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Artist News
Baroness bassist and drummer quit
By Andy Malt | Published on Wednesday 27 March 2013
Baroness bassist Matt Maggioni and drummer Allen Bickle have quit the band, frontman John Baizley has announced this week. This follows, of course, the US metal outfit’s near-fatal bus crash last year. As previously reported, the band’s tour bus fell 30 feet from a viaduct near Bath during a UK tour in August. The driver, one of the nine people injured in the incident, is due to appear in court on dangerous driving charges next month.
Writing on the band’s website, Baizley said: “For some of us, the accident necessitated a change that would prevent them from performing music or touring. It is with sadness that we must announce that Matt Maggioni and Allen Blickle will not continue touring with Baroness. The details of their departure are not sensational; they do not come with hard feelings. Nor are the details going to be public; suffice it to say we’d like to keep to ourselves the finer points of this situation, to respect the privacy of all involved”.
He continued: “While the nine of us must respect the significance of the bus accident in Bath, we must also move away from it and get back to our lives. Simply put, some of the effects and injuries were severe enough to prohibit further activity in Baroness. While we would never have asked them to leave; we have the utmost sympathy for this situation, and in earnest, we wish Matt and Allen the best in the future. In their stead, we have found two musicians who can approach our music with passion and vitality and help get us back out on tour to finish what was seemingly cut short last August”.
Read Baizley’s full update on Maggioni and Blickle’s departure and his own recovery, having had surgery to reconstruct his left arm after the accident, here.
