Baroness and Torche, Saturday at the Granada (photos, setlist)

Baroness

with Torche

The Granada

Saturday, July 27

Saturday evening at the Granada saw two of metal’s finest acts, touring together in support of two new albums, playing to a packed house.

Both Baroness’ Gold & Grey and Torche’s Admission are the bands’ first releases in nearly four years, and it seems that both lean toward more straightforward, rocking songs, as opposed to the sludgier aspects of previous albums. That’s not to say they’ve gone soft. Baroness frontman John Baizley sings his heart out, meeting the audience with a steely gaze; guitarist Gina Gleason throws herself into her performance, moving around the stage like she’s trying to rip her guitar apart. When the two of them come together on guitar leads, it sounds like the heaviest version of Thin Lizzy you’ve ever heard, and it’s beautiful.

I said on Twitter after the show that the music of Baroness and Torche is basically what I wish hard rock stations would play. These are two bands willing to mess with the formula of hard rock and metal in a way that demonstrates virtuosity and skill, but never slickness or a desire to capitulate to commercial interests.

Torche was just absurdly tight, from the opening onslaught of “From Here,” all the way through the end of the set. The songs started off rocking and fast, showcasing the band’s ability to craft perfect sugar-metal tunes, and descended into a sludgy, heavy dungeon by set’s end an hour later. Torche drummer Rick Smith literally stood up out of his drum seat to bring down hits on the floor tom, and it rumbled like the announcement of a god during Admission‘s “Infierno.”

TL;DR: If either act writes a song that sounds like it should be played on the radio every 20 minutes and blasted out of a Camaro, it’s purely down to the musicians’ skillsets, rather than any pandering to AOR.

All photos by Nick Spacek

Baroness setlist

Morningstar

March to the Sea

Seasons

Brok’n Halo

Green Theme

Little Things

Cold-Blooded Angels

Tourniquet

Can Oscura

Eula

Borderlines

Shock Me

—

Ogeechee Hymnal

Isak

Take My Bones Away