An eccentric crowd of metalheads greeted Southern California’s finest fusion band, Metalachi, with a warm reception at the Black Cat on Oct. 9. The second show of the “East Coast Offensive Tour II” was filled with mariachi covers of Van Halen, Slayer and many other rock favorites.
Opening for the band was Baltimore’s own Omnislash, a power-slop band which released its first album in 2015. The piercing screams of vocalist Jeremy Phoenix paid a proper homage to Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson. Each new song seemed to be inspired by a different subgenre of metal which was complemented by the band’s energy. Phoenix nodded with enthusiasm as a mosh pit broke out stage toward the end of the set.
Hype Man Warren Moscow prepared the crowd for the upcoming musical onslaught by introducing two rules. The first being “Drink up!” because “the more you drink, the more this starts to make sense.” Secondly, those not ready to party needed to take the exit. It was only appropriate that out of an endless catalogue of material Metalachi selected Ozzy Osbourne’s breakout solo hit “Bark at the Moon” as its opener.
Eight hours in traffic, two of which were spent within 20 miles of the venue, didn’t stop the spandex, face paint or endless pelvic thrusts that complete the metal package of the band’s performance. The show fully kicked into high gear with a medley of Metallica songs that included “Master of Puppets,” “Nothing Else Matters” and “Enter Sandman.” Violinist Max “Dirty” Sanchez led the band with a screeching intro.
Crowd interaction crossed all boundaries. At one point, vocalist Vega de la Rockha selected an uninitiated “Metalachi Virgin” to join him onstage for a lap dance. Between songs, the group mused on everything from Caitlyn Jenner to back payments on child support, to tacos (the pink ones) and cougars.
Most of the night was filled with laughs but in a strange twist the band was able to get the crowd riled up during its performance of Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing In The Name.” With no drums or traditional acoustic mariachi instruments, pure raw energy inspired audience to shout, “F*** you, I won’t do what you tell me!”
Needless to say, the evening brought a roller coaster of awesomeness. After the show, band members came into the crowd for photos, conversation and general metal enthusiasm. It’s impossible not to love a group of people that care so much about what they do.
