Children of Bodom -- Lawrence, KS -- February 6th, 2012

I'm so glad I decided to go to this. Every band, especially the last two, absolutely destroyed. One of the best shows I've been to in a long while!

The first band was Threat Signal. I'm not usually a fan of the melodic death metal/metalcore sound, but they were great for that style! A huge recommendation to you if you like bands like Unearth, As I Lay Dying and Darkest Hour. They had a lot of fast parts but also some groovy breakdowns which made for a really enjoyable opening set.

I was really excited for Revocation. After they had a few technical difficulties for the first two songs of their set, they really kicked it into overdrive and put on the best set I've ever seen them play. They really are the perfect blend of speed, technical prowess and groove; they should be headlining these shows instead of being an opening band! The crowd was pretty dead in the beginning because of the sound being messed up, but Dave Davidson is one of the best frontment ever and got the crowd back into it. To try and get the crowd into the right frame of mind for "Across Forests And Fjords", he proclaimed: "IMAGINE IT'S LIKE SKYRIM, EXCEPT THE DRAGONS HAVE TITS!" Best way to introduce a song ever. They were on fire tonight. Some people might not like the setlist, but in the end it was great. No Funeral might be my new favorite live Revocation song.

Eluveitie was one of the best live bands I saw last year, and I'm almost positive they'll make that list again this year. Simply put: they're one of the best bands I've ever seen live. Folk metal is too much fun live. The sound this time around was much clearer, and I had no problems hearing the woodwind instruments or the violin/Hurdy-Gurdy. The pit never stopped the entire time they were on-stage and there was even a wall of death! Just so much fun to be had.

This was my third time seeing Children of Bodom, and the other two times pale in comparison to the set they did tonight. Everything sounded amazing, the solo's were flawless and the showmanship they had was incredible. I'm not a big Bodom fan. In fact, I'm hardly even a casual Bodom fan. But because of how good each song sounded, the band had me captivated until the end of their set. Alexi really is a god at guitar, and keyboard solos are epic. So much fun. Go see this tour if you can.

Revocation:

Harlot
Age of Iniquity
Dismantle the Dictator
Across Forests and Fjords
Conjuring the Cataclysm
No Funeral

Eluveitie:

Everything Remains (As It Never Was)
Nil
Kingdom Come Undone
Do (Minion)
Meet The Enemy
Havoc
Tarvos
Quoth The Raven
Inis Mona

Children of Bodom:

Sixpounder
Are You Dead Yet?
Not My Funeral
Kissing the Shadows
Shovel Knockout
Living Dead Beat
Everytime I Die
Children of Bodom / Deadnight Warrior / Hate Me!
Blooddrunk
Angels Don't Kill
In Your Face
Hate Crew Deathroll
Encore:
Bodom After Midnight
Downfall

These are all 100%, except for Eluveitie - they might not have played Tarvos.

Children of Bodom - 9/10
Eluveitie - 9.5/10
Revocation - 9/10
Threat Signal - 8/10