Eclipse and Sweet Corvette at The Whisky – Live Review
Eclipse, Sweet Corvette, The Whisky, West Hollywood, CA., March 16, 2025
ECLIPSE
The Swedish melodic rock powerhouse Eclipse made their way to the Southland at long last, performing their very first L.A. show ever at the world-famous Whisky A Go-Go on the Sunset Strip. Having just played triumphant performances on the recent Monsters of Rock Cruise, Eclipse flew out to the Golden State to unleash this very special show. With a massive 11 albums to select from, Eclipse unveiled a majestic set of epic tapestries, with the audience singing rapturous along throughout the entire night. This was truly one of those magical sets that those in attendance remember for a lifetime.
And The Whisky was packed to the rafters as Eclipse opened with the raging anthem-like refrains of Roses On Your Grave from 2021’s Wired manifesto. All I Want, Run For Cover, and Runaways would continue on this celebration of Eclipse’s Stateside arrival. And the rockers kept on arriving, unleashed with a grand amount of commitment and intrigue.
The Eclipse lineup is vibrantly first rate and into the stratosphere. Front man Erik Mårtensson was dynamically exhilarating, delivering the impassioned vocals and guitar work as they he was playing a sold-out stadium. Magnus Henriksson unleashed thrilling axe work throughout the entire night while bassist Victor Crusner and drummer Philip Crusner made for a supremely crushing rhythm section.
“No one gets out of this world alive; we all live and die like it’s Saturday night,” was the theme of this very special night (as well as the chorus to their song Saturday Night) – and even though it was actually Sunday receding into Monday, we were all still saying “Hallelujah!” to the weekend! Another standout was when the legendary Jeff Scott Soto was invited onstage to make a toast, and he wound up performing an acoustic rendition of Comes Down Like The Rain by W.E.T. – a project both Soto and Eric Mårtensson helm.
The night raged out, and Eclipse and the audience were not even tired when the encore arrived. Battlegrounds from Bleed & Scream was given an absolutely inspired acoustic treatment, adding to the already majestic tone of the song. “They say I can’t go on doing things like this, they say I can’t go on being such a bitch,” raged Erik and Eclipse into the dazzling The Hardest Part Is Losing You from the critically acclaimed Megalomanium. And then closing out the night was the magnetic Viva La Victoria, a glorious sonnet that would remain chiming in my head well into the work week ahead! One of the finest concerts of 2025 so far!
Eclipse by Jack Lue live photo gallery here!
SWEET CORVETTE
SWEET CORVETTEAlso making quite an impact was local band Sweet Corvette, playing in direct support of Eclipse – and featuring the debut their brand-new guitarist Louis Lopez. Their set was jammed packed with instantly memorable tunes that captured the attention of the early arrivals. Kicking off the set with the ripping TV Tonight and then raging into the kickass reveries of Call The Doctor, the party was on – and Sweet Corvette speed into supersonic overdrive! The brilliant rock and roll extravaganza raged on, with songs such The Rainbow Bar and Grill, Pop Machine, and Visit Florida driving the rip-roaring obstacle course of a live show with skill and precision.
At the conclusion of their set, Sweet Corvette slammed into a super cool cover of Degenerated from the movie Airheads! Lively and imaginative performances all around, including Joey Fenton on vocals, Matthew Geinitz on bass, Heath Ripplinger on drums, and of course the aforementioned Louis Lopez on lead guitar. Upcoming live dates for Sweet Corvette include July 18th at the Universal Bar & Gar and September 30th at The Whisky opening for the one and only Crazy Lixx!!!
Sweet Corvette by Jack Lue live photo gallery here!
(Review by Ken Morton – Photos by Jack Lue)
