We known SHAH for a very long time and he has always been a brother to the editorial. An incredible guitarist himself and presently active jamming with few bands back in his hometown. CHILDREN OF BODOM simply rocks him.
Here is his side of the story :-
Here is his side of the story :-
It has been 14 years since I got my first COB album 'Something Wild', listening to their debut album awed me to their musical style. A mix of melodic, black, heavy metal and classical all in one arrangement, beautiful but yet vicious. It was also the first time I heard the name ALEXI LAIHO, singer and the lead guitarist for COB. To my amazement how could this guy sings and at the same time shred his guitar, it’s impossible. I remember I kept on playing the cassette until it was broken and had to get myself another one. Then I saw COB live performance videos, indeed all those doubts about ALEXI LAIHO proved wrong. He showed the world what he and his band are made of, nevertheless COB is a band to look forward to.
14 years has passed, today COB is one of the successful bands in the metal industry releasing a total number of seven studio albums and the band consists of ALEXI LAIHO (vocal/lead guitar), ROOPE LATVALA (rhythm guitar), JANNE WIRMAN (keyboard), HENKKA SEPPALA (bass) and JASKA RAATIKAINEN (drum). 17th of November marks the date of the first COB's 'The Ugly World Tour' Live in Singapore, and it would also be my first COB concert.
I had a mixed feeling about going to the concert, but my friends - FIRDAUS and FARIZ persuaded and convinced me that we’re going to get ourselves one hell of a performance from COB. Along with SARAJA from the editorial, we got the Hate Crew Pit tickets which entitled us for an early entry + front of the stage + concert poster & hate crew pass.
Come forth 17th November, we set off our journey to Singapore looking forward to a memorable night in Fort Canning Park. We were at the Fort Canning carpark as early as 4.00 pm and there I spotted ROOPE LATVALA and JASKA RAATIKAINEN making their way to their car which was parked right beside us. SARAJA got off the car and asked whether we could take a picture with them, unfortunately one of the crew member declines. Well, we didn’t get the chance to take a photo with them but we’re still excited about the concert.
I was amazed that the concert is going to take stage in a park and surrounded by lots of greens, a pretty sight. We made our way to the concert venue to collect our tickets and get us some merchandise but when we got there, the organizer was still setting up the area and told us to wait till 5.00 pm to collect the tickets. By 5.00 pm, I tried to check out with the organizer but they were still making arrangements of the place. At 5.30 pm, it rained heavily for about almost an hour and we were only able to queue by 7.00 pm to collect our tickets and made entrance to the concert area. There was a bit of a hiccup at the entrance whereby the organizer didn’t have my ticket but lucky me, I had the booking print out with me.
After we collect our posters and passes, we went straight to the merchandise area to get hold of COB Concert t-shirt as we still have time till 8.00 pm. But to our disappointment there were no COB t-shirts, except for one girlie COB t-shirt, the one and only which I manage to grab for a friend. All they were selling there was t-shirts of other bands.
We made our way to stage, SARAJA chose to go to the right, while FIRDAUS, FARIZ and myself was aiming for the center. We were at the third row and I told FIRDAUS and FARIZ to stick close to me because I’m going to sneak and squeeze my way through to the front. And guess what, I managed to get myself and the others to the front row, right in the center and right in front of ALEXI LAIHO. If you ask me how I do it, I would say it’s purely a matter of patience and getting in at the right time. Once we got hold of the center area, it was all about protecting our Fortress of Solitude because things are going to get crazy and we might being pushed away, but at the end of the night we were still intact at our Fortress of Solitude.
We made our way to stage, SARAJA chose to go to the right, while FIRDAUS, FARIZ and myself was aiming for the center. We were at the third row and I told FIRDAUS and FARIZ to stick close to me because I’m going to sneak and squeeze my way through to the front. And guess what, I managed to get myself and the others to the front row, right in the center and right in front of ALEXI LAIHO. If you ask me how I do it, I would say it’s purely a matter of patience and getting in at the right time. Once we got hold of the center area, it was all about protecting our Fortress of Solitude because things are going to get crazy and we might being pushed away, but at the end of the night we were still intact at our Fortress of Solitude.
The stage was set and everyone was chanting 'BODOM', and by 8.00 pm, COB made their way to the stage and the crowd goes wild. The opening song "Relentless Reckless Forever" was from their latest album and ALEXI LAIHO took the stage with his ESP signature guitar and just reaps the crowd away. A total number of 16 songs were played in 90 minutes non-stop performance by COB. During the mid of the concert, the fence that separates the GA ticket holders was torn down and the crowd at the front stage gets bigger and wilder with mosh pits and slamming at the center.
I really enjoyed myself when COB played their older stuff from the first 3 albums. A medley of "Children of Bodom" and "Deadnight Warrior" followed with "Hate Me" was the highlight moment of the concert for me. After the 3rd song, JANNE WIRMAN announced that there was some technical issue with the monitor but COB didn’t disappointed their fans and kept on playing. The sound stage and the lighting settings was the best and almost perfect except for the monitor. While the showmanship by COB was tremendously outstanding, enthusiastic and energetic throughout.
It was one hell of a night when COB took the stage and reaped the crowd apart, as ALEXI LAIHO would say - Let’s Reap and Roll.
Setlist
1) Relentless Reckless Forever
2) Are You Dead Yet ?
3) Not My Funeral
4) Kissing the Shadows
5) Living Dead Beat
6) Roundtrip of Hell and Back
7) Children of Bodom/Deadnight Warrior
8) Hate Me
9) Shovel Knockout
10) Bodom After Midnight
11) Bodom Beach Terror
12) In Your Face
13) Angels Don’t Kill
14) Downfall
Encore
15) Blooddrunk
16) Hate Crew Deathroll
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