Sleep Token are known for many things – anonymity, genre-obliterating sleights of hand, intensely emotional songwriting – but they also have a knack for creating moments. At the start of the year, the band set the internet ablaze by releasing two of their most explosive singles to date (‘Chokehold’, ‘The Summoning’) and smashing the glass ceiling of the UK underground scene in the process. This took place just weeks before they headlined London’s Hammersmith Apollo, by which point they were fast on the way to outgrowing the legendary 5,000-capacity venue.
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Now, they’re creating another moment – their biggest ever, one that is destined to make history. Headlining Wembley Arena seemed like a beautiful way of capping off a year that practically belongs to them, and dazzlingly appropriate for a band who have spent 2023 doing the impossible, including selling the 12,500 arena out in 10 minutes. After all, when was the last time a band, especially one of Sleep Token’s genre, went from the Apollo to Wembley in the space of 11 months? Still, as meteoric as their rise has been, nothing about the set-up tonight feels remotely out of place. Indeed, maybe this was what they were always made for.
Production-wise, everything looks spectacular. The roof of the arena is adorned with rows upon rows of lights that flash through the colours of the rainbow (rather Enter Shikari-esque), while a giant neon sign bearing their logo glows behind the masked quartet. The flashy window dressing only amplifies how gargantuan the band sound in this setting, particularly in the three-part sonic boom that is the opening run of ‘Chokehold’, ‘Hypnosis’ and ‘Vore’. Equally impressive, however, is the band’s adept way of cutting through the theatre for hushed, intimate moments including the elegant ‘Aqua Regia’ and the piano introduction to ‘Rain’.
Sleep Token. Credit: Adamross Williams/Getty
Then there’s a moment of silence. A stagehand comes out with the band and informs the arena that lead vocalist Vessel is not well, and has seemingly lost his voice. It’s a devastating moment considering the significance of tonight’s show, but it continues regardless with the crowd requested to sing along. ‘The Summoning’, ‘Granite’ and ‘The Love You Want’ are sung like an endearing round of karaoke, with drummer II sweetly conducting the crowd in the moments he’s not required to be at his kit.
Some punters, expecting this to be how the remainder of the gig will go, end up leaving. Not only do they miss a beautiful show of solidarity, but they miss the band’s valiant attempt to give their fans the show of their lives. By ‘Atlantic’, Vessel appears able to sing again and soldiers through the rest of the set with the help of bassist III’s fierce screams and backing trio Espera’s dulcet harmonies, even if it means he’s practically whispering the verses of ‘The Offering’.
The question of whether the gig should have gone ahead as planned might well be raised, but the social media discourse would have reared its ugly head regardless of the outcome. With a touring schedule as relentless as Sleep Token’s in 2023, strained vocal cords might have been inevitable but tragically, its timing couldn’t have been worse. But what the band deserve now is commendation for their efforts to push through.
Sleep Token played:
‘Chokehold’
‘Hypnosis’
‘Vore’
‘Dark Signs’
‘Like That’
‘Aqua Regia’
‘Rain’
‘The Summoning’
‘Granite’
‘The Love You Want’
‘Atlantic’
‘Nazareth’
‘Alkaline’
‘Ascensionism’
‘Higher’
‘Take Me Back To Eden’
‘The Offering’
‘Blood Sport’
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