I had a terrible day Sunday.  The 49ers got their asses kicked when they should have been the ones kicking ass.  Fucking Jimmy Raye has no balls.  However, there was an event on Sunday, that made the night an extremely memorable night.  Iconic stoner metal three piece Sleep performed their first of two reunion shows in their home town.  Parking was a hassle and expensive, boy, I’ve never paid 18 bucks to park in my whole life.  After entering the Regency Ballroom, I decided to make my way over to the merch table, which I was certain would have some killer stuff for me to waste my money on.  70 bucks later, I was ready to see one of my favorite bands on the planet.

However, I was first required to see one man drone act, Thrones.  If I had known a second show would be announced, I probably would have chosen the second day, as Black Cobra and Saviours are certainly up my alley.  While his form of droneish, vocoder enhanced drone wasn’t for me at first, it started to click with me.  It then became apparent to me that this one drone was a single song, which only made up about 2/3 of Thrones’ set.  He wisely spent the rest of the set playing a different, more focused form of sludgy doom, sans vocoder.  While I wouldn’t go running to all my amigos saying Thrones is the next thing to sweep the metal world, I thought he was entertaining, much more than I would have anticipated a one man doom/drone band.

You know how sometimes in between the direct support band and the headliner they set up real quick then just wait twenty minutes?  I hate that.  There was no movement on stage and I could see Matt back stage.  In the time waiting I could have listened to half of Dopesmoker…Eventually though, the trio hit the stage, standing in their place not moving an inch.  Then, an astronaut bounded on the stage towards bassist/vocalist Al Cisneros and guitarist Matt Pike, handing them their instruments.  Then, a bewildered looking Pike strummed the opening chord to their legendary, over an hour long opus, Dopesmoker.

Throughout their set, I watched the surrounding crowd go crazy, and several of them enjoying their favorite illegal substance.  My eyes were glued to the band, and I had felt like I was seeing something special.  I have seen Matt Pike four times, all with High on Fire.  I feel as though him not performing vocals allows him to become a more enthralling stage presence, as opposed to High on Fire where he is restricted by the mic.  Also, I have to express my apologies to the Regency Ballroom.  I have been quite outspoken about my distaste for their sound there, but on Sunday, the sound was quite good.  I’ve seen a ton of shows there, and this one was the best sounding by far.  Hopefully they can keep it up.  After an hour and a half of hearing some of the heaviest stoner tunes of all time, I was exhausted, but Sleep still had a few minutes of Dopesmoker left for us.  They had reunited and played for the home town, and out-played almost every other band I have seen live.  An incredible performance.

Thrones: 6.5/10
Sleep: 10/10