The Tool Page: Opinion - View Single Post - 2006/09/07 - Los Angeles, CA

Hello, all. Long time viewer, first time poster here.

Thursday 9/7 and Friday 9/8 @ Staples Center marked my 13th and 14th Tool shows, respectively. It all began @ The Grand Olympic Auditorium back in '93. I love music of all types, but TOOL will always be at the top of my list. ALWAYS!

Anyway, here are my 2 cents:

Thursday:

Sat in Section 106, Row 8, seat 1. I don't know if it was the myriad 12-dollar Coronas, or the fact that I hadn't heard any "10,000 Days" songs live, but I thought this was a kick-ass show. Tool is ear-candy to me, regardless of whatever minor (hell, even major) imperfections there are in the set. I made a huge mistake by going with a person who hadn't seen TOOL since the Aenima tour. He kept on saying that he was disappointed by the fact that Maynard wasn't moving around the stage more. As someone here alluded to earlier, Maynard hasn't done that in a decade. To be completely honest, I spent a good part of the show with my eyes closed -- letting the magnificent sounds reach the depths of my soul. After a short while, I had to tune out my buddy 'cause it didn't seem like he was enjoying the show even 1/10 of what I was. After he ceased his bitching, his younger bro (a VIP usher) got us into the VIP boxes in Sec. 17, albeit only for the last song, Aenema. It was a cool change of scenery, though. Overall, a wonderful + emotional night.

Friday:

Sat in Floor 6, Row 1, Seat 1. THE SECURITY GUARDS AT STAPLES NEED TO BE RETRAINED!!! Wow, "overzealous" wouldn't even describe how aggressive these goons were. Being in Row 1, I had a perfect view of how ridiculous some of their actions were. Camera phone? Forget it. Scent of weed? They huddled up like football players and attacked the suspected origin of the smoke in large throngs. The one security guard that really irritated me was a young African-American woman with red hair. When people were rockin' out to the tunes, she stared at them with this quizzical/disgusted look on her face. I remember seeing this look directed at me about 3 or 4 times, quickly followed by an eruption of laughter on her part. I finally asked her what she thought was so funny and she responded: "I ain't laughing at you. Go back and bang your head to this crazy music." Even with all this madness around me, I managed to block out all the bullshit and enjoyed every tune with a real fan, my older brother.

I hope to see TOOL again in '07. Hope ya'll had a great time!

09-19-2006, 10:18 AM	#75
Raider78 Level 1 - Lurker Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 2 Bincount™: 0	Re: 2006/09/07 - Los Angeles, CA - Staples Center Hello, all. Long time viewer, first time poster here. Thursday 9/7 and Friday 9/8 @ Staples Center marked my 13th and 14th Tool shows, respectively. It all began @ The Grand Olympic Auditorium back in '93. I love music of all types, but TOOL will always be at the top of my list. ALWAYS! Anyway, here are my 2 cents: Thursday: Sat in Section 106, Row 8, seat 1. I don't know if it was the myriad 12-dollar Coronas, or the fact that I hadn't heard any "10,000 Days" songs live, but I thought this was a kick-ass show. Tool is ear-candy to me, regardless of whatever minor (hell, even major) imperfections there are in the set. I made a huge mistake by going with a person who hadn't seen TOOL since the Aenima tour. He kept on saying that he was disappointed by the fact that Maynard wasn't moving around the stage more. As someone here alluded to earlier, Maynard hasn't done that in a decade. To be completely honest, I spent a good part of the show with my eyes closed -- letting the magnificent sounds reach the depths of my soul. After a short while, I had to tune out my buddy 'cause it didn't seem like he was enjoying the show even 1/10 of what I was. After he ceased his bitching, his younger bro (a VIP usher) got us into the VIP boxes in Sec. 17, albeit only for the last song, Aenema. It was a cool change of scenery, though. Overall, a wonderful + emotional night. Friday: Sat in Floor 6, Row 1, Seat 1. THE SECURITY GUARDS AT STAPLES NEED TO BE RETRAINED!!! Wow, "overzealous" wouldn't even describe how aggressive these goons were. Being in Row 1, I had a perfect view of how ridiculous some of their actions were. Camera phone? Forget it. Scent of weed? They huddled up like football players and attacked the suspected origin of the smoke in large throngs. The one security guard that really irritated me was a young African-American woman with red hair. When people were rockin' out to the tunes, she stared at them with this quizzical/disgusted look on her face. I remember seeing this look directed at me about 3 or 4 times, quickly followed by an eruption of laughter on her part. I finally asked her what she thought was so funny and she responded: "I ain't laughing at you. Go back and bang your head to this crazy music." Even with all this madness around me, I managed to block out all the bullshit and enjoyed every tune with a real fan, my older brother. I hope to see TOOL again in '07. Hope ya'll had a great time!
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