LIVE: BARONESS – March 16, 2022

Venue: Crowbar

City: Tampa, FL

Dates: March 16, 2022

Review and Photographs by: Todd “Toddstar” Jolicoeur (www.toddstarphotography.com)

With tours ramping back up and bands getting out to be with the fans, it was inevitable Baroness would relaunch their Your Baroness Tour, and luckily, I was in Florida to catch one of the first shows back when they landed at Tampa’s Crowbar.  With a night full of music planned, included a portion of the setlist that was decided on by ticket buyers, the band opted for no opening act and instead graced us with over two hours of music that spanned their catalog and at least three songs from each full-length studio release.  The foursome ripped through song after song with smiles alternating with serious faces, as they not only played song after song, but seemingly absorbed the moments on stage.  The stage lighting took on the persona of each album with the backlighting mirroring the respective album’s title as each song worked through the set.  Frontman and lead singer John Baizley led the charge and welcomed us to the tour with his strong vocals and guitar work while guitarist Gina Gleason was all smiles while supporting with background vocals and shredding through riff after riff from track to track.  As this was my first Baroness show, I wasn’t sure what to expect having listened to their releases over the years.  While my personal favorite tracks made the setlist over the course of the evening, I was most impressed by the way the band took on the various instrumental tracks and longer playing songs breathing life into them as if adding vocals and personality to each, especially on “Green Theme.”  The rhythm section of drummer Sebastian Thomson and bass player Nick Jost gave each song a bit of thunder and attitude while keeping everything flowing and grounded.  I was smile from ear to ear when the band unleashed “Shock Me” with precision and perfection.  While I dug most of the set, this song was the high point for me.  The setlist constructed by the fans in attendance was essentially a greatest hits of the bands catalog with one or two peripheral songs that blend well with the rest.  The band filled out the rest of the set with tracks that gel well and build out a full sound and evening of rock and roll.  The tandem of “Cocainium” and “Foolsong” was a cool pairing that demonstrates how well the various tracks in the band’s repertoire can play against each other.  Song after song, the music flowed and seemed effortless as the quartet rocked the crowd.  Another great combination of songs was “Borderlines” followed by the medley of “If I Have to Wake Up (Would You Stop the Rain?) / Fugue.”  Don’t sleep on this tour if it lands near you as it winds through North America before heading to Europe in late May.

Setlist: Kerosene – A Horse Called Golgotha – March to the Sea – Green Theme – Chlorine & Wine – Tourniquet – Shock Me – Eula – Ogeechee Hymnal – Take My Bones Away – Rays on Pinion – Isak – Cocainium – Foolsong – Can Oscura – Little Things – Borderlines – If I Have to Wake Up (Would You Stop the Rain?) / Fugue – Jake Leg – The Birthing – Seasons – The Gnashing – Tower Falls

[Show as slideshow]

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Tags: featured

Category: Live Reviews, Photo Galleries