Watch Baroness' Socially Distant Performance Of Tourniquet
Even when they're not together, Baroness are still the absolute best.
In compliance with guidelines that we should all be staying the hell away from each other right now, Baroness have shared a socially distant performance of Tourniquet.
“Here’s an as-live-as-possible performance of Tourniquet that we made over the course of a couple days during this period of isolation," the band say. "We have all maintained a rigid policy of social-distancing since becoming aware of this pandemic; which has unfortunately deprived us of our much preferred means of playing music.
Read this next: How Baroness' Gold & Grey took rock music in new directions
"Throughout this crisis, the overall safety and responsibility of our global human community far outweighs the individual value of any show, festival or tour," they continue. "We’re refocusing and redoubling our energy to adapt to this situation as it unfolds.
"As difficult as it seems to navigate the effects of this virus, the isolation has not stripped us of our passion for Baroness’ music. Playing music so far from our bandmates will never be particularly natural.
"However, the experience of making this video through emails, texts and phone calls has been a powerful reminder of how inspiring and invigorating music can be in times of stress, struggle and confusion.
"We hope you enjoy this performance. It isn’t meant to highlight musical perfection or precision. Personally, it serves as a reminder that, no matter what situation we face, we are still able to enjoy friendship, family and community through something as simple as a song. Isolated but never alone…”
Check out Baroness' performance of Tourniquet below:
Tourniquet is taken from last year's incredible Gold & Grey album.
In a track-by-track interview about the record, frontman John Dyer Baizley revealed of the song: “This was the first song that we wrote for the record. We had it mostly written before Gina [Gleason, guitar] even joined the band. It kinda reminds me of something almost Fugazi-esque in a way. The intro is one of my favourite parts of the album. I’m a massive fan of [singer-songwriter] Gillian Welch, and I would look at pictures of how she and her partner Dave Rollins would record their songs, sitting looking at each other and singing their song. That’s why they’re so synchronised and so harmonious. Gina and I worked hard to develop that kind of bond: just the two of us with acoustic guitars, looking at one another. Then the song gets loud and goes all sorts of weird places.
Read this next: John Dyer Baizley: The 10 songs that changed my life
“At the end of the song, I made a thing I called ‘Amp-Henge’, which was just about 20 different loud amplifiers assembled in a circle pointing towards this central axis-point. I set up rigs for everybody and the four of us each put on an animal mask – I was a panda, someone was a shark, someone was a horse and someone was a dinosaur – them we all stood in the middle, switched on a disco ball and all played this one chord for about 10 minutes. We don’t use all of it, but the end of the track this part of that sound. [As an Easter-egg] I’ll say there is one extremely weird element in that song. I’m not going to tell you what it is. But it is consistently in there: something rhythmic. Maybe people will be able to figure out what it is.”
In a significantly less socially-distanced performance, watch Baroness crush The K! Pit last year: