The fourth entry of the September Show Series is severely, severely delayed, since writing little blog posts after being out multiple nights a week for no financial compensation is not worth the stress and the dead eyes at work the next day. Either way, I saw Baroness and Sannhet at the Brooklyn Bazaar on Sunday, September 9th. It was my second time seeing Baroness and first seeing Sannhet.
I’ve been a casual fan of Sannhet’s “post-metal” music since Revisionist, their debut from 2015, which had some killer riffs on it and definitely got me to hone in on a lot of pressing projects in my final semester of college. Their song “Atrium” in particular blasted me through a good amount of work while sitting in the library or in a dining hall. Their new album hasn’t held me as much as their old one, but I can see myself going back to it.
Moving on, Sannhet opened the show in a special way, featuring guest duties from Planning For Burial’s Thom Wasluck. I walked in partway through their set and at that point it was already packed – by far the best-attended show I’ve seen at BK Bazaar. They had really cool projections going over the audience onto the stage with some strobe light flair now and again. The band carried an electric energy to them that really amplified the “epic” nature of their music. They sounded real good. When vocals aren’t a variable, I think that makes things easier for everything to be heard overall. Really glad I got to see them this time after buying a ticket a show of theirs in 2016 and then just bailing. One negative side is that I bought a tshirt from them after the show and the design is completely off-center. Cmon man, that ain’t cool.
After them came Baroness. For people that have talked to me about show-going experiences, you might remember me listing Baroness as my top favorite show of 2016. They played a rockin’ night at Webster Hall that shook me to my core. I’m not a diehard fan of their stuff, but a few of their songs just strike this chord within me, turning me into this hard rock-crazed animal. The fact that they were playing Brooklyn Bazaar, a much smaller venue, a little over a year later AND with a new guitarist? There was no way I wasn’t going. It also helps I had two friends in attendance as well, kind of breaking up the drudging spree of seeing shows alone.
This show doesn’t take my spot for favorite of 2017, but it was damn good. The new guitarist, Gina Gleason, was absolutely killer and the transition was seamless. She shreds like no other and really gets into the performance aspect of it too. That’s a main component that I adore about Baroness live is that each member, especially the lead guitarist and singer, get really into performing. They interact with the audience, add some pomp to their playing, all that. Excellent. One downside to this show is that since the stage wasn’t as raised as Webster Hall’s was, so not being able to see the performers actually shred from a distance was a bummer.
But enough of the bad, on with the good! They played the hits – “Shock Me,” “Take My Bones Away,” “March To The Sea,” “The Sweetest Curse” (!!!), “Chlorine & Wine…” it was great. The fans were into it. The band was into it. It was revitalizing after a depressing Saturday outing. Seeing friends was great, seeing this amazing band was great. Overall, A+ night for a concert. At this point in the week, Baroness put on my favorite show of the series. I cannot recommend enough that you see them if they come to your area. You will not regret it.
Warm Visions 