[ATTENDED: June 11, 2019] Baroness
Baroness is, for the most part, the work of John Baizley. There are others in the band, but there hasn’t really been any consecutive albums with the same lineup. I first heard of John Baizley on March 10, 2017 when he was brought out as as special guest at a Strand of Oaks concert.
I thought Baizley was great at that show and I really liked his voice. So I investigated and I discovered the wonder that is the prog metal of Baroness. Baizley writes beautiful passages and tacks them onto brutally heavy metal. His voice is a rich baritone and it all works perfectly. I later found out that all of the art is done by him and that he has crafted some amazing heavy metal covers as well (here’s his art site).
In 2017, Baroness was between albums (their previous one came out in 2015, their new one is coming out in a couple of days). But I listened to his older records and really liked them a lot.
They have recently toured for this new album, but the two shows they played near me were not ones I wanted to see. In April they played the Decibel Magazine Metal & Beer Fest which sounded like a terrible thing to go to, quite frankly (even if they were the headliners) –7 bands and all that beer, no thanks. A few days earlier they were playing Starland Ballroom with Deafheaven. A double bill I would have liked to see, but I was already seeing Voivod that night.
They announced a tour of the rest of the lands and I was a little bummed. But then they announced this little acoustic tour to coincide with their new album. I was planning on getting the album anyway, so to travel to Fords to get that record and to have Baroness play an acoustic show was a no brainer.
I had never seen a show at Vintage Vinyl before. I got there very early only to find out that it wasn’t going to be that crowded (good for me). While I was walking around the store, I saw the band pull up (all four of them in a station wagon). They unloaded their guitars and set up.
It was pretty amazing to see Baizley warming up–just feet away as I was browsing the heavy metal section.
We were told to wait outside while they finished setting up and then we came back in to find Baizley and his duet partner Gina Gleason on stage. Baizley was quick to point out that bassist and drummer Nick Jost and Sebastian Thomson were against the wall if we wanted to watch them instead of the two on stage.
I hadn’t realized that Gleason was the new guitarist for Baroness. I was unfamiliar with her, but she was fantastic. And there should be no surprise given her phenomenal history:
As a part of the Cirque du Soleil creation cast, Gleason played lead guitar and performed as the character “The Muse” in the production of Michael Jackson: One. She sat in with The Smashing Pumpkins during The End Times Tour. She performed with Carlos Santana during his residency at the House of Blues. Gina accompanied Jon Anderson of Yes for several performances. She played with Jello Biafra in 2007. She was a founding member and played lead guitar for Misstallica, the all-female Metallica tribute and for Queen Diamond, the all-female King Diamond tribute.
Wow.
So it was no wonder that she played amazing guitar (and sang terrific harmony vocals) while Baizley unfolded his songs.
They played five songs for us. Amusingly, they were having all kinds of technical problems before the show (all due to a dying battery). They wound up playing three songs from the Yellow and Gold double album. Once they got settled, they began with one of those songs, “Foolsong.” The guitar and the vocals sounded amazing in this setting.
Much of Baroness’ music is pretty guitar so it works fine with two acoustic guitars. One of the first songs I’d heard by Baroness was “Chlorine & Wine” so it was extra sweet to hear it acoustic.
They played one new song “Cold-Blooded Angels.” It was pretty cool to hear this song for the first time in this format.
They then concluded with two songs from the Yellow part of Yellow & Green. The first song “Eula” was slow and lovely although by the end, Baizley was singing his heart out.
The final song, “March to the Sea” picked up the tempo considerably was was a great way to end this little set.
After the show, they signed copies of the album. although the album wasn’t actually out yet, so we received a lithograph of the album cover which all four of them signed. They were all super friendly and I enjoyed my thirty seconds talking to each of them.
I told Baizley that this was my first time seeing them live, so until they played again, to me Baroness would always be an acoustic duo.
He laughed and told me that they would definitely be back in the area as a full band. I can’t wait.
SETLIST
- Foolsong ¥
- Chlorine & Wine ¶
- Cold-Blooded Angels Ç
- Eula ¥
- March to the Sea ¥
¥ = Yellow & Green (2012)
¶ = Purple (2015)
Ç = Gold & Grey (2019)
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