That's my favorite line so far of all the Portland reviews.

This was my 4th Tool show, and I have to say, those who start their posts by telling everyone that they're a "veteran" of Tool, with the "let me tell you newbies something" type of attitude, totally crack me up. It's almost as if the main character in Hooker w/a Penis comes to life and writes every 6th post on here.

Anyway - I enjoyed the lighting/video much more at this show than the Manchester show earlier this year, although I really really missed the Aenima close they were doing on the pre-Danny bicep injury leg of the tour.

We were standing to the right of the soundboard, where my friends and I usually find ourselves at CCCC shows - the sound there is the best (think about it - you're right near the person mixing the Front of the House, and you're standing in the general area where his auditory point of view is.

With that said, I think, as everyone else seems to think at every other venue, the FOH engineer needs to bring Maynard's voice up. Tool's philosophy has always been NOT to focus on Maynard (hence he never gets lit up by the light crew, etc) so it might be an intentional request by the band that his is almost hidden at times by the music, but I'd really like to hear his pipes get a little more in the mix.

Without trying to repeat what everyone else said (which would make me as redundant as a Tool set list...*rim shot*) There are 3 points I'd like to hit on:

Toilet Paper incident: I saw Maynard grab a stage fan during the dual drum solo, fiddle with it a bit, and set it back down pointing the general direction of the Big Business drummer. He seemed to aim it at him, wet his index finger, and held it up over the fan (like when you're trying to determine the direction of the wind). So before he even took the toilet paper roll out, we were totally laughing at whatever the hell he was doing. Then, as if he's done this before (heh) Maynard sprayed a stream of toilet paper at the drummer who was totally covered in it during his solo. Classic!

Danny Carey: I'm not a big fan of Carol King, but Danny might just be one of the most amazing drummers of his generation, playing the kind of music he plays today. Having seen both Danny and Vinny Paul of Pantera live, I can honestly say that I've had the privilege of seeing the 2 best in the industry. Period. It's occurred to me over the years, that the insane time signatures and unconventional rhythmic patterns that make Tool sound the way they are = and in fact the entire foundation for what makes Tool such a unique band, stems from Carey's genius playing. I recommend anyone reading this now, set aside a few hours, do a YouTube search on Carey, and take a look at some of his studio/non-stage performance videos, as well as interviews. Unlike Maynard, Danny is one of the most humble, personable guys in the music today, and I think that's a rarity these days. This guy is a fucking sick musician, as well as a fantastic human being.

Same Set list EVERY single night: Ok - to all those pissed about the same set list over and over...if you want a totally new setlist each night, you should have spent more time seeing Phish, the Dead, and other bands that have never had an identical setlist in over 20 years of touring. Tool tries to stand apart from the rest of the music industry in terms of a lot of who they are - and they do- but not when it comes to touring. Every show you see on a Tool tour is going to be remarkably similar, with virtually the same set list (minus a few substitutions and additions here and there), and that's fine. It's how touring bands operate. There is a LOT that goes into a show other than just the band on stage (lighting patterns and sequences need to be set up, video needs to go with the music, different effects - delay, chorus, all that shit, needs to be loaded and ready to go at certain times...think of the delay on Maynard's mic during Jambi..."I would, I would...wish it, wish it...all away, away" etc). It's a show - it's a production, a performance...and if you have that kind of timing and energy going into a production, you're going to get the same show in Chicago that you saw in Portland, that you saw in Los Angeles, that you saw in Berlin.

In fact, I wrote down the set list and carried a copy with me at a pre-show BBQ friends and I had in case anyone was interested in what they were about to see musically. And we were out the door right after the last symbol crash of Vicarious, knowing it was the closer.

Trust me - I wish I knew that the show I saw in Manchester NH 10 months ago was going to be totally different than the show I saw Friday, but it is what it is. Right down to the same color of the lights/video (Jambi is a red/firey song etc), to the set llist. And they blow the roof off the place each and every time they do it.

So again, if you're resenting the fact that the band has roughly the same set list night after night for 1.5 years, then man, you missed a lot of killer Phish shows over the years :-)