Sleep - 10/17/1992 The Gilman St. Project - Berkley, CA

1) From Beyond
2) Evil Gypsy
3) Dragonaut
4) The Druid
5) Sonic Titan
6) The Suffering
7) Nain's Baptism

This may be the most listened to bootleg I have of Sleep. This show was recorded right before the release of Holy Mountain and has a ton of those tracks. The sound is all there - the Roland Space Echo vocal effects, the heavy Orange/Green amp sound, Al's booming voice. Almost every track is a standout, including the only recording I can find of 'Sonic Titan', the only other song on the release of Dopesmoker that Tee Pee put out - and this is the show that was recorded at.

The audio quality is pretty good and powerful and the song selection is awesome. This one is easy to find on the net to download and I highly recommend it.

It's a great show to get a feel for what Sleep was all about - powerful, drivng riffs on 'Dragonaut', loud, pounding almost slow thrash on 'Sonic Titan' and the total stoner thing on Nain's Baptism. The volume and power of 'Sonic Titan' is too good to pass up.

Sleep - 09/21/1992 The Gilman St. Project - Berkley, CA

1) The Druid
2) Nain's Arrival (Nain's Bapitism)
3) Evil Gypsy/Solomon's Theme
4) Nain's Arrival (Interlude)
5) The Suffering
6) Inside The Sun
7) The Wall Of Yawn
8) Scourge
9) Nain's Arrival (Outro)

This is definitely an older cassette bootleg and not a bad one at all. It's pretty easy to find on the internet and one of the first I probably downloaded. There is a good mix of early tracks and stuff from Holy Mountain, including 'The Druid', which leads off the set. It's a high energy show, one that gives you a good idea what these years were like for Sleep. You can hear the infectous energy in tracks like 'Inside The Sun' along with that heavy stoner vibe that set them apart.

The audio quality is suprisingly good too, with the Matt, Al and Chris all being easy to hear and distinguish. It also sounds like Matt is playing through the Laney AOR 100 he used for Holy Mountain. He's getting some squeals out of the amp that are classic Laney tones.

Sleep - Live in Chicago 9/9/2010 - Logan Square Auditorium

1) Sciences/Dopesmoker/Holy Mountain
2) Dragonaut
3) Evil Gypsy/Solomon's Theme
4)Some Grass/Aquarian
5) Nain's Baptism/The Druid
6) From Beyond
7) -encore-
8) Weedian/Cultivator/Improved Morris

I'm definitely biased because I was there, but this is an excellent show - the audio is a bit distorted, but it was unbelieveably loud there, so thats probably as good as it would get without being directly from the soundboard.

During the intro of every song, the crowd goes nuts, like a modern day Beatles-on-Ed-Sullivan, but with howling guys instead of screaming girls.

I couln't hear well for two days after the show and was just euphoric during the opening notes to Dopesmoker. Matt looked completely hammered for the entire show and Al seemed to be super chill, head down, off to the left. There wasn't many there who weren't big time fans - massive, slow headbanging, shouted lyrics, lots of yeahs and hollers from the crowd. I bought everything from the merch both, including some patches, t-shirts and poster and I will probably never forget this show.

Sleep - Dopesmoker - Live in Chicago 9/9/10 - Logan Square Auditorium

It's probably about time I put up footage from the only Sleep show I have ever attended. I was pretty torn when I saw them if I should film or watch and opted for the later for most of the show, but I did capture a few tracks, one oif which is here. It's Matt's solo and a chunk of 'Dopesmoker' and this was the song to start the encore. I was standing about three people behind Matt's set up and I'm suprised the camera didn't melt.

Hawkwind/Sleep poster - 1994 Space Ritual Tour

I do have a small collection of Sleep memoribilia, but I am big into collecting old posters and flyers. I have a lot of old Skate Rock stuff from the Big Boys, JFA, etc, but never found any Sleep stuff, until just recently.

Won this on eBay a few days ago for a pretty cheap price. It's a pretty cool little piece of history and one that will hang proudly on my wall, next to my Green Matamp.

This is actually from a show that never happened due to a wicked snowstorm.

Sleep - 5/09/2009 - ATP, Butlins Resort, Minehead, UK

1 Intro
2 Holy Mountain
3 Dragonaut
4 Evil Gypsy/Solomon's Theme
5 Aquarian
6 Pike Solo/Some Grass
7 Interlude
8 Cultivator
9 The Druid
10 Nain's Baptism
11 Dopesmoker (Proceeds The Weedian)
12 From Beyond

This show is the first time Sleep played live since they broke up in the 1990's and people must have been out of their minds! The show itself is excellent and all their best stuff is here. Cultivator is actually the later part of Dopesmoker from the mellow solo on - which is pretty cool they busted it out here.

Pike's solo is done on an acoustic and there's footage of it on Youtube. The later Dopesmoker excerpt is excellent and the vocals are super clear - as they are for the rest of this audio bootleg. In fact, the sound is amazing on this boot - sounds like a sound board recording!

This show, along with the 5/10/2009 show would be the last with Chris Haikus - its too bad too because he's an absolutely stellar drummer. I really hope he returns with Sleep if and when they decide to tour in the future.

Sleep - 2/21/1992 - Berkeley, CA

1 Introduction
2 Stillborn
3 Inside The Sun
4 Hot Lava Man
5 Numb
6 The Suffering
7 Evil Gypsy/Solomon's Theme
8 Wall Of Yawn
9 Nain's Baptism Intro
10 Nain's Baptism
11 The Druid
12 Behind The Wall Of Sleep
13 Basically
14 N.I.B.

This is a stellar show and one that I have listened too quite a few times. Hot Lava Man is a crushing track and I've always wondered why it never made it onto an album! The cover of N.I.B. is truncated, about a minute and a half long and pretty cool.

The show consists of mostly older material, lots of Volume 1 tracks. I'm a fan of the earlier material and they definitely play it with a lot of bite here, a bit more punch than what made it onto record for the Volume 1 . It also ends with Al saying to remember to smoke fucking pot.

Which reminds me of the story that when Sleep was recording Dopesmoker, they were smoking two ounces of weed a day. 2. Ounces. A. Day. Holy crap. Talk about commitment. I know that in Such Hawks, Such Hounds, Matt admits to spending a ton of the cash from London Records of weed, and with that amount being smoked daily, I could believe they tore through that advance as quick as they did.

Sleep - 09/11/2010 - Roseland Theater, Portland, OR

01 [intro]
02 Dopesmoker
03 Holy Mountain
04 Dragonaut
05 Evil Gypsy/Solomon's Theme
06 Aquarian
07 Nain's Baptism
08 Inside The Sun
09 The Druid
10 From Beyond
11 Dopesmoker (solo)
12 Proceeds The Weedian
13 [encore break]
14 The Mob Rules
15 Antarcticus Thawed
16 Cultivator
17 Improved Morris

An excellent audio bootleg of a show from the 2010 tour, with a good Sabbath cover in The Mob Rules and the only live version I have found of Improved Morris, a new Sleep track. The full on Dopesmoker tone is here and the copy I have of this show is fantastic, a recent trade. It feels like you are there - assuming you have some good head phones.

The beginning of Dopesmoker is killer and the crowd noise is bordering on orgasmic. You can almost smell the herbs in the air. There is a crushing amount of Matt's guitar, but the bass is a bit low on the audio, but definitely there.

I thought about flying out for this show as I have a lot of love for the Pacific Northwest as I grew up in Seattle and wanted to spread out a stay over the weekend. Now I wish I would have made it happen! Stellar.

Sleep - Live at Outdoor Party 1992 CA (video)

1 Dragonaut
2 Evil Gypsy/Solomon's Theme
3 Aquarian
4 Hot Lava Man
5 Scourge
6 Unknown

This show is definitely a rarity as I never knew it existed until I found it on someone's list after years of searching for other footage I hadn't seen or had a copy of. It's shot from some one in the audience who actually moves around the stage quite a bit, making for some good angles. The song choices are awesome as its the only video I have even seen of Sleep performing Hot Lava Man.

Al is playing through an Orange 'Pics Only' head and cab and Matt is playing through a Laney AOR 100 and a Fender head, which I believe he just uses for clean tones. Definitely pre-Green era, but the love for 1970's tube amps is pretty apparent.

The video quality is about 8.5 out of 10, but the audio is excellent. The footage can get fuzzy at times due to the degredation of the original tape, but it's well worth seeing for any fan. Although, I guess that can be said fot most of the footage out there...

It's cool to see Sleep playing in front of such a small and casual audience. You definitely see them before their transition years, which seemed to be marked by the Hawkwind tour, where they really seemed to come into their own.

Sleep - Live in Tallahassee, FL 1994 (video)

1 Dopesmoker (early version)
2 Holy Mountain
3 The Druid

This footage is available from Google or a couple sites. However - this footage I own is transfered correctly unlike the Google rip. It's not stellar filming and for some reason, Matt and Al are in the shadows for the entire show.

That being said, it is a great show with pretty good audio. It's also got the early version of Dopesmoker, which is pretty cool to hear.

Sleep - Live in Carrboro, NC Cat's Cradle 1/23/1994 (video)

1 From Beyond
2 Dopesmoker (early version)
3 The Druid

This is a stellar show. I believe it came at the end of the 1994 Hawkwind tour and by this time, they were previewing Dopesmoker, albeit in a very different form. Some of the structure is there, and so are the lyrics, but the chord placement is almost all different.

The quality is a 10/10 - especially for the age of the original video. It feels like you are looking through the viewfinder. The audio is very good too and I plan on making an audio bootleg of this show.

It cracks me up that both Al and Matt are finishing joints at the start of the video, just chilling on stage, not a care in the world.

Sleep Bootlegs - inaugural post

So, I have decided to start this blog in hopes of finding more live Sleep content - whether its just fan shot stuff or heavily traded audio bootlegs, I'm happy to trade what I have on my list for what you have on yours.

A number of good bootlegs exist, but have taken me a while to get copies of through old message board posts and video trading lists from back in the days when VHS was the preferred medium.

I will update this blog as my collection expands and more shows come to my attention. At the very least, it should be a very good and hopefully comprehensive source of the catalog of live Sleep material.

As I get them, I will post synopsis of the bootlegs I have with quality ratings and some stills of the footage itself