Live : Mastodon, BTBAM, Baroness, Valient Thorr at Higher Ground

Baroness ruled the Mastodon headlining show at Higher Ground on Saturday April 24th. And although I understand that Mastodon and Between the Buried and Me are bigger selling entities, I felt as if Baroness was the only band that seemed genuine in their performance. This is not to say the show wasn’t fantastic—because it was. However, I think there is something to be said for musicians that are jaded by their fame. Sometimes it shows.

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But I am getting ahead of myself. It was a beautiful day, Higher Ground was sold out for the show, and the line-up was to be Valient Thorr, Baroness, Between the Buried and Me, and Mastodon. We missed most of Valient Thorr due to Switchback chugging at a nearby restaurant, but they had a good energy and the last few songs were solid. Then Baroness started and I felt the world fall away until only the music remained. Baizley has a fantastically ethereal yell, which guitarist Adams harmonized well against. They melded well and sometimes could not tell the difference in their vocals. Guitarist Adams is new to us in the context of Baroness, but not new to the members of the band who have grown up together and have played together since learning that music was what they wanted to do with their lives. Starting off with “Bullhead’s Psalm” off their latest release Blue Record, they played a perfect balance of new and old including one of my personal favorites, “Wanderlust” off the Red Album, and the new single “Horse Called Golgotha.” If I know anything it is that if Baroness continues to play shows even half this strong, they will find themselves in headlining by their next release.

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Between the Buried and Me, which is a band I am unfamiliar with, also played solidly and did justice to their hardcore roots. Hardcore is probably one of my least favorite metal subgenres, but these guys mixed up their styles enough to keep it interesting. I must say, this was the first time I have ever seen a hardcore band with a keyboardist. And although they were not quite my thing, Between the Buried and Me has the honor of being the only band where they audience chanted their name after their set was complete.

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Mastodon was of course the longest and rowdiest. Also, probably had the most moments where the band seemed to be almost mechanical in their movements. Of course they rocked hard with two full sets, including songs off every album including one of my favorites “Iron Tusk” off of Leviathan. I love that Mastodon always plays songs from all their albums, and I love that they seem focused on their music. However, I wonder if the mechanized moments come from touring for so long, or maybe they have become to used to their set list: possibly spacing out and thinking about Hockey or girlfriends or the next venue because they know their songs and band mates so well that effort is no longer necessary. All the same, from my vantage point on the VIP balcony, when Mastodon started, members from some of the other bands stepped out and watched the show with great attention as if they were studying the technique, movements, and pacing—learning from their peers who are steadily rising towards pop-level fame.

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