Sunday night was a blast, so much fun drinking a variety of delicious beer and bs-ing. It was quite the geek-out Tool conversation. Then as my lil piece of paper kicked in, we got our drinks and as we were walking down to our seats the lights went out. We just kept going further and further. Finally reach our seats, look up and there's one guy on the rail between Adam Jones and I. Every time he'd mess with a pedal or synth he'd turn directly towards me. His hair covered most his face but there were a few times it felt like he was staring at me even though I couldn't tell for sure. The Jambi talk box solo was soooooo sick.

Directly behind him in the same line of sight stands Maynard. Sure he's not as energetic but the silhouette of him against the screen full of crazy visuals is pretty spectacular. He gets in some crazy stances and starts stomping, flailing his arms around, kicking and bending. It's cool because the screen behind goes black for a split second and then lights up a different color he looks completely different. Reznor used the same type of technique for LiTS.

The new version of third eye is as raw as ever. Sure he uses his megaphone, but when the music pauses and his muffled voice mumbles, "a child's rhyme stuck in my head" it sounded so trippy. Same with, "shrouding all the ground around me." In addition to an extended outro, I honestly don't think any other band can pull off such an epic opening track live.

Jambi was highlighted by the aforementioned talk box solo right in front of my face. That said, I wouldn't mind this song dropped for something else.

Stinkfist is great, the epitome of arena rock. One of my favorite beat drops ever. The breack down of green strobe lights when the drums get tribal is a favorite part of any Tool song for me. The extended version allows Danny to steal the spotlight and annihilate the drums for the first time of the night. The screens on the side of the stage started during this song.

Vicarious was cool, not a huge fan of the track but appreciated it earlier in the set. It's also where the lasers debuted and the crowd loved it. Maynard didn't sing the end (either night) per usual, but I would like to point out this is the only part he skipped during both shows.

Right in Two came out of nowhere and had me in disbelief. This is when I knew it was going to be a special night for me. Sounded absolutely incredible and the tabla solo sounded so crisp in the Nokia soundsystem. The tabla build up to the beat drop (sorry, don't have a better term) just flattened the crowd it seemed. So powerful, you could literally feel every instrument in your spine.

I was undoubtedly looking forward to Right In Two more than anything else. That said, Flood immediately followed it and put it to shame. Justin's bass just starts out so dirty and grimey I just can't get enough of it. Then Danny's militant drumming soon to be followed by Maynard's haunting elongated "water" lyrics. Thie first part of this song is so slow and heavy it's like it's winding itself up just to be released for second (much faster) part of the song.

Schism was standard, I would like to see it dropped but don't mind hearing it. The extended double time bridge is always awesome. Another chance for Danny to show off. His double bass at the end of the song just thuds.

46&2 is always a crowd pleaser and probably the crowd favorite. As glad as I was to hear it, I didn't miss it at all the second night. Another epic Danny solo highlighted by huge sacred geometry symbols rotating around him.

Lateralus, uplifting and awesome. Guest drummer I thought held his own quite well. Maynard made jokes about him, came out with score cards, gave him a 9 flipped it over and gave Danny a 6 acting unimpressed.

Aenima just get's nuts. Lasers are on overdrive, crowd is at a frenzy and the band giving it their all til the last note.


They switched up and weren't predictable for the first time in a long time. This went a long way with me. I got to hear the song I was hoping for which was all I really wanted coming in. Maynard was better than I would've thought and was engaging throughout.

The fact that they switched it up TWICE again the second night (two songs were expected to change, two were not) caught me by even more of a surpirse and pretty much answered any questions I had about the band living up to their potential.

Intension is unbelievable live and might've been my favorite part of night 2. Intolerance was also up there for me, another extended version of a classic. I have to say that I prefer ALL the extended live versions to the album versions. It keeps them fresh and different, imo. The Pot is great and I'm glad they brought it back in rotation. Such a pleasant surprise, especially considering it was the last of several surprises coming from a band that seemed all too predictable coming in.