Phases of the SunnO)))

Yesterday I went to see the Eagle Twin/Pelican/Earth/SunnO))) show at the Masonic Temple in Brooklyn. I got there pretty late which led to missing Eagle Twin, who by all accounts were pretty rad, and Pelican (meh whatever).

Here's my recap of the show:

Phase 1: Get to show, up since 4am. Excited to see Earth possibly play old stuff through big sound system. Meet friends. Slayer playing as in between bands jams. Feeling: joy

Phase 2: Earth plays all new stuff. No earplugs required. Feeling: hard to tell, drifting in and out of sleep.

Phase 3: Go to bathroom, drink water so as not to fall asleep for longer during Earth. Too relaxing after long day. Feeling: Hippy mellow

Phase 4: Earth Ends set after 3 songs/45minutes, set up for SunnO))) starts. Between band music of "Lhopsang and Tenzin's Greatest Sherpa Chanting Jams Of The Late-Colonial Period" start. Feeling: Anticipation

Phase 5: ~12:05-12:10 Set up stops, lights go down, smoke machines start. "Lhopsang and Tenzin's Greatest Sherpa Chanting Jams Of The Late-Colonial Period" continues, on itunes repeat one song. Sound check can be described as, "Yup, sounds like SunnO))) alright." Also known as "loud." Amp count 1 Massive Earth something or other bass amp I think, 8 vintage Sunn Model T's. Total for the guitar amps: somewhere between 960 and 1200 Watts. Feeling: Still anticipation, wonder at how they're going to fill a space that's at least 5000sqft with 30ft ceilings entirely with fog.

Phase 6: ~12:40 "Lhopsang and Tenzin's Greatest Sherpa Chanting Jams Of The Late-Colonial Period" still playing for the 6th time at least, room now entirely filled with smoke machine fog. Feeling: bored as fuck, sore feet, sleepy.

Phase 7: ~12:45. Monks finally show up, shit gets real loud. Cool. Feeling: Um... vibratey. Zonked.

Phase 8: Emperor Palpatine shows up for guest vocals. Sounds like 45rpm record of Bill and Ted futuristic dudes and Beavis and Butthead being played at 5rpm to mimic "Lhopsang and Tenzin's Greatest Sherpa Chanting Jams Of The Late-Colonial Period". I swear to fucking Satan himself I hear/saw this dude do the "Be excellent to each other" salute. Also, pretty sure I heard the emperor say "I need Teepee," and "Bungholio" real real slow. Feeling: Supreme amusement. Slight confusion.

Phase 9: Trombone player shows up to join Emperor Palpatine Guitars back off. Sounds a bit rusty... Feeling: Officially confused.

Phase 10: Emperor leaves, guitars come back. Still sounds like SunnO))). Feeling: Back to vibratey zonked feeling. Relief.

Phase 11: Kaiju Big Battle man sized spikey mirrored shard covered sea cucumber appears from dense green fog. Feeling: Ok seriously? What the fuck?

Phase 12: Kaiju-Big-Battle-man-sized-spikey-mirrored-shard-covered-sea-cucumber turns into even more ridiculous Hybrid-of-Emperor-Palpatine-Kaiju-Big-Battle-man-sized-spikey-mirrored-shard-covered-bird-demon-with-huge-even-spikier-crown-of-mirror-liberty-spike-horns-with-laser-pointer-in-his-fingers. Returns to singing about bungholes in the style of "Lhopsang and Tenzin's Greatest Sherpa Chanting Jams Of The Late-Colonial Period." Feeling: Unsure... Mind hasn't fully processed this yet

Phase 13: ~ 15 seconds after phase 12, mind processes Kaiju Big Battle man sized spikey mirrored shard covered sea cucumber turns into even more ridiculous hybrid of Hybrid-of-Emperor-Palpatine-Kaiju-Big-Battle-man-sized-spikey-mirrored-shard-covered-bird-demon-with-huge-even-spikier-crown-of-mirror-liberty-spike-horns-with-laser-pointer-in-his-fingers. Feeling: Laughing too hard to even watch as Hybrid-of-Emperor-Palpatine-Kaiju-Big-Battle-man-sized-spikey-mirrored-shard-covered-bird-demon-with-huge-even-spikier-crown-of-mirror-liberty-spike-horns-with-laser-pointer-in-his-fingers shines laser pointer fingers into his spiky mirror crown of thorns

Phase 14: ~1.5hrs and 30 chords since the beginning of the set. Feeling: This is fucking ridiculous, I'm out.

Yup that's a SunnO))) show for ya. Verdict: Not enough drugs in the world.

EDIT: After sending this review to Josh of the Sleepies, we had a conversation that can be summed up as

Josh: "I kinda figured out that I don't really like SunnO))) at all."

Me: "Josh, nobody actually likes SunnO))). We all just pretend to because everyone else is pretending to."