AMF

PART 2 OF 3



Slowly you could feel the crowd pushing forward even before Tool had taken the stage. There were like 5 people around us lighting up as well, so the concert scent was in full effect, as I expected. Security was really really tight though in every manner, and they even came into the crowd a few times to make people put them out. Finally, the lights dimmed again, and the band just wandered on stage to a deafening roar. Maynard: "Where were we?" And they just launch straight ahead into their classic 'Stinkfist'. The crowd surge was unlike one I'd ever experienced, and certainly didn't expect at a Tool show. We must have moved a radius of 20 feet by the end of the show, and that's with trying to keep our spot haha. The swaying side to side and people putting their hands all over you didn't bother me as much as the blatant elbows to the rib and pushing from behind. I swear that I was ready to kill some of those assholes. Are you here to watch Tool or hump other guys? I loved this quote from Maynard also right after they finished 'Stinkfist', directed at those of us on the floor: "You guys look like your enjoying yourself over there" (floor, center). "But what's happening over here?" (referring to crowd in front of Adam, where we were). "You got a rugby match going on, football game?" And then wryly he says: "Maybe the guys just like rubbing up on each other." Thanks a lot assholes. Luckily since I'm tall I could deal with the crowd and enjoy the show simultaneously, but I feel bad for the smaller people. Oh, another bit about 'Stinkfist': they played a different version than on the album, with the part right before I'll, keep, digging... changed to this cool little jam, and it was enjoyable to see all the dumbfucks singing to that line when Tool was doing something totally differently. I loved Maynard's little smirk at that part. Fuck Tool fans.

Anyways, after that the heat continued to rise and Maynard kicked it into 'The Pot'. Fuck, it was seriously over 100 degrees there on the floor, I was dying of thirst, but the song still kicked ass. The breakdown part live is what it's all about baby. I sang most of the words to this one, but didn't sing to all the songs cuz I needed to save my breath pretty much. Watching Adam play was really cool too, being directly in front of him. I liked seeing his fingers move and how he actually does those parts, even though he doesn't move a whole lot or show a lot of emotion. Justin was headbanging a lot and getting really into it on the other side, and Maynard's little dances were a definite highlight. I can't even explain them, because they were too hilarious and awkward. A trademark of his though I suppose:D He was way more active at this show than the one I saw in May though, which was nice, though he talked less this time.

The set continued with 'Forty-six & 2', not a standout performance but Danny's solo on that song is always awesome to behold. Then came the highlight of the night for me: 'Jambi'. This song is a fucking beast, plain and simple. Me and Dan sang all the words to this one, with minimal crowd pushing thankfully since I guess this song doesn't click with all the Neanderthals =) Maynard was a strain to hear all night, as being up close you get the rhythm section heavy, but you could hear him great on this song. The visuals in the background were perfect, just an all-around fantastic song. 'Schism', both times I'd seen it done live previously, had literally bored me a bit, but this time they did the extended version where in the middle section Adam does the riff in double-time (think the rhythm of Dio's 'Stand Up & Shout' only with the notes from the middle of 'Schism') and they just rock it for a few measures before settling it back down. It was truly wondrous and a great touch to the song, made me enjoy it a lot more. Without doing ‘Lost Keys’ as the intro, Adam ripped straight into ‘Rosetta Stoned’, with the rest of the band following suit. The visuals they had for this song were fabulous, though not having the massive screens ala Lateralus tour made them tougher to see and fully appreciated. In May it was a lot easier to discern Maynard during the megaphone parts, but last night it was completely garbled. Nonetheless, the song went down very well, and as a band they had their timing down better than last time. Maynard also busted some of his freakiest moves of the night, even singing the last part while walking around in a circle and progressively going slower and slower. He nailed the scream as well, though it was shorter than on the album and also a little less powerful than last time, but that can be understood since he’s been touring for a few months now.

After that Tool gave us the lone “surprise” of the night , if you can call it that, in the form of ‘Right In Two’. The last five shows they’ve done have all had ‘Opiate’ instead, but last night they gave us one of the least played songs on this recent tour, and although it’s also my least favorite on the new album it was much better live. Main reason: it gave me a friggin’ break from all the bullshit going on down front, well at least for the first half of the song :D Watching Danny do the tabla solo was mesmerizing, and the disturbing visuals on the screens were memorable too. Finally, after doing a sweet 3 minute jam in the vein of ‘Merkaba’, the distortion feedback swelled to deafening levels and they kicked into arguably their most famous song, ‘Sober’. This song was probably the most intense of the night in terms of crowd action, and also the least enjoyable. Crowd surfers every two seconds (getting kicked in the head repeatedly isn’t a lot of fun guys) and this one annoy as hell chick behind who thought she was at a rave or something. I was honestly going to give her and elbow straight to the face but her boyfriend/bodyguard man-beast would have probably eaten me alive, so I just shoved me way a little closer to let someone else have the pleasure of enjoying her spastic “dancing”. The last song of the main set was of course ‘Lateralus’, and even though this was certainly the weakest version I’ve heard yet, the song is so amazing that t doesn’t even matter. They also brought out a big Christmas light type of thing resembling the “Net Of Being” painting behind the stage, and had some sickass green lasers going as well. Danny’s gong hit was, once again, absolutely massive. Great way to close out the main set.

The band just kinda hung out on stage, sipping icy cold waters and Gatorade (grrr) while soaking in the deafening roar of the crowd. Looking back and seeing the sea of lighters was really remarkable, and Justin actually held up a lighter himself in appreciation. After roughly 5 minutes, the band returned to their spots and almost gave me a heartattack. I swore that they were gonna finally break out ‘Wings For Marie/10,000 Days’, and here’s why: Justin recently did an interview with the San Jose “Mercury News” in which he revealed that they would be adding this song to the set shortly and it would become a major part of the show. Considering the interview was published in a Bay Area newspaper, the band historically loves playing Oakland, and it seemed long overdue, I was just stoked when the little electronic thing they started with after the encore sounded shockingly like the beginning to ‘Wings’. I held my breath in anticipation, but then my heart sank a little when Adam started with the intro riff to ‘Vicarious’. Oh well, maybe next time. ‘Vicarious’ was alright I suppose, but I was too upset about not getting to hear ‘Wings’ that I mostly just stood and watched. Finally the show came to a close with ‘Aenema’, and Maynard’s token “Peace the fuck out”. The band threw some shit into the audience, and I almost caught a water bottle (OMG I touched Maynard’s water bottle z0mG!1!1!!). While walking off Maynard also pointed at his wrist as in signaling the time and then pointed at himself and then made a motion that one could interpret as “Polishing the bishop” :D