Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Location: Trieste / Naima Club / Italy
Concert date: 29.09.2015
Attendance: 100
Ticket price: €18.00 (advance) / €20.00 (day of show)
With the autumn gig calendar packed, we took the chance to head out to the Primorska region again. But this time we went one step further and crossed the border into Trieste. The Trieste Is Rock crew lured two hard rock bands, Eclipse and Reach, all the way from chilly Sweden to the Naima club.
The original lineup of Elipse came together in 1999. Two years later they put out their first album, featuring former Europe guitarist Kee Marcello as a guest. Over a decade of occasional musical breaks and quite a few lineup changes, they released 2 more studio albums. The band members worked hard during that time, pushing to improve both their songwriting and their playing. In 2012 they dropped Bleed and Scream, which brought Eclipse more and more recognition, not just at home in Sweden but across Europe and the rest of the world. The determined guys got together again and in early 2015 released their latest studio effort to date, Armageddonize, which they’re currently presenting on tour.
The guys in Reach, who have been joining Eclipse for the whole European tour, are a fair bit younger. The four youngsters got together in 2012. Their drive was huge, so in early 2015 they released their studio debut Reach Out to Rock and picked up quite a few positive reviews with it.
As so many times before, Trieste once again proved to be a ridiculously unpleasant city if you want to park your car somewhere safe. We recommend getting to Trieste early enough, because finding a free parking spot can take a good while. But with some persistence, you’ll find one eventually. When we got to Naima, the club was still empty, and just a few fired-up Reach fans were taking the chance to snap photos with the band members, who were hanging around the club. We, meanwhile, headed off for the obligatory beer at the Chinese place.
By the time we got back to Naima, the Reach guys were already entertaining the crowd in front of the stage. The sound in the club could hardly be called perfect, but in smaller venues with loud, distorted rock music that tends to happen. Despite their youth and limited stage experience, the Reach guys showed zero hesitation up there. They ran through the original songs from their debut with real tightness and confidence. Alex Waghorn’s vocals sounded solid, and his flirting with the crowd also showed he knows full well that what he’s doing on stage, he’s doing well. He was backed by a well-oiled crew with David Jones on bass, Marcus Johansson on drums and Ludvig Turner on guitar. There’s not much to criticize about Reach’s music – classic melodic and fairly raw hard rock that takes us back to the 80s of the last century, yet still has enough modern elements to stay relevant for a younger generation too. Their stage show is a draw as well, very dynamic, especially the two guys on guitars, who really go all out with their antics – Ludvig ran off the stage mid-set and went to play at the nearby bar, while David pulled off his dance moves right there on stage. Reach closed their set with a rock cover of Avicii’s hit Wake Me Up, then said a quick goodbye and left the stage. Reach left a positive mark, so we definitely won’t be missing their gig next time.
After a short break, the Eclipse guys marched onto the stage one after another to the sound of an intro, kicking off with the punchy I Don’t Want to Say I’m Sorry. The crowd went wild instantly, and singer Erik Martensson immediately showed his approval with a grin. The four-piece, with the same instrumental lineup as Reach, showed they’ve got no shortage of stage experience. Or of musical chops. Both Magnus Henrikkson on guitar and Magnus Ulfstedt on bass, with their fast fingers racing across the strings during the solo bits, conjured up some real magic in the musical experience, which Erik’s vocals then rounded off nicely. A real feast for the eyes, though, was drummer Robban Back. His drumming technique was so mesmerizing to watch that he literally hypnotized the crowd. This is a drummer who’s in it with soul, heart and body, because it’s not just the sticks and beaters doing the drumming – it’s literally his whole body, even the parts that never touch the drums. And don’t think the flashy technique cost them any quality. Far from it. Eclipse don’t know the meaning of faking it on stage; they pour a hundred percent of their energy into the show and give just as much back to the crowd, who happily jumped around in front of the stage.
The themes in Eclipse’s music are about love, but only rarely tender. What mostly comes through is angry disappointment over the unhappy end of a romance, but with a big dose of hope for even greater happiness down the road. With a whiff of revenge. And that’s exactly how Eclipse look on stage too. With a hard stance, anger and determination to build a better life, as if the songs were also a metaphor for their rough musical journey, not just a broken romance. During the show Erik grabbed both an electric and an acoustic guitar himself and breathed even more life into already richly arranged songs. A big chunk of the set came from the current album Armageddonize, but of course they dipped into older material too, and to the crowd’s great delight the title hit from the previous album, Bleed and Scream, was naturally on the list. After it the guys stepped off the stage for a moment, but a roar of Italian shouting brought them right back to treat us to S.O.S and Breaking My Heart Again. With the group selfie that’s so popular these days, they then said goodbye and headed off the stage to the merchandise table, where they were available for chats and photos with the fans.
Once again we got to see where quality rock music is being made. Both Eclipse and Reach showed that with a good dose of enthusiasm, plenty of practice, self-criticism and guts, you can still pull off hard rock these days. Full props as well to the organizers of Trieste Is Rock, who, despite tough times that aren’t exactly kind to quality rock music, always make sure good gigs with a whiff of classic hard rock happen close to us. Even if it’s across the border. Music doesn’t know borders anyway.
Setlist
ECLIPSE:
1. I Don’t Wanna Say I’m Sorry
2. Stand On Your Feet
3. Wake Me Up
4. The Storm
5. Battlegrounds
6. Breakdown
7. Love Bites
8. A Bitter Taste
9. guitar solo
10. Blood Enemies
11. drum solo
12. Instrumental Medley
13. One Love (orig. W.E.T.)
14. To Mend a Broken Heart
15. Ain’t Dead Yet
16. Bleed & Scream
—encore—
17. S.O.S.
18. Breaking My Heart Again
REACH:
1. You Called My Name
2. Coming Home
3. Tell Me
4. Looking for Love
5. Reach Out
6. Black Lady
7. Fortune and Fame
8. Wake Me Up (orig. Avicii)
Photo gallery
