Article & Photos by: Kyle Ostrander

Brooklyn, NY – On Friday night, metal band Baroness delivered an intense and memorable performance to a sold out NYC crowd. This was the second of two nights the group played at The Meadows, with both nights seeing the band perform their Red Album and Blue Record in their entirety.

“I saw Baroness on tour when these albums first came out over a decade ago. I can’t believe I get to hear them again now!” said a fan before the show. The intimate venue was the perfect setting for a celebration of these influential records. The packed crowd, who lined up in the rain for a chance to be in the front row, waited with anticipation for the show to start. Soon the slow build intro of “Rays On Pinion”, the first track off the Red Album, reverberated through the walls before the track burst into shredding guitars and screaming vocals. Baroness tore through the rest of the album without missing a beat, launching from one song to the next with unrelenting intensity.

After finishing Red Album with the soaring guitars and pulsating rhythm of “Grad”, vocalist John Baizley took a brief moment to thank their fans. “We really appreciate all of you so much. You’ve been coming to see us play for such a long time, and we love everything you bring to us. We can only do this because of you!” said Baizley. The quartet then swelled into the melodic instrumentation of “Bullhead’s Psalm”, the first track of Blue Record, leading right into the powerful palm-muted chords of “The Sweetest Curse”, before running through the rest of the record.

During both albums, fans were headbanging, throwing up their arms, and tilting their heads back to joyfully sing choruses together. Baroness met the crowd’s energy head-on and cranked it even higher, turning the already electric atmosphere into a full-blown frenzy. Baizley and the band’s other guitarist, Gina Gleason, would frequently meet center stage to play brilliantly harmonized guitar solos with one another while Gleason flipped her hair back and forth. Bass player Nick Jost held down impressive, intricate, and heavy grooves, often running right up to the edge of the stage to interact with the crowd. Drummer Sebastian Thomson played with an unmatched force, holding down the tight arrangement of the songs with every hit. “We want to say thank you again to all of you for coming out, to our crew for helping make these special shows happen, and to the venue for having us here both nights. We hope you’ll have us again sometime, New York!” said Baizley at the end of the set.

Baroness continue the North American run of their Red & Blue tour through the end of May. More details on their upcoming shows can be found on their website.