To the person that asked, yes the opening band was MELT BANANA. They were fantastic but the vocals were hard to hear from the front of the floor. My only gripe about them opening for the Tool tour is that they had to cancel their headlining appearance in Tampa this upcoming weekend. Their set was much more atmospheric and "rock-oriented" than I expected, but there was still plenty of spazz-punk to go around. Good 30 minute set from MxBx.

Overall, the sound from the front floor was pretty terrible all night, with the bass guitar and kick drum drowning everything out from Justin's side. However, being my 8th Tool show I was not that worried about sacrificing some of the sound, since my friend was pretty excited about staying right up front by the stage. I hear the sound was much better from the back of the floor and up in the seats. Highlight of the evening was probably Right In Two for me, since this was the only song they played which I have never heard live before. The lights in Lateralus are pretty cool, lots of lasers and good screen effects. My friend made the comment that Tool has become the Laser Floyd of our generation, ha ha (she loved the show).

I could gripe about the rarely-changing setlist, etc., but why bother -- it's all been said before. The main reason I keep coming back for Tool shows now is that they always bring stellar opening acts. Now Melt Banana needs to re-book a proper tour and come back (or I may have to drive to Gainesville on sunday for their headlining show at Common Grounds).