream Calls for Blood,” He said (verbatim), “Don’t let anyone tell you what you’re supposed to be. Not your wife, husband, sister, brother, mother or father. What you want to do in your life is all that matters, not what society says matters. You always follow your dreams, regardless of what they are”. And with his speech coming to end, started the song. With Osegueda thanking everyone for coming out and supporting them as he walked off stage coughing; the crowd thought it was over. The lights dimmed as if they were getting to ready to clear stage when all of a sudden guitarists Rob Cavestany and Ted Aguilar started playing the intro to The Ultra Violence and out to push his voice into one more song came Osegueda. These guys without a doubt got the momentum going for the night. 
About 15 minutes later is was time for Children of Bodom. This is the first time they were in Cleveland since they had to cancel their show last year due to front man Alex Laiho unfortunately being hospitalized from illness. So it was clear Cleveland was beyond excited to have them finally back, healthy and ready to rock. As the room went dark, drummer Jaska Raatikainen walked out and the synthesizer sounds of the notorious and truly talented Janne Wirman could be heard. Immediately the cheers of the crowd could almost be heard over the synthesizer. Seconds later as the crowd’s anticipation was at its highest point, came running bassist Henkka Seppälä, guitarist Roope Latvala and lead guitarist/front man Alex Laiho. Laiho went up to the mic, welcomed everyone for coming and went straight into Sixpounder. He knew this show had been long awaited so he spared no time getting right into the music. Their stage presence was phenomenal to say the least as they were constantly in motion and shredding through songs such as Halo of Blood and Lake Bodom. Laiho, halfway through the show started thanking everyone again for coming out and supporting them all these years. It was clear they give back just as much devotion to their music as they receive. For myself it was my first time seeing them live, but from what some of the fans who had seen them before said, this was one of the best shows they had ever been to in their life and I absolutely agree. Unfortunately like all good things though, it has to come to end…or does it? With Laiho saying Hate Me was the last song they were performing this evening, the crowd disagreed. So Laiho made a deal with them that if they go as crazy as possible they would play a couple more. Before he could even finish his sentence the room erupted with screams and horns in the air. They ended up performing two more songs ending the night with Downfall and In Your Face. There is no doubt in my mind that next time Children of Bodom are back in town that not only everyone that attended that evening, but all the people they told about the show that night will be there.
Review by: Anthony Powell
Children of Bodom
Death Angel
