Sleepy Sun 2012 Tour Dates

[redcloud]

I've promoted this band several times over the years in this forum. I still miss Rachel's voice and what she brought to their live show...but things go on and the last time I saw them (Sept 2011) they were very good and still had the power to move me even without her.

The new album is now out (anybody hear it yet? I still need to get my copy!) -both 'Embrace' and 'Fever' easily won my record of the year award in 2009 and 2010. I'm hopeful the third is as good as its predecessors.

Their live show comes highly recommended.

2012 US/Canada & European Tour Dates:

Apr 16 Mohawk Place Buffalo, NY
Apr 17 Beachland Tavern Cleveland, OH
Apr 18 Motr Pub Cincinnati, OH
Apr 19 Majestic Garden Bowl Detroit, MI
Apr 20 Subterranean Chicago, IL
Apr 21 Off Broadway Club St Louis, MO
Apr 22 Conservatory Oklahoma City, OK
Apr 24 Mohawk Outside Stage Austin, TX
Apr 25 Orange Center for Arts Houston, TX
Apr 26 Siberia New Orleans, LA
Apr 27 529 Club Atlanta, GA
Apr 28 King's Barcade Raleigh, NC
Apr 29 DC 9 Washington, DC
May 01 The Mill Iowa City, IA
May 02 Cactus Bar Milwaukee, WI
May 03 7th Street Entry Minneapolis, MN
May 04 The Aquarium Fargo, ND
May 05 LoPub & Bistro Winnipeg, Canada
May 06 Amigo's Saskatoon, Canada
May 07 New City Legion Edmonton, Canada
May 08 Broken City Calgary, Canada
May 10 Biltmore Cabaret Vancouver, Canada
May 11 Lucky Bar Victoria, Canada
May 12 Barboza at Neumo's Seattle, WA
May 13 Mississippi Studios Portland, OR
May 18 The Independent San Francisco, CA
May 23 Vera Club Groningen, Netherlands
May 24 Berghain Berlin, Germany
May 24 BERGHAIN / Kantine Berlin, Germany
May 25 Molotow Hamburg, Germany
May 26 Le Guess Who Festival Utrecht, Netherlands
May 27 IBYM/ATP at Alexandria Palace London, United Kingdom
May 28 Trix Antwerpen, Belgium
May 29 Het Depot Leuven, Belgium
May 30 Le Grand Mix Tourcoing, France
May 31 Point FMR Paris, France
Jun 02 Primavera Festival- ATP Stage Barcelona, Spain
Jun 03 Grim Montevido Marseille, France
Jun 04 sPAZIO 211 Turin To, Italy
Jun 05 Rote Fabrik Zurich, Switzerland
Jun 06 Dachstadt Bern, Switzerland
Jun 07 Hana Bi Ravenna, Italy
Jun 09 Primavera Festival- ATP Stage Porto, Portugal

[Laz69]

Just one UK date??? Thats a bit shitty...

[runcible]

Yeah, rubbish. Sadly the reputation of the UK as a country where venues don't look after their bands is still intact. Rightly so unfortunately.

[sunray]

Still no Irish date. Maybe next year then......

Heard the new album, pretty good but would've liked it to be a bit dirtier. I should point out that i was absolutely hammered in a mates house when i heard it last week so i'd have to give it a sober listen at home to really know what to think of it.

[redcloud]

New album 'Spine Hits' is streaming on their website:

http://www.clashmusic.com/feature/strea ... spine-hits

[redcloud]

Portland....tonight!

Have to say, I am really stoked about this gig! I have had the new album on heavy rotation since I bought it and with every listen it is better than the previous spin. Can't wait to hear these new songs live.

[Laz69]

Very very jealous bud! Waiting for your report...

[redcloud]

Nice lazy day spent cooking, a bit of gardening, eating, drinking and playing board games. Can't imagine a better way to finish it than to see a great live band whose music really moves me.

Will report back later Laz.

[redcloud]

What a superb venue (Mississippi Studios) and a brilliant band! Absolutely great, yet again but it really is a treat to see any band in the Studios. They were at the end of a six week US tour so they were pretty burned out but they still absolutely delivered the goods. The new songs were well rehearsed and with exception to "Martyrs Mantra", they were faithful to the record. The set featured old and new and they still did plenty of jamming. Some phenomenal acid/peyote drenched jams that just continue to develop every time I see them. "Sandstorm Woman" for instance now has added guitar where Rachel used to sing (as well as Evan singing). This seems new to me since the last time I saw them. Because of this it has now become their own take on the tune and the more they play it the less you expect to hear her vocals.

I have to say that one of the true highlights tonight was "Martyrs Mantra". It is an absolute barnstormer live. The riff and its groove are hypnotic.

Set list:

New Age
Stivey Pond
She Rex
Siousie Blaqq
Creature
Desert God
Boat Trip
Wild Machines
Martyrs Mantra
VOG
Sandstorm Woman
E: White Dove (by request)

[redcloud]

They have added some dates on their way home from Europe. Looks like they fly into Vancouver then work their way down the coast! Back in Portland on June 16!

Jun 15 Commodore Ballroom Vancouver, Canada
Jun 16 Doug Fir Portland, OR
Jun 17 Showbox at the Market Seattle, WA
Jun 20 The Cellar Door Visalia, CA
Jun 21 Nomad Gallery Los Angeles, CA
Jun 22 Pappy & Harriet's Place Pioneertown, CA
Jun 23 Moon Block Party Pomona, CA

[angelsighs]

seems like they are doing more UK dates in September.. playing Birmingham on Sep 10th which I'll be going to, Liverpool on 11th, but can't seem to find details of any more (nothing on website)

[Laz69]

Fingers crossed for a Glasgow date, but i'll not hold my breath just yet!

[redcloud]

Well, their return to Portland later this week is actually an opening spot for the Dandy Warhols. Tickets are $25. I've decided that I'm not going to pay $25 to see a 45 minute condensed Sleepy Sun set.

[redcloud]

European festivals seem to have Sleepy Sun returning to Europe for a September tour:

Sep 08 Stad Als Podium Festival Haarlem, Netherlands
Sep 09 Bestival Isle Of Wight, United Kingdom
Sep 10 Hare and Hounds Birmingham, United Kingdom
Sep 11 Kazimier Liverpool, United Kingdom
Sep 12 Garage London, United Kingdom
Sep 13 Incubate Festival Tilburg, Netherlands
Sep 14 Leffingeleuren Festival Leffinge, Belgium
Sep 15 Take Root Festival Groningen, Netherlands
Sep 16 EL DORADO FESTIVAL Paris, France
Sep 17 Cafe Central Weinheim, Germany
Sep 18 Atomic Cafe Munich, Germany
Sep 19 Chelsea Vienna, Austria
Sep 20 Steinbruch Duisburg, Germany
Sep 21 Beatpol Dresden, Germany
Sep 22 Reeperbahn Festival Hamburg, Germany
Sep 23 Roter Salon Berlin, Germany
Sep 26 Bergen Kjott Bergen, Norway
Sep 27 John Dee Sankt Hanshaugen, Norway
Sep 28 Pustervik Göteborg, Sweden
Sep 29 Debaser Stockholm, Sweden
Sep 30 Loppen Copenhagen, Denmark
Oct 01 Paradiso Amsterdam, Netherlands

[runcible]

Liverpool? Birmingham? There is a force-field around Yorkshire to keep out decent gigs these days...

[spzretent]

Not for long

[angelsighs]

went to see Sleepy Sun last night at the Hare and Hounds in Brum.
the turnout was pitiful. I think the venue holds 250 and there was 50 there at the very most. it was kind of weird.
they put on a really good show though, the guitars sounded nice and trippy and they had quite a big, layered sound. love the fat but warm bass tone too. I've only got the first album so the songs I recognised were White Dove (which segued in from a floaty opening number that I didn't know), Red/Black, New Age.. also, I know people have been saying the latest album is more song based but the whole set fitted together, none of the songs jarred or anything. there was one song I really liked that had a intro of rapid picking and rimshots developing into some great soloing. what I like about the band is that flow they have- everything sounds 'liquid' as it unfolds.

I will say I much preferred them when I saw them last- they still had Rachel then and not only was she a great focal point, but the singer doesn't have the biggest voice in the world so something felt slightly missing. I guess as they write more and more songs without Rachel it will be less of an issue. plus it had that impact of when you first see a band and they blow you away, this was just a well played, solid show, and the very sparse crowd really kind of sucked the atmosphere out of the room (not helped that the venue had put some tables out so a lot of people were sitting down)
and they only played for an hour- seeing as they have 3 albums now I could have done with more Sleepy Sun rather than either of the support acts, neither of whom were my cup of tea.

[Laz69]

thats tragic... but i suppose that kinda underlies why many bands rarely venture outwith London

[Aquarian-Time]

Im at liverpool tinight, cant see there being many there either, there never is at The kazimier, great venue met with complete apathy by the locals. Hope I'm wrong

[angelsighs]

Im at liverpool tinight, cant see there being many there either, there never is at The kazimier, great venue met with complete apathy by the locals. Hope I'm wrong

hope you're wrong too..
actually I think it was yourself who told me that you didn't find the new material as involving as the earlier stuff. although I didn't enjoy last nights show as much as the one I saw in 2009, was still a good set. will be interested to hear your opinion on the Liverpool show.

thats tragic... but i suppose that kinda underlies why many bands rarely venture outwith London

yeah it was kinda tragic, and made the gig feel a bit weird and awkward. like it or not, the crowd can make all the difference in the feel and atmosphere of a gig. the band definitely put on a good show, but if I was them i'd definitely be bummed out.

[olan]

Im at liverpool tinight, cant see there being many there either, there never is at The kazimier, great venue met with complete apathy by the locals. Hope I'm wrong

Bollocks! I didn't know this was on I would have enjoyed this.....

[Aquarian-Time]

Well as predicted, not many in, although the crowd was appreciative of the band who, as ever, gave it everything.

Crowd peaked at 60 max. 100 in there would be ideal, like angelsighs quite correctly states, it does make all the difference.
Spoke to Evan, one of the guitarists before the show and he said the band really enjoyed Birmingham and we re just happy to play in the home of Black Sabbath !! Also he said they have played in front of a lot less in he US, so for a Monday night, there were not too dissapointed.

Suprisingly enough they played very few new songs, on the recent tours they have played 7-8 new songs and a couple of old er tunes, but that was reversed (thankfully for me)
Set was Intro/Newsong, White Dove, REd/Black, Open Eyes, Martyrs Mantra, Golden Artefact (first time I have heard them do this), Deep War, Desert God, Marina and New Age

The sound as always in The Kazimier was excellent and the singers vocals improve every time I see them. Twice with the female singer and twice without and to be honest i prefer them without. She was a bit too prominant in the first two shows I saw, and either drowned him out or he took a back seat, I dont know which. Now he sings with real gusto and didnt drop a note all night as I could see

One of my favourite bands and again a great show, but lost on the Liverpool scene......again

Just a footnote, spoke to the promotor, who is also putting on the Psych festival on the 29th. Tickets still available 20 quid, 2pm till 4am and by crikey there are some great acts lined up. They hope to have nigh on 800 people in attendance which would be a great effort. Other acts confirmed are The See See, Time and space machine, Dead Skeletons, Wolf People, Mugstar, Lucid dream, Baltic Fleet, Koolaid electric company, Black manila, Black Market Karma, The Shook Ups and loads more I cant remember. I shall be there, god knows what state I will be in by 4am though !!!

[angelsighs]

glad to hear the band enjoyed Birmingham.
thanks for the setlist too- I've worked out the song that I really enjoyed, it was Martyr's Mantra, great song!!

[redcloud]

Depending on where they are playing in the US I am sure the audience can be smaller. For example a show in St. Louis will have a smaller crowd (presumably) than Portland or Seattle.

But, I have seen them four times...twice with Rachel and twice with out and I do think their crowd has dwindled a bit since Rachel left. This is a shame as I think they still rock (yes, I too miss Rachel). It is what it is and they now need to go out and try and win new fans. We're the ones who can help....get the word out and next time they come to your city take a friend!

Angelsighs, 'Martyrs Mantra' is brilliant....I love the hypnotic riff they hit in that tune. Aquarian, was the opening song 'Stivey Pond' or was it a new tune all together?

[angelsighs]

Angelsighs, 'Martyrs Mantra' is brilliant....I love the hypnotic riff they hit in that tune.

yeah hypnotic is the word, loved that song!! think I might grab the latest album, so they've got at least one more album sale from the show

[Aquarian-Time]

New tune alltogether, it was slow build up and then rocked out a bit at the end. on their set list they just called it Intro. I do like Stivey Pond so was bit gutted they didnt play it