Well, I'm back to Canada from our trip down to the south for Bonnaroo. Firstly I must say that that festival is bloody amazing; lots of great music, SO many great people coalesced there... goin' back next year (unless the lineup totally blows alpaca nuts).

The "What Stage" saw a fair gathering... probably a little less than the Police saw the following night, but still the vast majority of the 'Rooers. I was quite impressed with that particular venue/stage, as the sound was rather pristine, and there was plenty of space to see the band from essentially anywhere one so desired. I feel sorry for those who didn't have an absolutely mind-blowinglingly epic experience (well, particularily Tool fans anyway). Some people I met following that night exclaimed that it was pretty much "the best experience EVER!". I can think of maybe one or two other nights of my life that possibly rivaled that night of the 15th.

During soundcheck... well, I personally was going through some mad gut rut due to the psilocybin and so on, and not to mention the dehydration which had especially taken it's toll by that point... so my memory of the hour before the is bit hazy. What was it that Maynard was saying during sound check? I ask, 'cause other things he said following that were good for a chuckle. I know it was a bunch of goofy "check oooone" lines among other things. The sound of the low toms and such being blasted, cutting through the otherwise fairly quiet pre-show air like thunder, added to the insurmountable anticipation. Then they took the stage. Prior to seeing Jambi as an opener, I doubted the awesomeness of it's placement within the set, but it killed. Somehow it was damn near the highlight for me. Everyone shines in that tune... I really like what Justin does. FAWK what a feeling thinking back to it all. Was disappointed for abooouut a half second when they avoided the extended section of Stinkfist, as I really love it, but ah well. Saw them them do it in Calgary and Edmonton last August, so.... I found the Pot to be great as well (mind you, I LOVE the new album, whereas if one didn't, I can understand the frustration over the lack of older tune rotation in the setlists). I especially dug Rosetta Stoned this time... their energy never relented, well, during pretty well the whole show it seemed. Flood wasn't a big deal to me, in fact, it's the one part of the show that I remember the least. Still, they tore it up. Admittedly, Pushit, or especially Right in Two would have been preferred (or The Grudge, The Patient, or THIRD EYE!! for that matter). The Wings/10,000 Days suite miiiight have been the most awesome thing I've experienced live, musically. But then of course was Lateralus... which was amazing itself, along with Danny's wicked drumming during the "breakdown". By the time Tom Morello began doing his thing, I had most certainly gone to an remote alien world, and feeling really fucking good about life. The rest of Lateralus was impeccable too. I realise now that I'm attemping to write a review for something that requires thousands of words to describe, and for some things which are perhaps beyond words. I guess you had to be there. And if you were there, and are actually pissed off, well, that's your loss. I realise it's all subjective, but still. Anyway, perhaps I'll try to write more than just crap after I've had more than three hours of sleep....

The whole flew by too fast... there's so much to take in. Thank-you Tool for the grand time. This was my third show, and once again it's going to take six months to really digest all that happened that night. And once again I'm feeling very inspired. I appreciate what they do so much. I hope they keep touring, or tour again. If everything else at the border, during the drive, during the remainder of Bonnaroo would have sucked balls, I'd still be happy, for that night of Tool was worth crossing the DUSTY trail for alone (luckily everything went really well). Oh, forget to mention how awesome Mr. Jones was as well. I personally really dig the visuals, though for this show I had my own visuals whilst having my eyes closed half the time.