Written by:	Baz Anderson, itsjoeymoose
Published:	February 20, 2009
Event:	Blooddrunks Crawling Over Your EU Tour 2009 (Website)
Location:	Rock City, Nottingham, United Kingdom
Galleries:	Children Of Bodom, Cannibal Corpse - Nottingham, England, 17th February 2009 by Baz Anderson (39) Children Of Bodom/Cannibal Corpse/Diablo in Manchester, UK by itsjoeymoose (32)

Barry: Two bands you would not expect to tour together, and given the unfortunate circumstance that Cannibal Corpse would be supporting Children Of Bodom, it was obvious looking at the Nottingham audience who the masses had turned up for. That's right, it was like a primary school had a school trip to a night club as scene kids with stupid hair and eye brow piercings infested the club wearing their Hate Crew shirts in mass.

Joe: If someone had said Cannibal Corpse were joining Children Of Bodom on tour, I would have scoffed at the idea. However, to my great surprise that was indeed the line-up, as well as Finnish melodic/industrial band Diablo. Saying there was a divide between the fans would be a slight understatement, although not exactly as identifiable as night and day. Considering a large portion of the crowd left after the Cannibal Corpse slot, then it's quite obvious that tonight you're either COB or CC.

Diablo

Barry: Diablo are not the best well known band in England, but surprisingly the audience seemed somewhat knowledgeable towards their set. Even for an opening band, a tough spot to fill, the audience were very receptive towards the frankly typical melodic death metal style riffing and drumming. A decent set was delivered by the enthusiastic and pleased looking band, but nothing significant.

Joe: First band on, Diablo, tried their best to change their unknown status (at least in England) with an OK set, churning out some decent songs but hardly getting the crowd moving. They certainly did all they could, but tonight I doubt anyone was going to even acknowledge the support band with the two metal titans in COB and CC.



Cannibal Corpse

Barry: So here we were, the death metal machine that is Cannibal Corpse. No one can deny that in the live environment, these are one of the most crushing bands around and always have been. Unfortunately given the audience, only a small percentage of people were actually there for the sake of Cannibal Corpse, but for the people that were there, it was hair time. Who can resist not going berserk to songs such as "I Cum Blood" and "Fucked With A Knife"? The band put on a great show, albeit unfortunately not a headlining slot and utilised their time well delivering songs both new and old, and always with the favourites in there at the end such as "Unleashing The Bloodthirsty" and "Hammer Smashed Face". Corpsegrinder again standing tall, commanding the audience with ease. Cannibal Corpse never disappoint live.



Joe: Cannibal Corpse, with their heavier-than-hell death metal, took to the stage soon after. It would be fair to say I really dislike their music, but that's not to say I don't respect them. Nevertheless, the Manchester crowd absolutely worshiped them and showed it in the usual ways; horned fists in the air, insane moshpits (including the infamous Wall Of Death) and general mayhem evident at any metal gig.

George 'Corpsegrinder' Fisher embodies the word 'frontman' as much as humanly possible, totally dominating the stage not only with his body, but also with his subterranean sounding voice and incomprehensible lyrics. It does give weight to my theory that he isn't actually saying words, but screams gibberish into the microphone, (ducks to avoid projectiles from Cannibal Corpse fans) but I guess only Corpsegrinder knows what's being sung. That said, the music was pummelling and aggressive from start to finish, with the metal legends shown every bit of respect from the crowd.

My personal fav was Corpsegrinder's quote "You know when I said that was our last song?I lied! This one is Hammer Smash Face!" Bludgeoning stuff indeed



Setlist (Nottingham):

The Time To Kill Is Now
Death Walking Terror
Disfigured
Evisceration Plague
I Cum Blood
Fucked With A Knife
Sentenced To Burn
Make Them Suffer
Priests Of Sodom
Unleashing The Bloodthirsty
Hammer Smashed Face
Stripped, Raped And Strangled

Children Of Bodom

Barry: Headliners Children Of Bodom obviously have a massive following around the world now, and so it was somewhat of a surreal experience to see them in an enclosed venue with only manic obsessive fans of theirs as opposed to in the festival arena. They leapt onto the stage with confidence and Alexi always with his cocky and childishness show-off traits wound the audience into a foaming mouthed mass of Bodom worshippers under his thumb, waiting for their next command. Following a band such as Cannibal Corpse, Children Of Bodom's music sounds like what pop music would be if it was flying under a heavy metal facade. The keyboards and Alexi's guitar high in the mix, the whole show turned into one big guitar and keyboard solo. It has to be said that Alexi does have exceptional guitaring skills, and these were put to good use in this set delivering songs such as "Children Of Decadence" that lead straight into "Bodom After Midnight" with no gap or "Hate Crew Deathroll" with a chorus singalong to finish things off. A good show, but given the previous band, not ideal positioning for people who are not obsessive fans of the band.



Joe: With a fair amount of the crowd leaving now that their Cannibal Corpse fix was fulfilled, it was time for the masters of melodic extreme metal to hit the stage. Children Of Bodom were preceded by a bizarre intro tape, but were instantly forgiven when the opening riff to "Hellhounds On My Trail" kicked in, in turn lighting up the Manchester venue.

A great variety of songs was showcased, with something new - "Blooddrunk" and "Banned From Heaven", something old - "Lake Bodom" and "Silent Night, Bodom Night", something in between - "Follow The Reaper" and "Children Of Decadence". Without a doubt the biggest screams came when the intro for "Hate Me!" arrived, (one girl nearly had a fit) with the simple but effective lyric "I don't give a fuck if you hate me!" yelled with gusto from every corner of the venue.

The 5th time I've seen Children Of Bodom, this show was certainly as good as any other. With more energy on the stage than in a Red Bull can, these boys certainly know how to put on a show. Despite frontman Alexi Laiho's constant barrage of swearing and fairly generic banter, (every show has "You guys are the real motherfuckin hate crew!") things were kept less serious than other bands. Whether it's passing a porno magazine around the stage or playing a brief excerpt of Rihanna's "Umbrella", (look up the longer version at Wacken 2008 on youtube) COB are certainly not afraid to have some fun onstage.

My only disappointment for the night was the exclusion of my favourite song "Trashed, Lost and Strungout", but the band has always said in interviews that the song never works live for some reason, so I never really had my hopes up. As good as ever and no doubt they had a blast as well. If only for one night, Manchester was the real hate crew.



Setlist (Manchester):

Hellhounds On My Trail
Living Dead Beat
Sixpounder
Silent Night, Bodom Night
Banned From Heaven
Hate Me!
Children Of Decadence/Bodom After Midnight
Follow The Reaper
Blooddrunk
In Your Face
Angels Don't Kill
Lake Bodom/Bodom Beach Terror
Downfall
--
Bed Of Razors
Hate Crew Deathroll

Thanks to go Andy Turner both accreditations and also the interview in Nottingham.
Written, and photos by Barry Anderson and Joe Garland.