Man, where to even begin. I'm gonna do a stream of consciousness to start with because my mind is still racing. 3rd Tool show, 1st and only this tour. Some douche spilled beer (AT the merch booth) on my poster, and the merch guy let me trade it out for a different one. What a great fucking guy. Security was fuckin douchey, since even though I was 20-somethingth row (section 130 row S), they shined this BRIGHT fucking spotlight from the floor to try and catch people filming or toking or whatever and they escorted one kid out but I have no clue what he was doing since he was behind me.

Maynard seemed a bit more talkative than what I have read about the last couple of shows. He said that "take care of eachother.... whisper welcome" thing, and said "now get naked." He then said something later to the extent of "Careful going home. And some of you should put your clothes back on so you don't get marked as terrorists. ...Just kidding. Relax." It also sounded like he said "fret for your congress" instead of "contract" but I could definitely be wrong. Also it definitely sounded like he was just talking to himself during Rosetta, and I really wish I could tell what he was saying. But it was all really short sentences as if he was saying "How are you Maynard. You know just chillin. I like kitty cats. Chocolate is tasty." Seemed very random and was probably much funnier than that. Thanks to previous reviewers for pointing out that he threw the megaphone because I didn't see that.

For people saying he hasn't be into these shows, I agree and disagree, but mostly disagree. He wasn't physically into it as much as previous tours, but vocally he was going all out. He held notes at the ends of certain lyrics really, really long and was giving it his all. He didn't get lazy and skip parts, and he hit all the notes really well, except for the very end of Flood but that's because he dropped it to the lower octave, and I think he actually made it sound better that way. "Cleanse and purge me" was regular, and "in the water" was lower, giving it a creepy and somehow even more climaxy feel. Overall, I think Flood stole the show. It's just... so... GODDAMN HEAVY! When I saw them on the floor in 2007 it was the heaviest musical moment of my life... seemingly shattering my ribcage. This time, 25 rows up, it was the 2nd heaviest musical moment of my life. But every song was fucking fantastic, and I am so damn happy I went. Long live Tool!

The coolest part of the night, other than the band and the music, was when the show was over. We arrived at my friend's house and as she and I laid out on the grass to smoke a cigarette, a huge shooting star shot across the sky like a roman candle, leaving a golden dusty trail behind it. Later, when I got to my house, there were suddenly 5 or 6 little white mushrooms growing in my front yard. Coincidence? Maybe. But I suspect not :-)