Necrot, Funeral Chant, Ancient Rage
- Hectic
- Jun 29
- 4 min read
Updated: Jun 29
June 27, 2025
Eli’s Mile High Club
Oakland, CA
It was a night of Oakland metal, and a show that sold out long before doors were open. Three bands from Oakland, playing a benefit for a venue they all love – Eli’s Mile High Club.
Eli’s has been open since 1974, but recently had to close their large back patio due to zoning and permitting issues they are trying to work out with the City of Oakland. I don’t know the details of that dispute, and whether it was complaining neighbors or some other issue that suddenly shut down the patio, which I believe had been in existence for a number of years.
But it is a major bummer whenever stuff like this happens to small businesses throughout the Bay Area. You’d think a club in a somewhat sketchy part of Oakland and with a noisy freeway overpass not even 50 yards away would be safe, but no. Obligatory GoFundMe here.
The place is not quite the same without the breathing room of the patio, but it is still a great small club and good venue for live music. We all did our best to support Eli’s by purchasing copious amounts of alcohol.
I for one got pretty close to “IPA poisoning” levels, thanks to the fabulous bar staff and another great Oakland institution, Ghost Town Brewing. (If you like beer and don’t know about Ghost Town Brewing, rectify that immediately.) Apologies to anyone I may have accidentally bumped into while handing out flyers after the show!
The night had started out a bit dangerously too, with me falling down in Taqueria El Castillito. What can I say, I’m pretty clumsy, since I’d only had a “couple three” beers at that point. I thought we were sitting in a booth, but it was only a booth on one side – the other had a divider without a seat and a hidden wood bench I failed to pull out when sitting down. Oh well.
After some tacos, a subway ride under the bay, and a short walk from the MacArthur BART station we made it to Eli’s. The place was already starting to fill up more than an hour before show time, and it was getting hot inside. Everyone was excited and ready for some Oakland heavy metal.
Ancient Rage opened the show, with their high energy, metal-infused motopunk sound. They really got the crowd going, bringing what they call “rock n’ roll street metal” to a very receptive audience. I’ve seen them a couple of times before and they always put on a great show. Their self-titled full length from December 2024 is in regular rotation on my turntable.
The singer’s antics with a battle axe, and the obligatory drinking Ancient Age whiskey from a skull always adds to the fun. You couldn’t have asked for a better band to kick start an Oakland metal throw down at Eli’s.
Funeral Chant was up second, bringing their black metal onslaught to Eli’s. I’m not a black metal fan so their set really wasn’t my thing. Nothing against these guys, Funeral Chant were quite a few steps above many black metal bands I’ve heard.
They had an intensity and speedy guitar attack that was impressive, and the crowd was into it for sure. A black metal wall of sound, it was pretty intense. Personally I just find the rhythms of black metal a bit monotonous – I need some riffs! To each their own. If you are a black metal fan, definitely check out Funeral Chant, ignore my dumbass.
Necrot were the headliner, and delivered their usual intense, non-stop Death Metal fury. They are one of my favorite metal three pieces, and probably the biggest Bay Area Death Metal band these days.
Necrot sounded great having recently returned from an extensive spring tour with Cavalera Conspiracy and various metal festivals this summer. Great to see them having some success out on the road. Their set was solid start to finish, ending with the more rock and roll “Drill the Skull”, which always reminds me of Old Grandad a bit for some reason.
It was a great set by a great band, who according to their Instagram posts first played Eli’s Mile High Club in 2013. Pretty cool of them to headline this excellent benefit show.
I’ll be back for the Trencher headlining show on July 11. I hope Eli’s manages to work things out with the city and stay open for another 50 years.
–Hectic
