Pineal

I think this show was the perfect remedy for the chaos of the BDO. I stood about half way back on Justin’s side with a pretty awesome view for the second half of the show. Things started a bit dodgy with the vocal volume going from way up to way down on the first few songs. Maynard was obviously struggling through this bit (maybe because it was cold?) but the instrumentation sounded tight throughout.

In my opinion, it all came together on Schism which I think works excellent live (especially with the new jam) but subsequently Rosetta Stoned brought things down a bit. It just didn’t have the kick it has on the album, particularly Maynard’s vocals which sounded pretty lackluster during it (I think the problem may have been with how the megaphone thing was hooked up). The drum and bass breakdown towards the end probably saved it from major disappointment though.

However, from this point in the show things continued on the path set by Schism. Wings/10KD was AWESOME, despite attempts to ruin it by some stupid chicks having a conversation next to me and the douche that climbed up on the roof (though he provided some funny moments). The lasers were very cool and really suited the venue I thought. From then on the momentum just built and the last three were all fantastic. Lateralus was spot on as usual. I was very happy that Maynard actually sang all of Vicarious (didn’t at the BDO) and Ænema is probably one of the best closing songs they could choose.

All in all, this show shat all over the BDO (despite the lack of The Pot and Swamp Song). The crowd was a thousand times better and I reckon the Music Bowl should be the mainstay venue for the rare occasions Tool chose to visit Melbourne.