got there early, ended up 6-7 people back in the pit right between danny and justin. was ideal for smoking a j and taking cell phone pics. the nazi ass security were shining flashlights into the pit all night trying to catch people in the front few rows with cell phones.

tweak bird was interesting. definitely a cool opener and the bouree jam on the flute was pretty sick. better than expected...

i guess tool came on later than at any other place all tour and this made for some interesting buildup. the rubber chicken and that same set guy standing on stage for 25 minutes holding a bass but not really doing anything definitely was intentional...though for what purpose us mortals may never know. keep in mind that last time they were in the boston area they played an "impossible" setlist that, for all intents and purposes, should not have existed. pushit and flood in the same set was pretty unreal and the tardiness and odd things at the start definitely was leading some of us to believe that something just MIGHT be up after a tour thusfar devoid of anything interesting.

alas, the same setlist. once schism came on i had accepted that we were not going to see eulogy or opiate or even any of the other songs that they rarely played in '06/'07 (swamp song). i would have even been thrilled to get 10k days even after having seen it 3 times already. but, alas, nothing new or different.

i dont know if i had just never noticed it, but the double helix spiral of humans fucking during lateralus was one of the highlights of the visual experience. everything else seemed like extensions of concepts that they've previously done. the spinning body-without-a-head during the pre-lateralus intermission was cool as well. i get the feeling that they are going to release these and the '07 concerts on a dvd eventually. how sick would it be to have the concert recordings as the soundtrack to these visuals with the option to do picture-in-picture and have close ups on each of the band members at all times or any combination thereof. definitely something they would do and DEFINITELY something they would keep under wraps.

the only thing that continues to bother me is that it is woefully obvious that the only thing holding them back is maynard. his comments don't bother me and neither does saying random shit during rosetta stoned. during '06, he tried to say the lyrics through the megaphone and it worked well sometimes but most often ended up slightly out of line with the music as he couldn't say it fast enough. so now he's saying random shit and he's fucking with everyone. the clearest parts of the lyrics were still there but i did feel like the song was cut short at the end (anyone else confirm? maybe i was too blitzed). anyway, like i said...this doesn't bother me. what does bother me, however, is that it is clear that they are not changing the setlist ENTIRELY for his sake. yeah, yeah, the visuals but that doesn't mean you can't have 1-2 songs a night with unique and/or toned down visuals. nobody would give a flying fuck what you put on the screen during eulogy, h., undertow, swamp song, 4 degrees, opiate or even fucking sweat. he cannot hit the high notes anymore and so most of their pre-lateralus songs with any sort of scream are immediately wipped from contention even before the tours begin.

on the one hand, im glad that this tour happened so that i could experience tool right up close and in a pit for the first time. the pit was completely entranced and thats the way it should be - fuck any of the assholes that tried to start some moshing BS during aenima...LOL 'tards. i saw things with the visuals that i havent seen before and overall it was worth it. on the other hand, why the fuck even do this tour with maynard in his current state? they should be spending this time making an album before his voice and abilities are completely and totally shot and spent. they have at least one more left in them and playing the same setlist each night seems like a slightly pointless waste of time...(for the diehard fans, at least, which id assume includes the band themselves.)