I went to this show with one of my best friends. We'd gone to the show in DC a few months back--the first Tool show for both of us, even though we'd been getting a lot out of their music for years. We both agreed: Richmond's show was the most deeply rewarding concert we've ever been to. We had heard they might play Pushit, and when they did I smiled so widely and for so long it hurt.

I'm 37 years old and work for a nonprofit with a number of well-educated open-minded people. When I told them I was going driving down to Richmond to see Tool, they didn't know what to make of it. Their albums enjoy excellent sales, and the fans of their music are a loyal and ecclectic crew. But so many people who are only vaguely familiar with them think they're some dark metal band, some force of negativity. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Their music is so deeply human and more often than not positive and life-affirming. What's negative about Lateralus or Parabola? And Jimmy... what a song (I know, I know Jimmy and Parabola weren't on the setlist... I'm just saying...) My take is that the author is going back to reunite himself with a version of himself who was wounded as a young boy "under a dead Ohio sky..." The more I read about Tool and Maynard in particular, the more Tool's songs resonated with me, probably because I could square some of the lyrics with what I'd gleaned about his own development. But the genius is that so many of Tool's songs slip away from straight narrative and blossom into something that transcends convention and specificity to become something that is at once very universal but at the same time deeply moving on a personal level, for me anyway, as a listener. I actually want to be a better person, a more responsible person in the most serious way, when I listen to Tool. And I suspect a lot of other people feel the same way. And to boot, they're an almost supernaturally talented foursome of artists. I mean Danny Carey... to watch him play live is to be utterly amazed. To see Maynard crouch and undulate to the music... it's incredible. But I preach to the choir, I'm sure. Goodness to you all. See you at a show some day maybe.