Sleep Token — Revolver's Artist of the Year — capped their breakthrough 2023 last night (December 16th) with a massive headlining show at the 12,500-capacity OVO Arena Wembley in London, U.K.
It was unarguably Vessel and Co.'s biggest show of their career thus far, and the epic 18-song set was filled with some unexpected twists and turns.
First, the band's instrumental trio, who go by the pseudonyms II, III and IV, revealed stunning new masks with a nu-metal-esque flair, making each member much more visually distinct from each other. Posts on social media announced the masks as the kickoff element of the group's "new era."
Then there were the dancers. During "Ascensionism" and "Rain," the band were joined onstage by a quartet of professional dancers who banged through various routines while Sleep Token played. Much like how pop singers are frequently flanked by dancers, it created a whole new visual dimension to Sleep Token's live spectacle.
Alas, there were also some technical difficulties. Eight songs into the set, shortly after the second of four interludes, Vessel disappeared from stage for a couple minutes and then returned with one of his technicians. The stagehand had a bombshell announcement to make.
"So Vessel can't sing," he said. "But you guys can. So you guys need to sing with us. We're doing the set. [Vessel's] staying on stage.
"Maybe he'll do a couple lines here and there but he's not well. So you guys gotta be loud, OK?"
As captured in video of the unexpected moment, the crowd is incredibly supportive of Vessel's struggle, and the whole stadium erupts in an affirmative cheer to signal that they would do everything they could to make the show go on.
And it did. For another 10 songs, Sleep Token continued to play, with Vessel stepping up to the mic when he could, and the crowd of devotees screaming every word to show they had his back.
Hell, the masked frontman was even having a visibly great time despite his vocal hiccup. During an instrumental breakdown in "The Summoning," he was playfully lifting some weights onstage in time with the music, clearly having a ball up there.
The setlist throughout the night contained songs from all three Sleep Token albums, but was naturally heavy on tracks from this year's Take Me Back to Eden. Notably, the band closed out the whole night with "Blood Sport," giving the Sundowning cut its tour debut and throwing fans for a loop.
Altogether, Sleep Token's first arena headliner looked like it was a smash success. Check out video above and below via YouTube, and see the setlist courtesy of Setlist.fm after the jump.
For a deep dive into the band's just-past era, order Revolver's new Sleep Token collector's issue, featuring rare photos, a breakdown of their album trilogy, famous fan tributes, and more, at our shop.
Sleep Token 12/16/23 setlist:
Chokehold
Hypnosis
Vore
Interlude I
Dark Signs
Like That
Aqua Regia
Interlude II
Rain (with dancers)
The Summoning (Audience sings for Vessel after losing his voice)
Granite (Audience sings for Vessel after losing his voice)
The Love You Want (Audience sings for Vessel after losing his voice; with dancers)
Interlude III
Atlantic
Nazareth
Alkaline
Ascensionism (with dancers)
Higher
Interlude IV
Take Me Back to Eden
Encore:
The Offering
Encore 2: Blood Sport (tour debut)
