Manning Bar, Sydney
Sunday October 27, 2013 :
Sleep are the classic “seminal” band, listened to by few in their time but influential on a huge number of later artists who took their three albums and EP as a leaping point for further sonic exploration. The Sleep break up separated two key elements of their sound into stand-alone entities, bassist Al Cisneros and drummer Chris Hakius explored mystic, hypnotic repetition in Om while guitarist Matt Pike went into overdrive with the sheer power of heavily amplified riffing in High on Fire. Tonight, on the back of tremendously well received reunion shows across the US and Europe, Cisneros and Pike visit Sydney for the first time together as Sleep, Neurosis skinsman Jason Roeder replacing Hakius on drums.
A busy freeway kept me from seeing The Devil Rides Out, but got me there just in time for Summonus. This is only the second time I’ve seen these guys and I’m more and more impressed each time so far. Songs like ‘Black Sun Dying’ and ‘New Song Number 2’ (sure to be renamed) go down like kicking, bludgeoning treats and it’s only a matter of time before I’ll be spilling my money on their virtual counter in exchange for their back catalogue.
When I saw Om for the first time at the Factory Theatre a few years back, it was one of the most transcendent experiences of my life. The band, venue and audience vibe gelled perfectly with what I had always hoped seeing them would be like (great venue for an Om gig, large open space and plenty of backstreets to get high as shit in pre-gig). The second time earlier this year at the Annandale was way too crowded and way less ephemeral for me and sadly for similar reasons this Sleep gig continued that trend for me, really through no fault of their own.
At first it was amazing, the band opened with a good 15 to 20 minutes of their magnum opus ‘Dopesmoker’ and my god it was good. Pike maniacally coaxed mountainous slabs of guitar from his Les Paul, the building shuddered when Cisneros and Roeder came thundering in and the room was full of pungent sweet smoke. In short I was in heaven, until the front few rows of Manning Bar’s very crowded floor turned into the drunken push and shove-a-thon and completely destroyed any atmosphere of transcendence. Don’t get me wrong, I like a mosh pit as much as the next guy, but I guess I went in expecting something completely different to what I got. I didn’t expect completely orderly behaviour, maybe just some reverence for the tunes and a band that always felt as much about the “mood” as they did about earth-rumbling, high-volume riffs. For what it’s worth the band didn’t seem phased in the slightest, and most people in the crowd seemed to find the transcendence they sought (who knew people got wired on alcohol and wanted to circle pit to stoner doom?) despite my silent, frowny faced looks of protest at the unending line of unknown people being thrown into me and harshening my mellow.
It was great to experience some of ‘Dopesmoker’ live, and ‘Dragonaut’ and ‘Aquarian’ plastered smiles right across my face, but what I wanted and what I got were two very different things and I guess it all really highlights the personal nature of music and reviews. I’m glad I went, but I wish I’d stayed out of the pit and inhaled way more of the clouds of smoke wafting across the venue.
Reviewer: Roger Killjoy
Photographer: Joe Andersons
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