Sleep Token Brings Even In Arcadia to Brooklyn, NY
BY OLIVIA LEON
Photo Credit: Adamross Williams
On night five of their eagerly awaited Even In Arcadia tour, Sleep Token brought their universe to life in Brooklyn’s very own Barclays Center. Long before doors were set to open, excited chatter quickly lined the streets surrounding the venue — crowds adorned with everything from band merch dating back to Sleep Token’s earlier tours to full outfits inspired by the band members’. These fans had been waiting for tonight and it showed.
As the line progressed into the venue, fans filled out the arena in preparation for the opener. Australia's up and coming metalcore band Thornhill was Sleep Token’s opener of choice for the tour, and they were met with nothing but open ears and excitement. “Vessel wants you,” was the message Thornhill’s management received, the band told Revolver, and so did Brooklyn. As the band began their most popular song “Obsession,” the pit quickly transformed into a swarm of headbanging and arms raised in anticipation, and the Thornhill did not disappoint. While the whole arena might not have been as die hard listeners of Thornhill as they were of Sleep Token coming in, I can guarantee you the band most definitely left with new fans.
In between the two bands’ sets, the arena began to fill with fog and sounds of wind, an atmospheric homage to the Sleep Token’s opening song “Look To Windward.” The venue overflowed with screams and lit up in phones ready to record as the lights dimmed and the band’s iconic logo projected onto the curtain. Instead of waiting for the curtain to fall, the opening notes of the song began soon after the arena went dark, lead singer Vessel's voice drawing the audience still. But as the curtain dropped, the venue thrummed with movement, the breakdown of the song filling the audience and band alike with energy. The band danced across the stage fully immersed in and enjoying the moment they worked to create.
Long gone the days of small stages and intimate venues, Sleep Token’s Even In Arcadia tour boasts elaborate set design, sharp lighting, and a night of visual intrigue. With the drop of a curtain, Sleep Token fans are transported into a world built for them to live in, even if just for a couple hours. This, the band shows us, is Arcadia — the stone-like set design flourished with several platforms, stairs and even a waterfall.
With a fifteen song setlist, Sleep Token takes us through eras of the band, performing songs from all four albums and even their first EP. Alternating between clean vocals, riffing, and screams, Vessel's vocals resonate more confidently than ever through the venue — a conversation with the audience as they sing the lyrics back word-for-word.
Photo Credit: Adamross Williams
And yet amidst the vastness of Vessel’s vocal performance, a conversation between audience and performer is not always audible. As an interlude of album visuals play across venue screens between “Thread the Needle” and “Damocles,” the audience readies their phones scattering purple and orange lights across the room. Fan organized group Projekt Damocles had coordinated with fans prior to the show for their phones to illuminate the venue in purple and orange lights during the song “Damocles.” As one volunteer from the project explained in line, the lights are a show of care for the band, everyone in the room, and the messages the song “Damocles” delves into.
While many bands have that one song that wrings emotion from every corner of the room, flashlights thrown up with ease, much like during “Damocles,” Sleep Token seems to do this easily throughout their set. From hard-hitting instrumentals to vocals infused with utter rawness and intensity, the band pours themselves into their live performance, every note feeling more and more like a confession of emotion than staged theatrics. Grounding drums and bass, from II, Sleep Token’s drummer, and III, the band’s bassist, rumble through the audience as an invitation to move together, drawing fans out from their seats in collective movement. Backing vocal trio, Espera, and IV, the band’s guitarist and backing vocalist, are heard clearer than ever, their voices and guitar effortlessly adding new depth to the live renditions of Sleep Token’s songs. Each instrumentalist and vocalist drags the audience in closer and closer until the arena feels a lot smaller than it did a couple hours ago.
And though the band may incite quite a few tears and many screams from its fans, they are certainly not all serious. From interacting with each other on stage to wandering the elaborate set to gesturing towards fans, quiet laughter joyfully cuts between the screams. So maybe it's instead the circles III spins in or the ones Vessel dances in, but this band is truly hypnotizing.
The band fittingly closes out the set on the final track off the Even In Arcadia album, “Infinite Baths.” Within the band’s lore and amongst its fans, these concerts are called “rituals” and fans show up to “worship.” This becomes perfectly clear throughout the final song — a truly spiritual experience. As the waterfall streams down and Vessel sings into the audience, the realization that the concert is coming to an end seems to hit everyone in the room, relishing every word just a bit more. The band concludes the song with Vessel joining III and IV on the guitar centerstage for the song’s final instrumental section, a captivating and iconic visual. And as the band graciously thanks the crowd, heads off stage, and the lights begin to flicker on, the audience remains entranced, still held by the experience the band had cultivated. Exits buzz with contentment and awe.
Photo Credit: Adamross Williams
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