ThePuzzleMaster

Walking up to the paramount… Trying to hide my enthusiasm for what I know is about to take place in an hour. I hop along the sidewalk as scalpers try to milk out the last of peoples’ pennies. As I approach the entrance I can see a huge line that wraps around the side of the building. I walk right past it and to the security guards at the door frisking people. I don’t know if the people in that line were waiting for the door (most likely) but no one stopped me, so I just walked on in. Once I was in, a huge sigh of relief that my ticket was valid and I just let the old architecture of the aged building sink in.

Gold trim along all the ceiling. Crystal Chandeliers hung from velvet covered chains. Domes emerging from the ceilings, long winding staircases. Curtains. Everything about this place is gorgeous. After a quick stop to the bathroom, and a quick splurge of $35 for a t-shirt, I just stood at the railing on the second floor lobby staring down at the main entrance for half an hour, just watching people walk in. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many happy people. I think everyone who walked through those doors was thankful to be in there. A few of them vocally so.

After half an hour of people watching I decide to head in to the theatre. The first thing I notice is of course Danny’s tremendous drum set on the stage. Taking up a full third of the back half of the stage. I find my seat and relax for the next 45 minutes, awaiting what I know is about to come.

The lights all flicker off in an instance. The crowd erupts into thunderous cheers and screams and clapping as the band take the stage sans Maynard. Four large white screens are set up behind the gear along the back side of the stage, separated by columns of lights. The band arranges themselves similar to the Lateralus tour, with Adam and Justin in front and Danny and Maynard in back on 1-2 foot risers.

The band begins to play “Lost Keys” as the crowd continues their screams and cheers. The air is filled with energy. You can feel it crawl along your every skin, peeling back at the nerves searching for a way in. As “Lost Keys” comes to an end, out comes Maynard, shirtless, with a Mohawk, some big Aviator glasses, cowboy boots, and some sort of megaphone strapped to his back. He stomps around as again, the crowd goes completely mad. They flow into “Rosetta Stoned” and after a few quick seconds of adjustments, the sound quickly syncs up and balances out. The beauty of the small theatre truly shines through. It’s so very refreshing to listen to music in a room that is designed for music, and not ice-hockey. There is no echo. There is no pinging. It’s simply aural pleasure.

The band fairly quickly then, melt into an older song. The intro to “Stinkfist” is quite unmistakable. And the crowd knows it right away. As the video plays in the background sprawled across the four large screens, the band plays ever so perfectly in front. There is not much more that needs to be said about that. A perfect rendition.

At this point, when Stinkfist ends, Maynard introduces the city of Seattle to TooL and TooL to the city of Seattle. And now that we were on a first name basis with the band, they decided to play the first song I was introduced to TooL with - “46 & 2.” One of my all time favorite songs. Easily recognizable after the first 2 notes, the crowd screams in delight at the thought of such a treat! Again, they play the song flawlessly, as Maynard sways about to the music, stomping occasionally. The energy in the room was enough to make every hair on your body stand on end. It was incredible.

Maynard eventually puts on a cowboy hat for a while as the band switches back to a few new songs. They play “The Pot” and “Jambi” which sounded incredible in my opinion. All the while the 4 screens playing the normal tool imagery behind the band. A lot of fire and water-like animations as well as some newer anatomical animations. However, none of them very impressive. I found the actual videos the most interesting things on the screens. I believe after those songs, Maynard makes a few jokes about the Album being out today. Saying “I already have it. I downloaded it. It’s pretty good” or something along those lines and intoduces one of the next songs as “ToolCocksuckers”

And then back to an older song, as they play “Schism” to much fan approval. Although, not my favorite tool song… Any tool song live, is a great tool song, and I do really like the video for it.

And continuing the Lateralus trend the band plays “Eon Blue Apocolypse” followed by “The Patient” one of my favorite songs. Maynard really proves just how beautiful of a voice he has. The entire crowd singing along, yet completely overpowered by his stinging vocals. It’s truly a beautiful thing.

Afterwards, they play another crowd favorite and the only song from Undertow, “Sober.” And again, it’s quite clear from the first few notes, that most everyone knew what was coming. I would hope that considering most of the people who went to the show paid well over $100 and closer to $200-$500 for a single ticket, that they’d at least be pretty familiar with the band. Yet even so, the seat next to me, for instance… Empty. That was a bit disheartening, as I tried my damndest to get a ticket for a friend, to no avail. There were a few empty seats just around me. At least 3 that I counted within 1 row in front of me and behind me… That was sad to see.

So back to the music… After Sober, Maynard talked a bit more about Seattle being intimidating, and made some witty comment about Starbucks. The Lateralus vertical eye with the rainbow flame image appeared on the screens and the band played the intro to “Lateralus” – another favorite of mine. With corresponding imagery in the back, and the band perfectly playing in front, it was quite the emotional experience. I find a great connection to that song, and was moved pretty deeply by its perfect reproduction.

Next up the band played “Vicarious”, another crowd favorite. And again, nailed it. There are very few bands that I’ve ever seen that can play with such musicianship and skill and really sound incredible live. Tool is most certainly one of those bands however.

After than, Maynard, thanked us for coming out, and it was pretty clear that this next song would be the last. And it seemed only fitting given our current state of affairs to end the evening with Aenema. As soon as Maynard started with “Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey” as Justin started the bass intro… The theatre once again erupted into a thunderous roar of screams. Everyone was screaming along to this, the final song, yet again, all you could hear was the notes of the band dancing through the air and slamming against your face. Maynard’s voice loud and clear, and crisp against his accompanying musicians. I do believe he switched something instead of L. Ron Hubbard, but I couldn’t quite make out what exactly was said. I was just caught up in the music, and was not paying as much attention as I could have been.

The band ended by tossing the drumsticks into the crowd and standing together center-stage taking turns hugging each other. They were pretty thorough with their hugs. Each one of them hugged every other one at least once. All the while the crowd screaming in thanks and amazement at what had jut taken place.


All in all, it was easily and without a doubt one of the most incredible experiences of my entire life. The set lasted about 90 minutes, and was packed full of what I would consider a nice mix of both older and newer stuff. As shitty as it was that tickets were selling for as much as they were… I’m going to say that they are worth every penny of that money, and if they came back, I would pay it to see them again… Those of you who have tickets for any of the other mini-tour shows are in for quite a treat. There really are no words to describe the beauty that was this evening… It will not soon be forgotten… Not ever…