Following the successful Marijuanaut’s Return tour of September 2010, West Coast stoner metal legends SLEEP recently announced three North American dates for 2011. The mini run of dates will include New York City on June 22, Los Angeles on June 26 and an appearance at the Sled Island Music & Arts Festival in Calgary, Alberta, Canada on June 24.
SLEEP 2011 Live Dates:
6/22/2011 Terminal 5 – New York, NY
6/24/2011 Sled Island Festival – Calgary, AB
6/26/2011 The Wiltern – Los Angeles, CA
Said Noisecreep of the band’s last live excursion: “…if the band put any more stacks on the stage, it just might have collapsed.” Added Popdose: “SLEEP was fucking killer and who knows what the future holds… if you get a chance, they are well worth your time and money…be prepared for one of the loudest fucking things you’ve ever heard.” Rolling Stone Brazil gave the band’s performance a perfect 5 out of 5 rating while Redefine Magazine noted: “SLEEP, despite being broken up for over ten years, seemed like they hadn’t missed a beat — and Holy Mountain never sounded so good in the process. This was the definitive show of the weekend, if not the definitive show of my year.”
Check out live footage of the band’s Denver show last year:
SLEEP split in 1997 after two hugely influential albums. Members went on to form OM and High On Fire. Original members Al Cisneros and Matt Pike were joined by drummer Jason Roeder of Neurosis last Fall for a short stint of reunion dates that floored their earliest fans and converted new ones.
The band debuted with 1991’s Volume One album, recorded for San Francisco label Tupelo. Earache Records received the band’s next recordings in the mail as a demo. The label — impressed by SLEEP’s single-mindedness and unique vision — immediately signed the band and released the tape exactly as it was received. Record stores worldwide have stocked SLEEP’s Holy Mountain from November 1992 to this day.
The band then signed to London Records. Their debut album for the major took the form of one mammoth 63-minute leviathan of a track entitled “Jerusalem.” They resisted the label’s attempts at radio edits and bringing in their own engineer to remix the album in view of “marketability.” London balked at the prospect of promoting what probably still is the most extreme music ever recorded for a major label, consequentially shelving the record and dropping the band.
In addition, SLEEP’s music has been featured in films by Harmony Korine and Jim Jarmusch.
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