whoops. i just found these threads. i was looking in the other show threads for what i found here. I guess ill post stuff here too because I've got nothing better to do today.

Since my buddy(John) and I got into SF at about 9am and had little else to do, we hung out in line all day with some really cool people. Tool draws a diverse and REALLY polite crowed (at least the ones that show up to wait in line, but I have met douche-fans as well). The question all day was "balcony, or rail?", and everyone had an immediate answer. My buddy and I decided on rail because up-close-and-personal is rare (or obscenely expensive) for a TOOL show.

Once we figured out the crap-shoot of Bill Graham crowed control, we wound up on the rail right in front of Danny's MOOG/synth (or whatever it is). I'd have to say, this is probably the best angle to see TOOL from for that 'front-row' experience. The way MJK, LC & DC are positioned, it feels like everyone is looking right at you. Justin is a goofy-ass character and he is a lot of fun to watch interact with his instrument and the other band members. MJK, with his glasses on, feels like he is staring into your soul. I'm sure his eyes are closed or he's not focused on anything specific most of the time, but a certain dead-head chemistry changes everything.

So, rail/front row is a great for watching talented musicians do their job and play amazing music, however with TOOL you end up missing a lot of the presentation. I don't know if I would've made the same decision for front row if i wasn't going to see them again on this tour. After seeing the SD2 show, i can say i missed ALOT of cool lights/visuals that changed my perception of the messages.

Setlist was pretty decent. Dressing as Zepp and playing it on Halloween is one thing, but I'm surprised they're taking No Quarter on as a regular song. No complaints, It's killer and i always love hearing it, but I never would've guessed (though we did hear them play bits of this song for soundcheck while we were standing in line).

Grudge had me amped. It's amazing how effortless it is for them to pound out that kind of math. Fucks me up. I can't blame MJK for not going for that scream. Not only does it hurt him, he's purged that aggression already. I get that. That song is still gold.

When JC played the one intro, then went into schism, i saw maynard throw up his hands and JC looked like he was laughing like he was fucking with MJK. IDK what was really going on, but that interaction was really entertaining to watch.

The new middle-of-opiate piece is really beautiful. I can space out to that all day.

I hate to be negative, but some of the songs feel like go-through-the-motion songs. IDK if these are obligatory setlist standards, or if they are the songs they have the tightest or what, but these are the songs i prefer to be further back because the entire live performance is still amazing.

Ænema is not one of those songs. Maybe because it's at the top of my favorites list, but they still put a lot of themselves into playing it and it really is an awesome performance.

It's awesome to see DC soloing from so close -that man is a beast- however, from so close, things didn't line up quite right and you miss a lot of whats going on in the peripherals… but who fucking cares because, look! DC is right fucking there playing the drums! Still glad i got a different angle of this a few days later.

SWEAT! Holy shit. Curve ball. People went nuts. Maybe it was my position, but the beginning sounded a tad muddy or off… it took me a second to catch up with what the hell was going on. I was kind of dumbstruck.

Stinkfist is a cool closer. Beautiful performance and great crescendo, plus my wife decided to have this song in our wedding so it's special, or whatever…

Great experience. My beliefs hold firm that each seat in a TOOL show is it's own unique experience and theres not a bad seat in the house. I spent a lot of time, money and effort on seeing these shows and I'm never disappointed.