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Rating: Really tasty this DVD that depicts the concert held by Children of Bodom in Stockholm this February, an explosive show that confirms the technical prowess, and entertainer skills, of these somewhat goofy young guys. Quality is guaranteed by the multiple cameras used and a stage setup in an 80s-style fashion, with an old car on either side of the drum set and light effects that I found rather... vintage.
The sound is optimal, especially if you have the opportunity to use Dolby Digital 5.1 (I assure you it feels like being inside the concert, with the audience's shouts blasting from the rear speakers and solos from the center speaker...!), and the filming is not static but captures the entire scene in a sensible and very engaging way (I particularly appreciated the flying camera that moves from behind the audience up to the stage).
The setlist proposed by the group covers their various studio albums, further spiced up by three instrumental interludes, namely a drum solo, a "battle" between the frontman Alexi and the keyboardist Warman (where the former plays very fast scales and challenges the latter to recreate them on the keyboard, then concluding with a brief hint of the Britney Spears cover "Oops I Did It Again"... (gleefully chilling!), and a brief final solo by the second guitarist Latvala (practically an introduction to the next piece).
In terms of performance, if one wants to be really picky, the slips in baroque digressions are not few and certainly don't go unnoticed, but on the other hand, playing in such a way while jumping around (and without the help of Protools!) does not favor a perfect succession of notes, but in the end, it's the impact that counts, not the tally of mistakes!
Personally, I don't consider Alexi a talented singer, just decent, at times somewhat forced. Amusing is the moment when he asks the crowd if they want some metal, and to the thunderous "Yeah!" the keyboardist in response proposes the Titanic soundtrack! This partially explains the initial label of "goofy". Partially because I haven't yet talked about the extras: after a documentary that retraces the personal and professional steps of the different members (seeing Alexi as a child with short hair playing the violin and then comparing him with now is quite impressive) and a behind-the-scenes on the concert preparation (nothing exceptional to tell the truth), you get to the deleted scenes, a heap of antics portraying the band on tour, amidst boozy conversations in their absurd northern European language, feats of strength (repeated slaps on the buttocks), and hotel room destructions. All this also provokes a certain "tenderness," given that in the end, it's a group of friends whom fate has pushed onto the covers of all the music magazines. While it lasts, all the better, otherwise other future professions are in the works (the best part of all the extras, practically a video imagining what they'll be like in a few years... I'm not saying anything more to avoid spoiling the surprise!).
Everything concludes in the best possible way, with all the music videos shot by the band so far and a photo gallery (now indispensable in a DVD).
Couldn’t have asked for more.
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