House lights go out … Timothy Leary’s voice heard in the blackness while a skewed chaotic likeness is projected “Think for yourself: question authority... ” here we go …

Third Eye (with extended ending sequence). EPIC!!!! Tumbling trippy blueness. Raw industrial breathing and pounding anguish of prying. So good to see you I’ve missed you so much... The perfect opening song for a TOOL show, and has been the static opener in the ideal setlist I have maintained in my head since Aenema was released. I suppose a TOOL show is a place where some dreams become realities, and some realities become dreams. Third eye alone was worth the price of admission: a drunken frat douche bag could have shot Maynard square in retina of one or both of his first two eyes with a laser pointer at the end of this song, the show could have ended right then and there, and days away I would still have this same ridiculous Cheshire-grin on my face right now.

“Nevermind all the bullshit out there: for the next two hours everything is going to be okay.” Not sure exactly if there was any specific BS in the mind of the speaker at this time, wars overseas maybe, overburdened domestic healthcare system perhaps, or a little more local: the $70 Seattle t-shirts at the merch booths? Funnily enough I have a great live recording of HwaP where the instruments pause near the end and MJK says in a sarcastic sales pitch voice *We’re uh selling some new limited edition t-shirts out in the lobby: make sure you pick one up on your way out!* This being said I happily kicked down six twenties in exchange for the opportunity to get my gangly-Gollum fingers on my very own precious numbered, embossed, and signed by all 4 members show poster featuring custom artwork by AJ.

Guitars ripping over DC double bass drumming. Jambi. Orangey-redness. A floating lunging wide-stanced MJK silhouette rotating a fully extended arm: yep, it looks like all four decided to bring his respective A-game to the Pacific NW. Easily my favorite song from 10K days and deservedly one of the two songs from this album to make the cut, as it simply rocks live.

(-) Ions. Over the usual Jacob’s Ladder sound effect and visual, Adam repeatedly played a guitar riff that he kept bending and bending outward until it became the opening guitar wail for Stinkfist.

Stinkfist (Extended Version). Simply cannot get enough of that extended bridge climax with DC banging it out on that album version intro electronic-tabla-drum-thing. It is evident that the collective group is definitely firing on all cylinders: MJK shaped darkness crab-stomping and head rolling. The stage set design is incredible: a main screen spans the entire width of the stage flanked at the opposing lateral ends by the two guitarists beneath articulating screens and lights, between them and set further back is a second smaller raised stage which sits DC and his mighty drum kit adjacent to the lurking shadow of MJK. The front of this mini-stage is essentially part of the large main screen which has the effect of the latter two band members appearing suspended in mid air. (Note: The entire floor of the stage was no longer a white projection screen as per the last couple of times I’ve seen this band in the flesh and MJK and DC’s mini stages are connected and parallel to the front of the main stage). Two smaller static screens were suspended high up and beyond the breadth of the main stage. I did notice that suspended up at the very top center was a the illuminated geometric design from pervious shows, but this time it appeared to have the lunar cycle stages encircling it, and maybe it was just me on sensory overload, but these phases seemed to shift throughout the show. Anyone else notice this?

Eon Blue Apocalypse => Synth Jam. As mentioned in a previous post this was bizarre. Unable to wait until this show I had to peek at the previous tour stops setlists, and as such I was rather surprised to hear EBA immediately following Stinkfist. So was Justin apparently: as he set down his bass, slowly walked across the stage, hugged Adam and said something to him, after which EBA ceased and Adam tuned to his synthesizer thing and started playing that instead. The rest of the band joined in; Maynard and Danny on their respective synth’s and Justin kneeling over his bass. Occasional B&W close-up images of gametes projected behind, conceptions of a new song perhaps? This was actually a fairly long electronic jam that turned out to be a twisted dark Pink Floyd-esque interlude that was actually a show highlight for me.

Vicarious. Cue the laser beams. I definitely prefer this song pre-intermission, and definitely appreciate the fact that since it has been a recent closer that it still has the visuals one would expect from a song in the post-intermission slot, like fuckin’ kick-ass synchronized laser beam sequences. As per recent tours a silhouetted hand to ear beckoned the audience to sing the final lines instead of MJK.

Eon Blue Apocalypse Take II (uninterrupted this time) =>
The Patient. Spot on, such a good choice and executed to perfection. The sound @ the Key is surprisingly good this show, leaps and bounds better than last time I saw them here on the Lateralus tour. I cannot say whether it is a function of better equipment, audio engineers, or simply that my seat happens to be smack dab in center about half-way up the 100 level this go around.

“Raise your hand if you are under 21…23...25. This next song was written when you were five years old. It’s called perspective.” Personal realization at this moment: I was head-banging to “crawl away” while a good chunk of this crowd was literally still crawling away from their parents in diapers.

Intolerance (with an extended sequence). Snarling bass in the darkest of brooding reds. Animated Undertow logo creeping about. Mid song: surprise full stop … half a beat rest … uncharted extended territory in an old favorite: this is where you want to be. Pristine, and a big time show highlight. Undertow was my TOOL gateway in the early 90s. Elated to hear them play this song again (1st in ’94 in OR).

Schism (with the extended section). If my recollection is correct this one also had a fairly extended jam/interlude preceding it. The double-time extended section is a great addition for the live show: DC’s playing is white hot this evening.

46 & 2. One might suspect that this tour staple may get stale, but then one would be wrong. In a song that may (or may not) be about evolution it is interesting that this remains one of the few that is not musically modified from the album version for the live show. The visuals have continually evolved though: best part this time around was far and away the spiraling geometric projection centered on DC during his insane solo, he absolutely killed it from behind his levitating monster kit. Ingenious stage design, simply brilliant.

Intermission. Fractalish blue visuals with some trippy synth. DC re-enters and twists it into some insane base octave. Justin remerged double-fisting beer bottles.

Lateralus (with Rajas' drummer). The pinnacle of collective TOOL experience: existential, epic, and mind bending. That is all I can really saw about that (other than Adam strummed the opening guitar bit a few times before the band gathered at DC’s kit and starting the song in earnest).

“What the…?” when Rajas drummer walks on stage. The drum-off was tight. The Rajas drummer was seriously pounding away on that kit like he really meant it, all the while DC wearing a UW Hoops jersey and a giant smile levitated above and seemed to effortlessly play with a density of multiple times as many beats, perhaps one achieves a pair of Vishnu arms on that plane rhythmic nirvana.

“Inna Gadda DaVida Baby (?)” at the end of the drum-off… I couldn’t really make this out over the cheers and applause, but this is my best guess. I was surprised that the Rajas drummer got to play out the remainder of the song with the band and appeared to be loving every second of it. Last show I saw DC went the “feel the rhythm” section alone, so I’m not sure if this is typical or not for the guest percussionists.

“Thank you Umpa Lumpas” after the roadies cleared the Rajas kit before the evening’s final Maynardism: “One way or another it’s all going to work out. Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey…”

Aenema. Being from the Pacific NW, I’m always down from some good ol’ fashioned LA bashing. Performed with apocalyptic grandeur and brilliance of the subject matter within.

Shockingly, at the end Maynard did not immediately slip into the darkness, but dismounted tfrom he front of the floating mini stage, walked across the front of the main stage and acknowledged someone in the stands to the right hand side of the stage before exiting. Did anybody catch who that was? The rest of the band remained for good few minutes, soaking it in and applauding the crowd.

Thank you TOOL!!! Amazing show. Danny: you are the man. Best show ever? Well, I’d say it was my favorite post 10K Days show, and ranks amongst ’94 Salem Armory, and ’01 w/ King Crimson at Arlene Schnitzer in Portland so there’s some perspective for you.

Also, thank you also for the concert goers in section 107! No experience ruining shenanigans worth reporting. There was a shirtless blonde kid who was so amped up I thought he might actually piss himself, pass out, or some combination of the two before the show even started. More humorous than annoying really, and reminded me a bit of myself at that age.

Interesting side observation on the album song count: 0 Opiate: 1 non-album (counting the collective synth jam):1 Undertow: 2 10K days: 3 Lateralus (counting EBA/Patient as one): 5 Aenema (counting Ions(-) and Stinkfist separately). 0:1:1:2:3:5 is the starting of the Fibonacci sequence; a stretch I know, but I’m just saying is all. Spiral out mo fo’s.