The Tool Page: Opinion - View Single Post - 2006/08/05 - San Diego, CA

Basically a reiteration of that which has already been said but...

TOOL's performance was fantastic. Unfortunately, everything else concerning the Street Scene experience was a fucking travesty, and I wish I hadn't dropped hard-earned cash on it.

Now, this is my third TOOL show, and the band itself has been consistently brilliant each time. I drove up to Bakersfield to see TOOL a few years ago, got there early, waited calmly in a nearby hotel lobby while another fan played Lateralus on the piano, and finally enjoyed a mind-blowing and mostly calm show.

My second show was here in San Diego later along the same tour and, long story short, it wasn't until I puked blood all over myself that people stopped pushing and crushing me so I could get a breath of air near the end of the set.

Street Scene was worse. I braced myself for a certain degree of rowdiness once the set started, but couldn't have anticipated how ugly it got extremely quickly. After about 10 minutes of pushing, elbows, and hair-pulling (there are fucking girls and young kids around, mind you), I had to grab my girlfriend and plow my way outward, just as people were falling over and getting trampled. People were throwing shit into the crowd just to be assholes... it was a mess.

If Maynard hadn't stopped and told everyone multiple times to chill the fuck out, I'm positive people would have died. I'm surprised there weren't any casualties as it is. Meanwhile, real fans who came to enjoy the band rather than work out their sexual frustration suffered through the bullshit and inevitable pause (and possible loss of song in the setlist).

Discernable morals of the story:
1. San Diego is full of too many stupid, aggressive jarheads from the local military bases (this coming from someone who generally supports military work more than most other TOOL fans I meet).
2. Buy a good seat at a concert with seating rather than testing your own survival skills in a moronic pit.

I'm extremely let down and embarrassed. Terrible waste of a perfectly good show.

08-06-2006, 02:42 AM	#7
Mesenchyme Level 1 - Lurker Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: San Diego, Ca Posts: 1 Bincount™: 0	Re: 2006/08/05 - San Diego, CA - Street Scene '06 Basically a reiteration of that which has already been said but... TOOL's performance was fantastic. Unfortunately, everything else concerning the Street Scene experience was a fucking travesty, and I wish I hadn't dropped hard-earned cash on it. Now, this is my third TOOL show, and the band itself has been consistently brilliant each time. I drove up to Bakersfield to see TOOL a few years ago, got there early, waited calmly in a nearby hotel lobby while another fan played Lateralus on the piano, and finally enjoyed a mind-blowing and mostly calm show. My second show was here in San Diego later along the same tour and, long story short, it wasn't until I puked blood all over myself that people stopped pushing and crushing me so I could get a breath of air near the end of the set. Street Scene was worse. I braced myself for a certain degree of rowdiness once the set started, but couldn't have anticipated how ugly it got extremely quickly. After about 10 minutes of pushing, elbows, and hair-pulling (there are fucking girls and young kids around, mind you), I had to grab my girlfriend and plow my way outward, just as people were falling over and getting trampled. People were throwing shit into the crowd just to be assholes... it was a mess. If Maynard hadn't stopped and told everyone multiple times to chill the fuck out, I'm positive people would have died. I'm surprised there weren't any casualties as it is. Meanwhile, real fans who came to enjoy the band rather than work out their sexual frustration suffered through the bullshit and inevitable pause (and possible loss of song in the setlist). Discernable morals of the story: 1. San Diego is full of too many stupid, aggressive jarheads from the local military bases (this coming from someone who generally supports military work more than most other TOOL fans I meet). 2. Buy a good seat at a concert with seating rather than testing your own survival skills in a moronic pit. I'm extremely let down and embarrassed. Terrible waste of a perfectly good show.
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