Photo credit: Aiesha Hanson
After madly rushing into the Odean as the first hi-hat hits were ringing, I had to push my way through the dense crowd to get myself into the photo pit. Yeah, I am taking photos tonight too, which is a shame because Baroness waste no time ripping into Rays on Pinion, and it is hard not to just watch them and forget about the photos. I am also meant to be writing this review, and as you can now see, I obviously got to this at some point after the band rocked through The Birthing and IsaK.
I very slowly made my way back through the crowd and ran into several people I know from across Australia. It seems that everyone is here for Dark Mofo, or at least for Baroness. And who can blame them? This band puts on one hell of a show with their own style of progressive metal. When I say progressive, I do not mean boring either; this band rips hard and keeps the energy flowing through every note. You can literally feel the power emanating from the stage.
Frontman John Baizley tells a story about playing an acoustic show at the Brisbane Hotel just down the road, where the owner dosed everyone with LSD, allegedly. He also let everyone know they were meant to play a set in chronological order of the writing of the songs, but that they ended up printing the wrong set list and that they are pretty much just winging it now. It makes sense why the drummer seemed to have ripped up a set list earlier. If they do not know the set list, I have no hope, do I.
The band just continues to rock on track after track in a relentless display of heavy rhythms and strategically counterbalanced melodies. Constant dual guitar harmonies add the perfect layer of flavour over the top of the rhythm end at every given opportunity.
The crowd gets asked to join in with the next song, even if they can only hum along to the melody. I am not sure about the humming bit because the sound is so loud and thick that you cannot possibly hear through it. The band receives a massive applause at the end of the song, so it must have been a familiar one for all of the fans that are packing the floor and mezzanine.
Baroness just continue to deliver track after track, including Steel That Sleeps the Eye, Swollen and Halo, Take My Bones Away, Yellow Theme, and Chlorine & Wine, just to name a few, and they receive a mass of applause each time around. There is even the odd “We Love You” from the crowd which is responded to with a “We Love You Too” from John. With all this love, the following track takes a Reggae vibe. It is a weird twist, but I do not dislike it.
Speaking of twists, you never quite know where the band is about to take you. Wherever they land, though, it somehow always manages to make sense and drag you in by the ears. They really are such an amazing, diverse, and talented band!
There is no merch, unfortunately due to the high cost of getting here for just the one Australian show. There is one goose in the crowd that will not shut up about it, but John is super nice and promises to bring some next time. Oh, and he did mention earlier that they will be coming for a full tour to make up for the one cancelled due to the spicy cough back in 2020! So, there is always that!
No one asked for a bass solo, but we got one suddenly while the guitarists quickly tuned up. No complaints here. It was the perfect build-up for the thumping track that followed. I do really wish I knew this band’s work better because they rock so hard as an unfamiliar band that I can only imagine what it would be like to hear these songs from a fan’s perspective. And on that note, I am off to make myself a Baroness fan!
And that was another standing ovation at the Odeon!
