This was my second Tool show. I saw them last September in Oakland and the entire experience and show made me feel like shit. Oakland sucks and the show was just "good". I ended up becoming a Tool bootleg freak as anyone here knows...I just had to go and listen to every other 2006 and 2007 show for some reason. And you know what? They are all the same. They sound exactly the same. But for some reason I still wanted to go.

Jambi
(-) ions
Stinkfist (extended)
Forty Six & 2
'Vicarious Jam'
Schism
Rosetta Stoned
Flood (w/long intro)
intermission
Wings for Marie
10,000 Days
Lateralus (extended w/Sebastian and Herb)
Holiday in Cambodia (w/Jello Biafra)
Vicarious

In 2006 it looked like they were working out the visuals system and testing the setlist. Now, they have a locked in setlist and it's a complete full out audio and visual experience. When they played Holiday in Cambodia, it was augmented with a few visuals and lights, and only toward the end. The contrast between the simple lighting and visuals for this song compared to the INSANELY powerful visuals of every song before it was huge. It's all about the combined experience.

I had great seats, my girlfriend and I showed up at 6:45 or so; there was no line at Will Call so we got our tickets and walked to the back of the line (which was out to Market by the way). We walked right in, went to the second floor, and found two seats in DEAD CENTER. People give me shit for it, but I just want to kick back and relax. I had my feet propped up on the seat in front of me and my entire vision was filled. They had too much to see, man. They went to 11 on the visuals. And a 0.3 for Holiday in Camboda btw. The seats REALLY matter, it seems. Being in the floor before, I couldn't see the screens on stage or the floors. The lasers just go over and behind your head so it's really no good. Last night I could see everything in front of me perfectly. A very different visual experience. Although, they did add a couple huge screens to the left and right of stage, I suppose for the benefit of those people on the floor. I don't know why they didn't use that setup in 2006; they were already using it in 2002!

MAYNARD was in a great mood. He came out and started making fun of San Francisco, telling us to put our hands in the air and then down to our ass, because it was going to be a long ride. He was in top shape, he sounded more "steady" than he was in Oakland...I didn't hear any wavering vocals. The powerful passages came through, even though he is now mixed way low.

ADAM was awesome. He's chill and creates some great sounds. Loved his playing on Rosetta Stoned.

JUSTIN--love how he stood in the way front while everyone was in the back. He rumbled my balls.

DANNY: so does this guy play the drums or what?

Thoughts:

Did anyone else feel like there was a glitch in the visualization system during Vicarious? I can't remember the exact section of the song, but the visualization stuck to just a plain, unmoving eye that blinked slowly and just stopped. And waited. And blinked slowly. I thought I heard the band quickly waver...and then pick up the pace very fast, and in the next section of the song, everything went back to normal. Or maybe it was my imagination.

Playing that 'Vicarious jam' (that's what the setlists say it is) before Schism was very interesting. I recognized it but its place in the setlist was unique. And duh, they went into Schism like I knew they would. (It was before Schism, right? It may have been Forty Six & 2, I dunno)

My girlfriend was so fucking excited. At her favorite parts she'd grab my leg out of pure excitement! haha, I don't know why, but even after hearing Stinkfist over forty thousand times, there's still enough excitement in it. She thought they were going to play Third Eye (she doesn't know anything about their ions/stinkfist combo) so she was freaking out during (-) ions!

The Civic Auditorium rocks. I'm so glad I didn't have to go to Oakland.

Did anyone else trip? :)


In summary, Tool is amazing in a live context.