The Regency Ballroom is on the Northeast corner of Van Ness & Sutter in downtown SF. The venue is in the name; an old ballroom with a large standing floor and balcony that probably fits about 2000 I’d expect. I arrive just in time to have a beer before the duo Black Cobra opened the show. The band’s simplistic hardcore sludge metal was impressive in size and muscularity especially considering they consist of drums, guitar and vocals but their sound was marred by a mix lacking clarity and definition. However, their songs had enough head banging parts to keep me and the rest of the crowd engaged and sparked enough interest from me to make a mental note to check out their records.

Saviours were up second, and their set thankfully did not suffer from a poor mix like Black Cobra’s did. In fact, they sounded pristine! Both guitarists had incredible guitar tone and their often harmonizing riffs and leads inspired many a metal hand in the crowd and from myself. Saviours throwback stoner/thrash metal sounds straight out of the 70s & 80s like some combination of Sabbath, Megadeth and Mötörhead. Ballsy with swagger and an affinity for the twin leads of Iron Maiden. The only negative to their set, especially compared to the intensity of Black Cobra before them, was their slight lack of energy on stage (which could very well be attributed to their ridiculous touring schedule right now.) The energy only subsided from time to time, but it was enough to be distracting from the power of their rock. Even so, Saviours were tight and I wouldn’t pass up the chance to see them live again.

Which brings us to the band of the evening, the briefly reunited Sleep! I had only heard Sleep’s Jerusalem (still haven’t heard the alternate take, or proper take depending on your perspective, Dopesmoker yet) and Sleep’s Holy Mountain this past winter when I received my introduction to the band while reading Decibel’s 25 Metal Masterpiece’s book which inspired a two month long stoner and sludge metal binge. I still haven’t quite gotten over that as Harvey Milk and Electric Wizard have been on my iPod pretty steadily since. Still, there was something about Jerusalem that hadn’t quite grabbed me yet that I felt could be achieved by experiencing it live. Having been given the opportunity to be in San Francisco, I jumped on the chance to see Sleep.

With a giant photo of the guitar god Tony Iommi projected behind them, Sleep’s set opened with one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen at a concert. After the lights dimmed and the house music stopped, someone dressed in a full spacesuit walked across the stage and before finally exiting stage left, the spacemask opened just enough to let out a large puff of smoke to a rousing applause. This spaceman, the Marijuanaut, would return several times throughout the band’s set, blowing smoke into each individual musician’s face. After the initial spacewalk, Matt Pike walked on stage and opened their set with the beginning of Jerusalem.

As soon as the rest of the band joined Pike on stage, the crowd around me burst into football mosh. I was utterly shocked! Shouldn’t we all just be bobbing our heads and swaying to the stoned grooves? These people were amped! I quickly made my way to the back of the pit, and watched as Sleep plowed through Jerusalem, taking a break every 10 minutes or so to insert cuts from Sleep’s Holy Mountain. Experiencing the songs live, hearing them loud, and feeling the vibration of the room and the love the community of people around me had for the band and the songs definitely made all the difference for my relationship to Sleep. It goes without saying the band was good, and particularly tight considering they haven’t played together in about 15 years.

Despite the tightness of the performance, their was an obvious disconnect between the band members themselves. During the several multiple minute breaks the band would take between couplets of songs there was only silence; absolutely no banter between the musicians, or even an acknowledgement of each other’s presence which made me wonder why the band decided to play again at all. Maybe that is just Sleep’s way of doing things but it made me feel like an outsider which is the exact opposite of the way I want to feel at a show, especially a metal show.

However, the whole experience was well worth the time and expense and all of the bands inspired some serious head banging that had been severely lacking in my life lately. I would be remiss not to add that the brief time spent with your scene, San Francisco, you seem pretty awesome. I hope to come back again very soon.

While seeming trite and rather comical at the moment, the pastor encapsulated the meaning of community as well as making it clear how each member should respond to Lars. Through the love that each member shares throughout the film, Lars begins to understand that he is loved, and the delusion fades.

What is it about love that is so hard for many of us to practice in community? How are we responding to those at the fringes (Lars and his church or coworkers), and those who are close (Lars and his brother.) What can we do to create a loving atmosphere for those who truly having something wrong with them? And how can we love ourselves to prevent things like that happening to us on small and large scales?