Surviving Children of Bodom Members to Open a Bar and Sauna in Finland
Nearly two years after they lost a dear friend and the frontman of their band with the passing of Alexi Laiho, the surviving members of Children Of Bodom are looking to keep the legacy they’ve built afloat by opening a leisure spot in Espoo, Finland.
The Bodom Bar & Sauna, as it’s being called, is expected to open on November 10 in the Star Wars-sounding town. According to an Instagram post from Children Of Bodom drummer Jaska Raatikainen, bassist Henkka Seppälä, and keyboardist Janne Wirman, the location will showcase the band’s gear and memorabilia as a way to remember the band’s more than 20-year career.
We toured actively from 1998 until 2019. We have visited a bar in almost every town we ever played in. From Hard Rock Café Tokyo to a dive bar in the outskirts of Milwaukee. Everything from the legendary Rainbow Bar and Grill in West Hollywood to the Crobar in London UK.
Almost everyone in our profession dreams of opening their own bar at some point and we were no exception. When the active career of CoB was already coming to an end we started looking into it a bit more seriously. We had a warehouse full of memorabilia and we thought that a lot of people would want to see some of this stuff that used to be and still was very meaningful to us and the career of the band.
A thought of a museum felt a bit foreign but an idea of a bar that works as a museum displaying our gear and memorabilia seemed quite natural at this point. We had almost given up on this dream when the power duo of Jykä Peltonen and Kimmo Helistö emerged and were ready to provide us with their know how in the matter. Together we will build this unholy concoction of hard rock café and dive bar with a lot of Bodom in it. The new HQ of CoB will combine a museum and a bar but also include the possibility to experience the Finnish sauna culture. Situated naturally in Espoo only a stone´s throw away where the band started their career.
Bodom Bar & Sauna is being built in Espoo into a location with easy access to a Metro station. The establishment will also include three saunas. There will be no entry fee to the Bar and no age limit. There will be a fee for the sauna experience. We will open the Bar on 10.11.22
Given the struggles that their late lead singer and guitarist had with alcohol, it’s curious that they’d open a bar to remember him and the band as a whole. Regardless, they’re all adults and can remember those years and that time however they want. We’re sure it’s going to be a cool location to visit and Scandinavian countries are just gorgeous.
