Baroness at The Bottleneck, Lawrence KS (2022-04-02) review

Plenty of colors, plenty of black (some Crimson and Blue as well) –

After a few pandemic-related postponements, Baroness finally arrived back in Lawrence, KS at The Bottleneck for a massive and eagerly anticipated two-and-a-half hour long evening-with performance, on a night when people were already everywhere in the streets.

The Kansas Jayhawks basketball team had just punched their ticket to the Final Four tournament with a win right before stage time (en route to a National Championship) and fans, students, and local residents had poured out to the downtown streets in celebration, causing traffic jams, and closed intersections.

Inside the club, the mood was not of the Crimson and Blue of the college basketball team, it was somewhat darker with the night’s soundtrack reflected in the spectrum of the last five albums from Baroness, all color-themed in title, including their latest, Gold & Grey (2019, on Abraxan Hymns).

The night’s setlist was unique as well- its first half consisting of fan-voted tracks, bridged by a short acoustic set, and finished with a choice selection from the band itself, resulting in a well-rounded retrospective of their two decades in music.

The hard rock blend they play is difficult to simply define (on purpose) – some sludge, many progressive instrumental passages, a bit of psych, and is anything but formulaic, which keeps listeners and fans consistently engaged. Anyone that appreciates similar oblique qualities heard in bands like Tool, Deafheaven, and Mastodon, will undoubtedly become a quick fan here.

The quartet (John Baizley– vocals, rhythm guitar; Nick Jost – bass, keys; Sebastian Thomson – drums; Gina Gleason – lead guitar) reached back to 2009’s Blue album to start the marathon with “Ogeechee Hymnal” before things kicked up in full with “Take My Bones Away” from 2012’s Yellow & Green, and those “colors” of sound already being spread from their sonic canvas.

It would be over forty minutes in, before Baizley (the lone original member) would address the crowd, acknowledging “I know there was some other event going on today, that we were made aware of as the day went on… and I’m glad ya’ll won!” He also remembered previous local appearances as far back as 2007, and the good memories of the earlier shows here.

Though not tracked sequentially on the album, three selections from 2015’s Purple effortlessly flowed into each other – “If I Have to Wake Up” into “Fugue” into “Shock Me” and the fan-voted set would end with the spanning seven-minute “Eula”.

The rhythm section would then leave the stage, leaving just Baizley and Gleason, who switched to acoustic guitars for a gentle “Cold Blooded Angels” and “I’d Do Anything”, both from the newest record with Baizley dedicating them to the day’s winning team and declaring cheekily, the two songs had “the most championship vibe” of their catalog.

“Can Oscura”, an instrumental from the recent record, which translates roughly as “dark dog” roared out of the gate to begin the second half, led by a thumping Thomson mini-drum solo at its beginning. “Desperation Burns’ rolled with the power of a tank, anchored by Gleason’s swirling riffs, then things would turn back down to a near-hush to begin 2019’s “Tourniquet”, which speaks to their musical versatility.

The last bits of the set featured more aggressive, sometimes thrash metal riffed guitar work, leaning in with more momentum as 2009’s “Swollen & Halo” moved into a song ten years newer, “Seasons” from the latest album. As the band left the stage, chants of “Bare-Oh-Ness!” had already begun from the crowd, just getting their second wind after more than two hours of heavy music.

Returning, Baizley remarked about the joy they’ve had in being able to play live again and the fun they were having on this particular night, also saying “Go local sports team!” (maybe to show he doesn’t follow college basketball, which was more than ok to anyone in the crowd).

The evening would end on 2007’s “Wanderlust” from their Red album, a four-and-a-half minute tumbling sonic journey that seemed to suspend time itself, circling and tunneling with ambitious, progressive passages that culminated in a final swell.

Exhausted, but in the best possible way, people filed out of the club, each receiving a limited, silkscreened venue-specific art card as part of admission, happy both from the big college basketball game win, and from a marathon music quest from the always-interesting Baroness.

Official website: Baroness – Baroness (yourbaroness.com)

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