Baroness at Union Stage
Photography By: Leia Cunningham
Despite all of the chaos involved with a last-minute venue change, Baroness put on a phenomenal performance Sunday night, June 23rd at Union Stage in Washington DC on the final stretch of their US Summer Tour.
Though members of the crowd had shouted some rather choice words about the original venue for the show, vocalist/guitarist John Dyer Baizley mentioned “but now we get to play in DC, something we don’t normally get to do.” Noting how previous tours have taken them to Baltimore, Richmond, and Silver Spring – but not to Washington DC in quite some time.
Supporting acts Filth Is Eternal, a hardcore outfit out of Seattle provided the kick-off jolt of energy, followed by psychedelic doom band Ruby and The Hatchet whose haunting vocals and driving rhythm (and the cover of ‘Harden My Heart” complete with a saxophone solo) really set the perfect buildup in anticipation to the main event.
Filth is Eternal: Website | Facebook | Instagram | X | TikTok | Spotify | YouTube | Bandcamp
Ruby The Hatchet: Website | Facebook | Instagram | X | Spotify | YouTube | Bandcamp
Baroness kicked off with ‘Last Word' from their most recent album, STONE and immediately the energy of guitarist Gina Gleason and the groove of bassist Nick Jost were contagious, and were continuous through the entire set which consisted of a solid blend of new and older songs throughout their discography that really sent two points home - the songwriting and performance value of this band is an absolute work of art on par with the award-nominated album artwork that Baroness has come to be know for, and that the show is a nonstop block of rock that touts a melodic, danceable, and still hefty sound that is absolutely one of a kind and takes the listener on a journey as each song bends and weaves its way into something truly beautiful - the lighting design reflecting the color schemes of each segments of the setlist was an artistic touch that did not go unnoticed - multicolor for STONE, blue to indicate the album for ‘A Horse Called Golgotha’, and so on.
The change to the smaller venue harbored a much more intimate feel, which matched the mood of the show fabulously, compared to larger ones in the sense that it gave the feel of something beyond a concert, it felt special, almost sacred even, allowing banter between the band and the crowd and really driving home the message Baizley mentioned - “All these songs are about love, however you wish to interpret that. That's what it's all about.”
Washington DC absolutely felt the love that night, after the extremely satisfying encore of ‘Isak’ and ‘Take My Bones Away’ ended with overwhelming applause and chants of “We Love You” and “Come back!” - a sentiment much shared.
