What was Vessel supposed to do?
The anonymous masked singer saw two of his bandmates fall ill. The bassist (who answers to III) and the guitarist (IV) got sick before their gig Tuesday (11/5) in Zurich, Switzerland and instead of cancelling, the band agreed the show must go on.
In this case, the Ritual must always rock.
The popular British metal alternative band with three LPs explained on Instagram why they would be using pre-recorded music at their show
"Following the earlier news of IV’s illness, we regret to share that our brother III has now also fallen ill and will be unable to perform tonight," said the statement directed to their 863k followers before the gig began.
"The show will go ahead as planned, using pre-recorded tracks from both III and IV, captured during our recent tour preparations. We always endeavour to avoid cancelling a Ritual unless completely unavoidable, and we hope this outcome is more acceptable to you than a last-minute cancellation."
As you can see from the video the stage is missing two of its members with just Vessel on the mic, II on drums, and the female background singers known as Espera on their riser.
But alas you can hear the guitar and bass in the mix.
Is it weird? Isn't weird what you're hoping for when you go to a Sleep Token show?
Of the 30 gigs Sleep Token played this year, they pretty much stick to the same 13-17 songs. Zurich was no different as Vessel, II, and Espera delivered a very similar 16-track set as to previous 2024 shows, although to the tracks of III and IV.
Not only were fans in attendance and on social media understanding, but the band felt the love and showed their gratitude on IG.
"Zurich, thank you for your unwavering support and for raising your voices with us last night. In the absence of our brothers III and IV, your energy filled the room and carried us through," the group wrote.
"We are grateful beyond words for this collective, and for each of you who shared in the Ritual with us. Your presence means everything."
What Sleep Token did was accepted, many believe, because they were transparent about it.
There are other times when some bands have been caught secretly using backing tracks for music or vocals and the kids aren't too crazy about that.
Ask Paul Stanley of KISS from their gig on 6/6/22. It wasn't a good look when they were allegedly exposed for lipsyncing.
A month later Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe was caught using a track for his drums:
One of Iron Maiden's guitarists, Adrian Smith told the New York Post in 2019 that he's against bands secretly using backing tracks live.
"I tell you what, I see it with a lot of younger bands, and I don't think it's a good thing at all," he explained.
"I mean, the music is getting too technical now. You have computerized recording systems, which we use, but I think we use them more for convenience than because we need to. We've toured with a couple bands that use tapes — it's not real. You're supposed to play live; it should be live. I don't agree with using tapes … I think it's a real shame."
Sleep Token would argue that the shame would have been in cancelling the show.
But because they were honest about everything their fans were forgiving.
After it was over the band put out another message on IG, of thanks.
"Zurich, thank you for your unwavering support and for raising your voices with us last night. In the absence of our brothers III and IV, your energy filled the room and carried us through," it said on Instagram along with several photos including one of two masks laying next to each other.
"We are grateful beyond words for this collective, and for each of you who shared in the Ritual with us. Your presence means everything."
Sleep Token are on the road in Europe through the middle of next month. Go to their website for tickets but if you get a chance to hug III and/or IV, you might wanna take a raincheck for now.
