I found out at another gig that Children of Bodom were playing MAO Livehouse in Shanghai this month so, being starved of metal, I was quick to scoop up tickets.

The day came, but on our way to the gig we realised that we had forgotten our tickets. Going back to get them made us late for the gig.

Support

First up were the support. Unfortunately since we were late I didn’t catch their name. They were a Chinese metal band, and they set the tone for the main act nicely. The sound in MAO Livehouse was excellent as always, which is why this is such a great venue for music.

Before Children of Bodom came on the funniest sound check I’ve ever witnessed – the vocal check consisted of someone screaming ‘Do you shave you balls?’ at someone in the crowd. Obviously met with a confused stare, this was followed by ‘Do you shave your fucking nuts!?’.

As this was going on, I downed a few beers in preparation for what was to come.

The Children of Bodom Cometh

Finally the crowd threw up their horns as the Children of Bodom walked onto the stage. No messing about, they went straight into the performance and put on a great show. The mosh pits formed almost immediately, and I was quick to dive in. As the band went through its repertoire of old and new songs the night was filled with mosh pits, pogo-ing, circle pits and crowd surfing. It wasn’t the most mental I’ve ever seen, but it was pretty much on par with some nights I’ve had back in England. Turns out the Chinese do know how to metal!

The only bad thing about the whole night was that I missed having long hair. That and having a sore neck for a few days afterwards.