Nov. 17th 2007 New Orleans Arena.
2 Floor Tickets

Set List (to the best of my memory) :
Jambi
Stinkfist
46 & 2
Schism
Rosetta Stoned
Flood (w/ full intro)
*Extended Instrumental / Intermission*
Wings for Marie
10000 Days
Lateralus
Vicarious

This is my second Tool Show, my first was at Voodoo in 2001, and that show sets the standard, because they played for 3 hours and they had sky dancers.

My date and I entered the arena at 7:30 after doing the requisite good deed of giving away an extra stands ticket (yes, given away). We made our way to the floor with plenty of time to get within about 8-10 feet of the stage. We were on stage right, (the left side). The stage was draped in black tarps, and only had two keyboards, and a drum set uncovered. Promptly at 8:30 (after a few minutes of socializing with the crowd and turning down many many offers to smoke) the lights dimmed and the opening act Trans Am took the stage.

There were of course a few of "that guy"s in the audience yelling for them to get off of the stage, but Trans Am was actually pretty good. Which is a lesson to all of us to not be "that guy". (nor the guy who yells "Play Freebird") But anyway, Trans Am played about 6 songs, which were all up beat. At least two of the three members are multi-instrumentalists which I found was cool. By 8:30 they had completed their set and schlepped their equipment off stage.

The sound guys and several people dressed in haz-mat suits and lab coats pulled off the tarps to reveal 4 rear projection screens and Danny's Drum set. There were two additional projection screens suspended to the left and right of the stage respectively. And one large screen suspended in back. There were also three light rings suspended above the stage, the center of which had a neon dream catcher and the other two of which contained light projectors.

The next 30 minutes was spent milling about while the road crew and sound crew prepped the equipment for the headliners. Then the lights dimmed again, and first Danny (wearing an LA Clippers jersey), then Adam (with braided Pigtails), then Justin (Bass in hand), took the stage, and started into the warm-up jam. Maynard (in a cowboy hat) came on last and took a position stage-right of Danny. Adam on stage-right (where we were) and Justin was on stage-left. They broke into a disjointed warm-up which soon came into focus as the opening song: Jambi. The entire crowd sang along, and at times Maynard tipped the microphone towards us to let us sing it for him. The rear projection screens had the eye from Lateralus distorted with waves of red static snow passing through it. Over all the band seemed to be enjoying the performance just as much as the crowd was. Danny was smiling and jamming away and Adam and Justin were really intently focused on their guitars (or bass guitar in Justin's case).

Jambi concluded, and after a few seconds of distortion and noise the band jumped into Stinkfist. Which of course got the crowd exceedingly pumped and body surfing ensued. Once Stinkfist had finished, The rear screens displayed an electrical arc and the sound or that arcaccompanied it. Maynard took this time to have a quick banter with the crowd and asked how we were doing, and he of course received a phenomenal amount of love for the gesture. Techs scurried around in the back doing this and that.

Then 46&2 started after an extended intro and rocked really Really REALLY Hard. This was the first time that I noticed that slam dancing had broken out in the middle of the crowd. And the rear screens played a loop of Fire. I could feel the drum and bass in my chest and it was getting a little overwhelming. Then the screens played a loop of nude women swimming. As it built to a crescendo and I looked over at my date, and she was completely stunned. (it was her first concert, let alone first Tool show) Then it dropped down to silence, and the crowd was already at it's breaking point.

Then the circular metronome drifted across the project screens and they launched into Schism. Even though I was on the opposite side of the stage from Justin, I could see him bending the bass to his will, drawing the hypnotic bass-line out of the stings by pure force of will and hammer-ons. The crowd seemed to be entranced by this, and were swaying in unison, more mumbling the words than singing them and being transfixed on the video being played on the screens.


Then the band went into Flood(I believe; My mind was pretty well blown by this point and I forgot to jot down the song) I at first mistook it for Part of me, then Push it, but finally I realized it was a modified version of Flood. I thought my senses were overloaded already, but then...

The three light rings changed position to flood the crowd with a red and white light spin and a low rumble and feedback is all remained. This went on for about 5 minutes. Allowing "Recovery time"


We were brought out of this state by Maynard who used a bullhorn for most of the next song, babbling incoherently into the mouthpiece until the familiar drum beat of Rosetta Stoned took over. Because the song has such a long build up I was experiencing a large amount of restlessness. So when the song finally reached it's main parts I almost knocked the guy next to me over. I think it was some time around this that Justin pulled a chair on stage and sat down. The conclusion of RS brought us to the intermission.


Wings for Marie. Slow and plodding, it gave me just enough time to recover so that I could enjoy the second part of the song. Because the songs are linked, it was obvious what was coming next: 10000 Days. The projection screens had clouds and distortions of clouds depending on how intense the song was at that moment. And it was good and somehow cathartic for the bad day I had been having.

The next song was Lateralus; which i expected at some point in the show, but what I did not expect was that Sebastian from Trans Am (Yes the opening band) came on to accompany Danny on Drums for the song. And the power of one good drummer (as great as Danny Carey is) is nothing compared to the power of two good drumers drumming well together. Danny was grinning ear-to-ear and spent a good bit of time watching Sebastian, and it was at times like a drum battle. But not so competitive that it overshadowed the great show that was going on; and the light show at this point was getting beyond phenomenal. Lasers and smoke machines created a roof of light that was ebbing and flowing, spinning and criss-crossing, and rising and falling. Like a lattice work of light. The projection screens looped a double helix of babies that was breaking apart and coming back together. The guy to my left was tripping heavy on mescaline. Might have been drooling as the show unloaded and unhinged his brain. The song concluded with Maynard thanking us for coming out, and hoping that we had enjoyed the show.

Then The band launched full on into Vicarious, and the once again, the crowd's singing overwhelmed the sound system and The Light show that one would have though would have been at it's peak, somehow got more intense and the next thing you know it's all over. Like a moment that is so good, and so intense that you wish you could hold onto it forever, but it is in itself fleeting and now distant. Yes, like an orgasm. That is what Vicarious was like.

So they band all stood up, shook hands, did a group hug on stage, the crowd was going absolutely certifiably insane. We all wanted more. But we would not get any. But it was great what we got.

My only disappointments were that I did not get to hear Parabola, or Sober. But I think at least Sober would not have fit in with the selections for the night.
9/10. On par with but not quite equal to my Voodoo experience. But still Really Really Really Good.