Children of Bodom, Devin Townsend, Obscura, Septic Flesh
Concert Review Calgary June 30th, 2011
By Lacy W.
After a few minor mishaps, including a holiday trailer that had come off the hitch and flipped somewhere before Red Deer, we finally arrived in Calgary. After a quick stop at Charisma, where we were pestered by one of the shop owners non-stop, we checked into the hotel, had a drink and headed to the C-train. Although we could have easily walked to the University, we weren’t familiar with Calgary and wanted to make sure we actually made it to the show.
After a short walk to the venue, we finally got inside to witness the live brilliance that is Septic Flesh. I have always held the opinion that Septic Flesh live does not even compare to listening to their recorded albums, but once again that’s only my opinion. Considering that they were the first band of the night, Septic Flesh gained a very warm welcome, helped by a frontman who knew how to engage the crowd.
A quick trip to the merchandise table proved slightly disappointing, although not surprising. Needless to say, I am not a fan of the new Children of Bodom artwork and their merchandise greatly reflected the new artwork. They were also selling autographed setlists at the Bodom table. Having a genuine autographed setlist from a Finnish festival several years ago, I had to laugh at the very idea. In terms of merchandise, Septic Flesh seemed to be the winner for the night, having a few decent shirts along with having a few albums for sale. I heard a few complaints about the lack of good Obscura and Devin Townsend merchandise, although I was not looking to purchase any to begin with.
I am not able to provide much comment on Obscura’s set as I used it as an opportunity to have a couple of beer and cool down on the patio. From what I heard, and from what a friend mentioned, they were well worthy of being on the bill. They seemed well received by the crowd.
If Septic Flesh and Obscura were well received, the reception Devin Townsend walked onto stage to was through the roof. There were obviously many Devin Townsend fans in the crowd, perhaps helped by the fact that he hails from the Vancouver area. A few Strapping Young Lad shirts were present, indicating that new and old fans alike had come out to witness the spectacle. Even for those not familiar with Devin Townsend’s work, the anticipation was clearly present after hearing nothing but good things about the brilliance of Townsend’s live performances. Calgary’s show certainly lived up to the hype as Devin’s comedy in between songs proved to pull together an already excellent set. Wearing a bra thrown from the crowd on your head while doing stand-up comedy? Small things like this metamorphosed a solid performance into one verging on sheer brilliance, even for those who weren’t previously Devin Townsend fans. At least if his music career ever fails (which should never happen), Townsend will have a promising career in comedy to fall back on.
After Devin Townsend, the mood was slightly subdued before Children of Bodom were set to take the stage. Wondering how Bodom would live up to the awesome display of metal madness that had just ended, the crowd began to chant for the appearance of the Finns while their techs were still working on final adjustments. Almost simultaneously with the first notes being played, the mosh pit was in full force creating a huge opening in the middle of the floor. (I tend to think of mosh pits as ‘idiot pits’, but this is a slight digression and a separate topic for discussion). The entire band, especially guitarist and vocalist Alexi Laiho, seemed to be upbeat and jovial, reinforcing a comment made by Devin Townsend earlier in the night that everyone on the tour was in a particularly good mood that evening. Perhaps it had something to do with the good weather, recognized and commented on by Laiho, after having being met by miserable weather seemingly every other time Bodom has come through Alberta. Musically, Children of Bodom sounded the tightest that I have ever heard them in the seven or eight times I’ve witnessed their show live. Unlike another show I attended at the MacEwan Ballroom, there were no problems with the sound as each song and the vocals were clearly distinguishable. A slight difference from the recordings could be noticed in the tempo of the songs as they seemed sped up, but this did little to detract from the overall performance. Bodom dedicated a large part of their set to material from their latest album, Relentless Reckless Forever. This appeared to please a large percentage of Bodom fans present as many seemed to be young and unfamiliar with some of the older material that was played. Of course older crowd pleasers like Follow the Reaper, Downfall,Needled 24/7 and Angels Don’t Kill were integrated into the set. Earning a final wild send-off from the crowd, the Finns ended the encore with a rendition of Hate Crew Deathroll, gaining the usual enthusiastic singing of the well-known chorus from the crowd. Being a fan of the older Children of Bodom material, my only disappointment was that they neglected to play more of it. All in all, Children of Bodom played one of their best sets that I have witnessed and provided an appropriate ending to a solid night of metal.
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