28 April 2023 – The Tivoli, Brisbane – words by Lucas Bell – pictures by Charlyn Cameron
It’s Friday night in Brisbane, and as I write this, I’m currently standing outside the doors of The Tivoli in Fortitude Valley, waiting for one of the hottest bands in the world right now, Sleep Token. Writing the initial part of my review, before I even walk through the door, isn’t something I have ever done before. But I need to preface this review by saying that I’ve been a fan of this band since hearing This Place Will Become Your Tomb in late 2021. I happened upon the song ‘The Love You Want’ on a random YouTube deep dive, and I’ve been enamoured ever since. I even bought tickets just to see them perform six songs on the Northlane tour last year. Hell, if I could have swung it, I would have tried to follow this tour throughout Australia. That’s just how much of a die-hard fan I am for this band.
Every show for this tour sold out, fast. Like, really fast. I missed out on tickets for this show when it was originally scheduled for The Triffid, and managed to luck out buying tickets when the venue upgrade happened. Being able to see a full set for Sleep Token has something I have not been able to fathom since I pressed purchase on my tickets. But here I am. Vessel and company are just behind the walls I stand next too, about to perform a “ritual” to the adoring fans, allowing them to worship.
A bit of context for those that read those words, and think I’m in a cult. I am. This band is a cult. I may even in the future do a full article on just the lore for this band, because yes, they have lore. And it’s deep. But all you really need to know is the following. Sleep Token are an anonymous masked collective of musicians, led by a man we only know as Vessel. Vessel, quite literally, is the vessel for the messages of the deity of Sleep. All the songs that are performed by the band are not songs, but rather Offerings, to Sleep. Vessel travels the world, with a drummer, bass player, and guitarist, all known as II, III, and IV, respectively.
As the doors open dead on 7:30, the venue appears as normal. Nothing too out of the ordinary. All of Sleep Token’s instruments and set were on stage already, covered in black sheets. But as time moved along, the music in the venue started to change. Around 8:30pm, everyone in the venue started to notice the change from the jazzy, upbeat tunes, into more sinister, orchestral music. At 8:45pm, a man walked on stage to unveil the set. And the set was pretty simple. A drum kit on the right side. Three microphones on a riser on the left side. And in the middle, a keyboard. 9pm rolled around, and the lights dimmed as the introduction of ‘Chokehold’ started to play over the speakers. The crowd went absolutely ballistic. Adorned in his iconic robe and mask, Vessel appeared next to the keyboard, and gave us the chilling opening verse to ‘Chokehold’, which Brisbane sang loud with him. The rest of the band, as well as 3 monks taking place behind the three microphones on stage, joined Vessel on stage, and proceeded to melt down Brisbane, and this was only the first song.
Sleep Token – The Tivoli – photos by Charlyn Cameron
Up next was the song that has probably garnered Sleep Token the most fame up to this point of their careers, ‘The Summoning’. The crowd got louder than then did on ‘Chokehold’. The loudest sing along of the night though, came at the part you exactly think it did. Right at what’s been dubbed “The Horny Part”. The part where Sleep Token basically morph into funky Deftones. They actually did an extended instrumental before the lyric drop to build anticipation, and when Vessel sang the lyric “Oh, and my love”, the crowd screamed back “Did I mistake you for a sign from God?”. This was genuinely one of the coolest moments I’ve seen at a live show in a long time. From this point, the entire crowd was in Vessel’s hands. Everyone sang along to Hypnosis, and Like That. The room did fall quiet though for ‘Nazareth’, which is a deep cut track that I’d recommend everyone go check out. It’s hidden on one of their really early EPs, but is incredible live.
Sleep Token – The Tivoli – photos by Charlyn Cameron
Going into this show, there were 3 songs I really wanted to hear live. And I got two of them within three songs of each other. Unfortunately, they didn’t play ‘Dark Signs’. But being able to scream the lyrics to ‘Granite’, one of my favourite songs, with Vessel was a cathartic experience. After ‘Aqua Regia’ played, we got my other favourite song, ‘Atlantic’. This song is a beautiful piano ballad, with a massively heavy (for the song) instrumental break before closing out with the opening verse again, and the “don’t wake me” outro. I have to also shout out II’s drumming during this show. Purely as a listener, this guy has to be one of the most technically gifted drummers in music right now. Everything he does sounds so complex, but he makes it look so freaking easy. It’s actually insane.
Sleep Token – The Tivoli – photos by Charlyn Cameron
The main set closed out with ‘Alkaline’, ‘The Love You Want’, and ‘Higher’. ‘Higher’ was actually the first song of the entire show from their debut album, which surprised me. This album has a lot of great tunes on it. Hearing more from this record, like ‘Dark Signs’, ‘Sugar’, or ‘Gods’ would have been awesome. But getting ‘Higher’ to close the set made me really happy. After a short break, Sleep Token, and the monks, returned to the stage to close out the show with ‘The Night Does Not Belong to God’, and ‘The Offering’. In really the only acknowledgement of the crowd all night, Vessel held his hands in prayer to the audience to thank them for their time, before leaving the stage to 3 separate chants of Brisbane begging for one more song. Unfortunately, the ritual for the night is over. But what an unbelievable night.
