LAMB OF GOD + Children of Bodom @ CEPSUM

By Christine Lariviere - The Lonesome Strangers - 04/17/2009

On April 17th I threw on my well worn, black t-shirt bearing a lightning bolt down the front -a shirt that has survived countless brutal slams in the pit and has been soaked in buckets of other people’s sloppily spilt beer. Wearing this shirt out could only mean one thing: I was going to a metal show.  

I shimmied my way through tons of metal fans and eventually planted myself by the stairs at CEPSUM.  Sitting by the stairs during the show would allow me to witness numerous people tripping and sometimes falling while they attempted to navigate through the darkness as they traveled up or down said stairs, often juggling a few beers to boot. Note to CEPSUM: light the stairs better. More importantly, this spot also allowed me to witness a truly fantastic metal concert.  A concert that would showcase old and new personal favorites including Children of Bodom and of course the headliners, Lamb of God.     

Finland's Children of Bodom played right before Lamb of God did and paid great homage to their loyal Montreal fans saying (in broken French), “Yesterday we played in Toronto.  But we think you’re a better crowd, right?” This was followed by a sea of horns and intense cheering, of course. Also, they continuously told the crowd to, “make some noise” and “drink it up,” adding in an impressive amount of expletives while doing so...perhaps the most I’ve heard from any one band.   

The band played almost ten songs –a large set for an opener, which put the fans into a frenzy.  Suffice to say that crowd surfing, moshing and cheering were in abundance.  During their set they played several crowd favorites including “Hellhounds On My Tail”, “Bodom Beach Terror”, “Blood Drunk” and “In Your Face”.  However, “In Your Face” was played in a tempo that was a bit too fast for my taste, but this may have been an intentional means to pump up the audience.  I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.       

Additionally, COB’s set was rife with audio samples, creating edgy introductions to their songs.  A particular favorite was extracted from cult classic film American Psycho. The oft quoted, sadistic lines uttered by Patrick Bateman are as follows, “All I have in common with the uncontrollable and the insane, the vicious and the evil, all the mayhem I have caused and my utter indifference toward it, I have now surpassed. My pain is constant and sharp and I do not hope for a better world for anyone, in fact I want my pain to be inflicted on others” …intense.

Richmond, Virginia’s Lamb of God, on tour promoting their February-released, sixth studio album Wrath, took the stage and played a few more than a dozen songs.  The third song they played, “Walk With Me In Hell,” off their 2006 release Sacrament, compelled loads of fans to jolt out of their seats and into the pit.  Other crowd pleasers included: “Now You’ve Got Something To Die For”, “Ruin” and “Laid to Rest”, which the band introduced by saying, “You may have heard some shitty version of it in a video game.” (That video game being, Guitar Hero II.)    

Like Children of Bodom, Lamb of God appeared to vibe off Montreal’s audience quite well.  “This has been a great way to end our Canadian tour. You are singing louder than anyone else.  Did you have a good night with Lamb of God tonight?”  They also dedicated one of their songs to “everyone (they) drank a beer with at Foufounes.”  This was a sure way to connect with the audience, whose vast majority, I can safely assume, has at least once or twice ambled through the bar’s iconic, giant-spider gate. 

For their last song, Lamb of God asked for a circle pit.  Montreal fans responded by immediately flooding the floor at CEPSUM, erupting into a mass of black t-shirted bodies, flowing in a counter-clockwise motion.  The friends I was with yanked me down the flight of stairs I had seen so many people stumble on, and into the screaming, vibrating, electrical current of the pit.  It was there that my lighting bolt t-shirt got drenched in other people’s beer and other people’s sweat.  If the music hadn’t yet convinced me that I was at an excellent metal show, it was this.     

Tune into The Lonesome Strangers with Christine every Sunday from 4PM to 6PM