Recently I’ve been circling back to something I did when I was (much) younger and I’m glad I’m doing so. Back in my teens I’d look up the local venues and pick up tickets for bands I’d never / barely heard of and just go for the night out and to see what they were like. Of course back then there was no interwebz or Spotify to check out a band so this was how you discovered new music. That or throwing cash at a random tape in HMV. Or getting a copy off a mate.
Tonight, three bands I’d actually heard of but to the best of my knowledge had never really listened to. I had a vague idea of their musical styles, but that was it. Time to dive in.
We arrived during Pallbearer‘s opening slot and the venue was already pretty busy. Throwing doom chords around with wild (if slow) abandon, the audience were very much into the atmospheric music and I could see why. I thought they were playing medleys, but on checking when I got home it turns out that the songs they picked (four of them, I believe) were just very long!
The sound was good, as is usual for SWG3, and the heavy tones were full on. In honesty a little too slow-paced for me, but I could certainly appreciate the musicianship and there was no doubting how popular they were when their set ended. This is a band I’d likely pop on at home in the background while I’m doing other stuff. As far as doom bands go, Pallbearer are very much up there with the doomiest!
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The first of the two headliners were next up, Graveyard from Sweden. I was expecting more of the heavy doom tones, but they were a lot more catchy and had that wonderful fuzzy sound you associated with late 70s hard rock bands. Still downtuned, but a very different beast from our openers.
I got into them a lot faster, and the music changed pace through their set. The crowd were more active and it was cool to look around and see people doing the “dance like nobody’s looking” thing here and there.
Usually a four-piece, they had drafted in an extra guitarist for the tour to help flesh out the sound. Whether this made a difference I don’t know, but what I do know is that I enjoyed them. A lot. Sometimes rocking, sometimes mesmerising, they were fun to watch and obviously happy to be there. Their between-song chatter was almost shy , yet when the music kicked in they were full of action and definitely more comfortable.
A small technical hitch towards the end caused some issues with one of the guitars, and it was a shame that they replaced the damaged cable with literally seconds of their set to go! A minor issue, though and not quite as the singer claimed: “Everything… is broken”. Everything, frankly, was very OK and they’re very much a band I’ll be listening to at home from now on.
Our final act, and co-headliner, was another surprise. Hard rock / heavy metal well mixed and some variety in the tracks, Baroness were all smiles throughout their set and I think I found at least a couple of songs that are going to go on a playlist. While “Last Word” and “Under the Wheel” were enjoyable enough, “March To The Sea” is an absolute belter and probably the best song I heard all evening.
Baroness have a great sound, and the multiple vocals work well. In particular Gina Gleason’s backing vocals pair up well with frontman John Baizley’s, as ever helped by the good sound quality at the venue. The focus was arguably on their most recent album Stone with three songs, but with a short set due to the co-headliner status, all of their releases got a fair look-in.
The audience were definitely more active throughout Baroness’s set, with a couple of small pits breaking out here and there, even if only for a short time. It was justifiable, though. The band really know how to churn out some great rock and roll music of the type that makes you want to bounce, jig or – indeed – bang into other people.
Of the two headliners, Baroness got the loudest cheer at the end of the night, but it was a close call. All three bands put on good individual shows and as a package this was a great night’s entertainment.
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Photos by Skull Lens Photography
