It’s a strange time to be a touring band. Faced with these difficult COVID-related circumstances, Baroness did what they do best. They chose to get creative with it. Instead of a traditional tour, the four piece embarked on the “Your Baroness – An Intimate Evening With Baroness” tour. Having seen Baroness perform at the 2,500 capacity Starland Ballroom and the 3,000 cap Terminal 5 on their 2019 trek with Deafheaven and Zeal and Ardor, getting the opportunity to see them at my second home, the 250 capacity Saint Vitus, was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. Also intriguing was that the show was an all-request set voted on by the attendees of each performance. This meant we could potentially hear songs they haven’t played in years or possibly ever. What a neat idea! As a fan I was super stoked by the idea and was eager to see what my fellow Baroness acolytes would choose to hear.
Since we would be getting an extra-long set, there were no openers nor did there need to be (we want our Baroness, dammit!). The band took the stage for the second and final night of their Saint Vitus residency and were met with a packed crowd buzzing with excitement yet oddly quiet, eagerly awaiting what gems John, Nick, Gina, and Seb would crank out for us…and they did NOT disappoint. From the moment they took the stage you could tell all four members were super stoked to be there. They fed off the crowd’s energy and threw it right back at us, masterfully crushing jam after jam with smiles on their faces.
The set kicked off with “A Horse Called Golgotha” and jumped right into classics like “Chlorine and Wine”, “Shock Me,” and “Take My Bones Away.” At around. The halfway mark we were treated to acoustic renditions of “Little Things” and “Foolsong” before diving back into an electric tour-de-force that concluded with “The Gnashing” and an encore of “Morningstar.” A highlight was hearing “War, Wisdom, and Rhyme” off the Blue record, which according to frontman John Baizley will likely be gracing set lists on the bands future tours. While I was hoping to hear “Desperation Burns,” a favorite of mine, I have only my fellow fans to thank for the omission (those bastards!). That’s actually part of the fun of this type of performance. You never know what you’re going to get…or not get. As an extra bonus, they gave out free show posters at the end of the night. Awesome!
If you get the chance to catch Baroness on the 2022 leg of the “Your Baroness” tour, don’t let this rare opportunity pass you by. And if you do go, don’t forget to vote for your favorite tracks!
SCOTT SOMMER