Like Living Dead, We'll Never Die: Children of Bodom's A Celebration of Music (with Antti and Janne Wirman)
How do you describe something that you never thought you’d see? That’s the task I’m faced with trying to explain the performances I witnessed on February 26th and 27th at Tavastia in Helsinki as the surviving members of Children of Bodom reunited for the first time in nearly seven years to celebrate the band’s music and the legacy of Alexi Laiho in front of fans who traveled from all over the world for it, myself included.
The band’s last live performance came on December 15, 2019 at Helsinki Ice Hall following several tumultuous years for the band internally that ultimately led to their disbandment after the final show. Frontman Alexi Laiho and Daniel Freyberg would go on to form Bodom After Midnight, while the remaining founding members of the band took a step out of the spotlight following the split. Laiho would sadly pass away from a number of health issues in late December 2020, a little more than a year after that final show, adding a sad epilogue to the entire story.
Considering all of these factors, and the large role Alexi played within the band as the primary songwriter, lead guitarist, and vocalist, it was assumed that the metal world had seen the last of Children of Bodom for all intents and purposes. Though fans of the band would quietly speculate about tribute shows, the surviving band members said that there were no plans for anything of the sort when questioned about it. Since the group called it quits in 2019, surviving members Janne Wirman (keyboards), Jaska Raatikainen (drums), and Henkka Seppala (bass) have carried the band’s legacy very carefully, and rightfully so, as they are one of, if not the most, beloved and famous metal band to ever emerge from Finland.
So when it was announced in late October 2025 that the band would be reuniting for a show in February 2026 dubbed A Celebration of Music at Tavastia in Helsinki to honor the life’s work of Laiho and the band, the metal world collectively was shocked and excited at the prospect of Children of Bodom returning to the stage. Samy Elbanna, a long-time friend of the band and the frontman of Lost Society, was given the Herculean task of filling his idol Alexi Laiho’s shoes in the frontman role. Fans had speculated that if the band were ever to reunite for shows like this, Samy would have been the guy to do it, as he’s known for his incredible shredding abilities and had a close relationship with Alexi prior to his passing. Original rhythm guitarist Alexander Kuoppala, who played on the first four Bodom albums before departing, was also announced to return after a 23-year absence to round out the lineup.
When I learned of this show, I already had a flight booked to Finland to see Warmen in a similar timeframe, and decided that I simply had to find a way to attend this show. I woke up at 2:00am local time to try and get them the traditional way and failed, even when a second show was added due to incredible demand during the actual sale. Now with two options to attend, I decided to exhaust all options to find a way to get there. I signed up for a Huuto.net account, the Finnish equivalent of eBay. I looked way too hard into opening a Finnish bank account because that was the only way to pay on Huuto. I made empassioned pleas on reddit to sell me marked up tickets. All of these efforts were eventually fruitful, as I did acquire tickets to both shows, much to the detriment of my bank account – thank you and you’re welcome, Tiia and Topi.
While the pricepoint may have been higher than I’d hoped, I’d pay it all over again for the experience I was treated to with these two performances. The anticipation of night one was unlike any show I’d been to, and the energy in the crowd for both performances was absolutely electric. A nervous anticipation buzzed through Tavastia while a video of previously unreleased home videos featuring all members of the band, mostly focusing on outtakes with Alexi, played prior to the band taking the stage on night one. Once they arrived and ripped into “Living Dead Beat,” that anticipation was released in the form of moshing, circle pits, and crowd chants that carried a frenetic energy I haven’t experienced at a show in a long, long time. The setlist was expertly curated with iconic song after iconic song from their first five albums, with “Blooddrunk” being the only outlier outside of that legendary five album run.
Samy Elbanna’s performance was nothing short of exceptional. He was able to perform all of the intricate riffs and solos note for note while delivering a vocal performance that echoed Alexi’s, paying homage to his departed friend and mentor while also putting his own unique spin on it. If the metal world at large was unaware of his playing and ability, I would hope that this was eye-opening experience for many that Samy is one of the elite metal guitarists active today. Alexander Kuoppala’s triumphant return to the stage was also a high point of both shows, as fans chanted his name at several points throughout both shows. Janne Wirman, masterful as ever on the keyboard, pronounced to the crowd that this was the most fun he’d had on stage since Tokyo Warhearts, while expressing gratitude throughout both shows for the enormous response from the crowd to their return. Jaska Raatikainen sounded as if he hadn’t missed a beat, despite having back issues since the group disbanded, and Henkka Seppala provided pounding bass and brutal backing vocals throughout both shows. If you were to know nothing about Children of Bodom, you’d never guess that this band hadn’t played live in almost seven years, or that their rhythm guitarist hadn’t played in the group since 2003. Simply put, these were two of the best shows I’ve ever had the pleasure of attending.
I also had the unique opportunity to watch the second night’s show with a former member of the band, Antti Wirman, who joined as a touring guitarist in 2015 after the departure of Roope Latvala. In lieu of a traditional review, I had a chance to speak with both Antti and Janne about my trip to Finland as a whole, which I could write about for years, with a focus on the Celebration of Music shows. We discussed this and a myriad of other things, including:
- Warmen's Finnish tour, the special show they played in Espoo in front of their friends and families, the Warmen after party at Bodom Bar, and the different famous people who casually stroll in to the bar on a regular basis.
- several lingering questions I had about Finland, the most interesting things I saw while there, visiting Anssi Kippo at Astia-Studio, and my thoughts about visiting Lake Bodom.
- a discussion of why it was the right time for Children of Bodom to return to the stage, the careful way in which the remaining members have guarded the band's legacy, Samy Elbanna's incredible performance in the frontman role, and Janne's thoughts before and during the two shows at Tavastia.
- my experience hanging with Antti at the second show, the guys' relationship with former NHL legend Jere Lehtinen and why he will be the next band manager of Warmen, their dad's stagediving adventure, and Antti's brief cameo in the mosh pit.
- Antti's review of his older brother's performance, the answer whether or not the Children of Bodom celebration will continue with any future shows, and a very important question about a set of CDs that were left at Bodom Bar for Janne.
You can view the entire interview HERE:
There’s several things from this journey that we didn’t discuss: meeting Lorna Shore randomly at Bodom Bar, visiting Alexi Laiho’s grave, skating on a frozen Lake Bodom, visiting Astia Studio where Hate Crew Deathroll was recorded, and auditing a Finnish music education class. Those are tales for another day.
Like any good journalist, I took some video of the shows I attended and posted them to YouTube to document my journey, some of which are featured here in this article. While an overwhelming amount of the feedback was positive, some people thought it would be fun to comment “No Alexi, no Bodom,” a reflection of a small amount of fans in the metal community that showed disapproval for the band’s decision to perform these shows. For those in that mindset, I have two examples to show why A Celebration of Music was important, and to a degree, necessary.
The first is my own experience. Through my own foolishness, I never went to go see Children of Bodom play live before these shows. I had several chances to see Alexi Laiho play guitar and it dawned on me last year that I would never have that opportunity again. You tend to think that rock stars will always be there and there’s an immortality to them - that they will always be back on the next album cycle. When these shows were announced, I pounced on the opportunity to see these songs I’ve loved forever be performed live without a thought about the cost, borne out of my own desire to rectify the biggest mistake I’ve made in my storied concert-going career.
The second is something I overheard from a young bartender at Bodom Bar, a place I went to several times throughout my stay in Finland as you’ll hear in the interview. He couldn’t have been much older than 20 (the drinking age is 18 in Finland), and he was very excited about the prospect of seeing Children of Bodom for the first time at the second show. He proudly stated something to the effect of “On Friday, I’m going to leave work, I’m going straight to the venue, and when I get there I am going to push my way all the way to the front and see Children of Bodom.” Having met him throughout the week, I knew that he played in a band and was clearly inspired by the band’s music. Odds are, he never could have seen Children of Bodom previously, as many venues in Finland restrict shows to being 18 and above, and he surely would not have been at that age around the time the band did their last shows in 2019. My choice was foolish – I had several chances to see the band and didn’t. This kid likely never had a chance and these shows provided him that opportunity.
Seeing firsthand how relevant the band still is in Finland, and how their legacy continues to inspire countless young musicians there, is enough reason to justify paying tribute to their life’s work and the memory of Alexi Laiho. I’m drawn to a quote from his sister, Anna, that she shared after the shows were done, that provides a third example of why these shows were important – “Seeing [Alexi’s] songs come alive again means more than words can say… the legacy lives on.” His legacy, and the legacy Children of Bodom that the surviving members have curated so carefully over the last few years, will continue to inspire future generations of musicians, both in Finland and around the world; and there’s an immortality to that, too.
Or, like Alexi wrote in “Living Dead Beat,” which appropriately opened both of these incredible shows: “Like living dead, we’ll never die.”
I'd like to give a special shout out to all of the people we met along the way in Finland that were so gracious to us and made us feel right at home in a foreign land: Valerio, Ville, Topi, Tuomas, Olli, Mattias, Russell, the entire staff at the Bodom Bar, Anssi Kippo, Alexander Kuoppala, Tuomas Saukkonen, Markus Kisonen, Jaska Raatikainen, and last but not least, Antti and Janne Wirman and their family. It was the trip of a lifetime and we couldn't be more grateful to you, and everyone else, who took the time to speak with us, tell us old stories, and take us places we never imagined we'd ever be. We will be back!
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