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.