REVIEW: Baroness, Sheer Mag, Imperial Triumphant at Webster Hall | 11.29.2023

Show Reviews

Dec 3

Written By

Baroness played the penultimate show of their Fall tour Wednesday night at New York City's Webster Hall. The band has been touring relentlessly these past two months, hitting over 30 cities in the U.S. and Canada and sharing the stage with a wide range of opening acts throughout. For their stop in Manhattan as well as in Boston the night prior, Baroness was joined by Philly rock outfit Sheer Mag and experimental masked metalers Imperial Triumphant.

THE SHOW

Imperial Triumphant delivered a brutal set of beautiful chaos to kick off the evening. The trio's sinister appearance was softened by their playful showmanship, the members hyping each other up and playing each other's instruments throughout the set. They were loud, they were heavy – at times jazzy, and always in your face.

It didn't take long for the mosh pit to start moving. At one point bassist Steve Blanco made his way into the crowd and brought the pit to a temporary calm, delivered an epic bass solo, then rejoined his band members onstage to launch into their next song. The pit responded accordingly, thrashing as the band’s whirlwind set ensured the energy in the room was at a maximum when it came to a close.

Sheer Mag were up next and offered a change of sonic scenery. Leaning away from the Metal sound of their predecessor, Sheer Mag offered a cornucopia of vintage styles of rock and punk. It was as if they went into my head, pulled apart elements of various rock styles that I dig, and turned in into a set. There were some vibes of Zeppelin, a bit of B-52s, and even some yacht rock thrown in there. It was a blast.

The band was tight, and despite vocalist Christina Halladay’s recent bout with a respiratory illness, Halladay overcame it with a powerful vocal delivery from start to finish. Sheer Mag has a new record called Playing Favorites coming out next year; you can (and should) check out a few of the tracks available now.

The members of Baroness took the stage one by one to cheers from the packed crowd at Webster Hall. Frontman John Baizley walked on last, throwing up his hands to demand more from the crowd, the cheers turning promptly to roars. The band opened with “Last Word” from their recently released album, STONE, and proceeded to tear the house down from the very start.

For a band that’s been touring for two months straight, Baroness showed no signs of road wear. Their energy and excitement was palpable, the familial connection between them evident in the way they shared the stage with one another. Baroness were having a blast, and the crowd was too.

The excitement by the fans didn’t go unnoticed by the band. Baizley took a moment to address everyone in attendance, thanking them for being a part of Baroness' process and for sharing their night with the band. The fans were more than happy to oblige.

Baroness’ setlist spanned their impressive 16-year discography, including tracks like “March To The Sea”, and “Shock Me." Also impressive was the band's use of a disco ball midway through the set; the dazzling light show it managed to create cannot be done justice by my photos.

Baroness closed with "The Gnashing" before returning to the stage and playing "Isak" and "Take My Bones Away" to close out the evening. The band finished their tour the following night in Philly, and are taking a well deserved break for now, with a slot at Welcome to Rockville on the books for next year.

THE SHOOT

After a few weeks off I was excited to be back at it again, and this show proved to be the perfect way to dive back in.

I knew I was going to love shooting Imperial Triumphant the moment I saw their press shots, but the band’s masked attire ended up being only a fraction of why they were so much fun to shoot. The members of Imperial Triumphant had a photogenic camaraderie and a showmanship that gave the shots even more character.

The same can be said for Sheer Mag and Baroness; these were all just bands having a great time playing for a crowd that was having a great time watching. With the lighting on my side, all I had to do was point and shoot while the bands played and everything else took care of itself, or so it felt.

And speaking of lighting – the disco ball, woah – this thing got absolutely blasted with light and as I mentioned earlier, the resulting effect was insane. Fortunately, they ended up using the ball a few times, which gave me the opportunity to play around with the effect using a long exposure.

I set my shutter to be about 3 seconds long and stabilized the camera on the balcony railing. The result was an interesting light streak effect of the band and the room: