Following the release of their new album "Armageddonize", Swedish melodic hard rockers ECLIPSE embarked on a European tour to promote the new album to which they are still on. The tour kicked off with 4 dates in Sweden followed by several UK dates to which they are currently playing or will have finished depending on when this live report is published. The UK leg kicked off at The Underworld in Camden, London to which I was extremely lucky and privileged to have attended and this is my report on what went down that night.

Having already been to The Underworld four times prior to this show, I was looking forward to this show as I love this venue and indeed I love music clubs as the tightly packed atmosphere allows the attendees to really feel the music and enjoy the hell out of themselves which I do every single time I go there. The line-up consisted of three support acts plus the headline act which is what happened the last time ECLIPSE came to London so naturally that means they get less time to play but I had a feeling that they would try to cram in as much as they could into the time they had and make it exciting and kickass.

The first band was KINKADE who were one of three support acts for not only this show but also last year's ECLIPSE London show and they weren't as bad as I thought they would be as it was quite enjoyable despite the thin crowds. The next band to come out was a new Swedish band called REACH and I was curious to see what they were like for a new band from an excellent country such as Sweden and I wasn't let down as they put on a good show for us but then I wouldn't expect anything less from the Swedes as they always know how to put on a good show.
 

The third support band was TAINTED NATION which is fronted by Pete Newdeck and I was already familiar with them as they opened up for EDEN'S CURSE in London last year as Pete is the band's former drummer but he is also a good singer too and I got to hear some of the new songs they recorded for their new album they are currently working on as well as some songs from their debut album F.E.A.R. from 2013 including "Dare You", "Nothing Like You Seem" and "Loser" and the sound was very solid and heavy as hell which I knew it would be but that made it all the more enjoyable seeing this mixture of English, Swedish and German musicians jamming together on the stage.
 

The final band was of course the headline act ECLIPSE and I had heard good things about their live shows and I knew it was going to be good as I love their music but as I watched them play, my expectations went beyond what I had imagined and I had to keep mentally pinching myself to see if I was dreaming but I'm glad I wasn't as watching this fantastic Swedish band play live is one thing I can now tick off my bucket list.

So why was this show so amazing? For one thing, the band knew how to bring the electric amazingness of their studio sound to life on a live stage and second, they had a tight chemistry together up there on that stage whether it was Robban Back's insane drumming, Magnus Henriksson's phenomenal shredding skills as a guitarist, Magnus Ulfstedt showing us that he is just as good on bass as he is on drums or Erik Martensson belting out his vocals or bouncing energetically around the stage, this band definitely know how to put on one hell of a great live show for their fans.

Throughout their set, the band played songs from their new album "Armageddonize" including "The Storm", "Stand On Your Feet", "I Don't Wanna Say I'm Sorry" and "Blood Enemies" as well as songs from their third and fourth albums "Are You Ready To Rock" ("To Mend a Broken Heart", "Breaking My Heart Again") and "Bleed & Scream" ("Wake Me Up", "Battlegrounds", "About to Break") and hearing these amazing songs live is a real treat for the ears as you are reminded of why this band are so well loved and so well known in the Melodic Rock scene.

Memorable moments? It's hard to list them as there were so many of them in crammed into one night and there were some which I always remember every time I watch footage of the show on YouTube or listen to the band's music so I can reminisce back to this amazing show and think about how much fun it was.

Bottom line, the ECLIPSE show in London was even more amazing then I thought it would be and I highly urge you to go and see this band live if you haven't already or if you haven't heard any of their music before, go and check them out as they are a top quality Swedish act who know how to produce great music as well as putting on entertaining live performances for us.
 

Setlist:
1. I Don't Wanna Say I'm Sorry
2. Stand On Your Feet
3. Wake Me Up
4. The Storm
5. Battlegrounds
6. About to Break
7. Guitar Jam/Breakdown
8. Blood Enemies
9. Live Like I'm Dying
10. Wide Open
11. To Mend A Broken Heart
12. Bleed & Scream
13. All Died Young
14. Breaking My Heart Again