By Andrew Bansal
April 17th 2015, Poor Kids Mansion, Los Angeles CA: For the past several years, D.I.Y. backyard/house shows have been taking place in the Poor Kids Mansion located in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, and even though I kept hearing about these shows, I never had a chance to attend one. Last Friday, I was finally able to rectify that, when theatrical extreme metal outfit Morbid Eclipse performed as part of a six-band lineup that included BrainDead, Tormenter and Lethal Dossage.
This was no ordinary backyard gig, because it wasn’t even held in a backyard, but instead inside an empty room that looked like it formerly served as the kitchen in this house. Aside from the bands’ ‘stage setup’, it had space for around 15 people to stand and watch the show. The bathroom in this place was almost as big as this kitchen. The event marked two very contrasting extremes, the biggest single-person bathroom and the smallest concert room. The dudes in Morbid Eclipse understandably took their time to set up their equipment, and since they were the first band to play this show, they also had to connect the PA themselves. This could have been a complete disaster, but my fears were unsubstantiated, as this turned out to be the most unique concert experience I’ve ever had.
The supremacy of Morbid Eclipse’ approach and attitude is evident in the fact that they were able to bring the same show that would befit an arena-sized venue into this tiny kitchen. Even in a room far from ideal for loud live music, they achieved crystal clear sound with all their instruments and did not face any technical issues whatsoever. The solitary light bulb illuminating the kitchen was switched off and the intro tape was played to signal the start of the Morbid Eclipse set. Opening with the aptly titled ‘Storm Grinder’, they captured the audience and truly took them to outer space. The music was shattering ear-drums relentlessly and their equally intense light show went along with it brilliantly. People packed inside this kitchen, mostly first-timers, were experiencing a multitude of mental explosions, and some attendees also peeked in through the door and windows to get a glimpse.
Morbid Eclipse is still a very young band, but show after show, all four of their members get increasingly proficient with their playing and frontman Zach Friedberg gains in confidence with his cosmic-themed monologues and speech deliveries between songs. This band is taking Los Angeles by storm and getting unanimously positive reactions from anyone and everyone they’re playing in front of. At this rate, Morbid Eclipse will be the only band that will exist in the distant future they constantly talk about in their lyrics.
Due to other commitments, I could not stay to watch the other bands, but the turnout was great, and it was a pleasant atmosphere as everyone knew each other. Even though the kitchen was much too small to fit this number of people, all the bands reportedly got great responses, and several drinks were consumed through the evening. Here’s to many more kitchen metal shows in the future.
Morbid Eclipse Set List:
01. Storm Grinder
02. Envoy From Space
03. Sonic Demise
04. Poison Winds
05. Black Abyss
06. Relics
07. Atomic Cult
08. Vorpal Botch
09. Nineteenth Day Of Theptar
10. Morbid Eclipse
11. Green Jewel – Infinite Death