show #14, and 3rd for this tour.

AENEMA!
Tonight was by far better than denver and SLC. This just goes to show you the difference one song can make for the experience. The best 10 seconds of my entire trip so far were the first notes of Aenema. So glad they added it! They also used intense lasers for Aenema as well... very impressive.

Also, before I continue with the review, I want to mention my trip today to Maynard's hometown area. Rented a car in Phoenix and took the 2 hour trip out to Jerome, AZ. Holy crap, a what crazy town! It's literaly built vertically with small steep streets everywhere. Went to the Puscifer store and bought some really cool merch. Talked to this chick (forget her name) who is "maynards assistant" and runs the puscifer online store. She was an awesome person and had a few great stories. FYI: The other manager of the store is the girl playing chess with mjk in the "Queen B" video.

Next it was on to the Caduceus cellars wine tasting room. A big fuck you to the US of A for not allowing me to drink once again. Grrrrrrr.
Slightly disapointed the dude wouldnt let me try some anyways. oh well...

So back to Phoenix for the concert.

Probably my favourite maynardism ever was said tonight.
After the guest drummer - from Tweak Bird - did the usual breakdown in Lateralus, he shakes maynards hand, and mjk says: "seriously, what the fuck!? you think this is your personal storage or something? Get this shit off my stage!"

LOL. I loved it.

He also had the same message after Jambi as he did in Salt Lake City about turning around, raising your hand and whispering "welcome", and to take care of each other on the way home.

Lights went out early today, 8:35 start instead of 9:00.
Jambi, Stinkfist, 46+2 all kicked serious ass once again.

I seem to say this every single time I see them, but I don't think I have a choice: Danny Carey, are you a human? I'm starting to doubt it. Good god... I paid more attention to him today and his foot work on those pedals is INCREDIBLE. Also, I didn't notice until today but he uses his gong in schism. Previously I thought it was only the usual hit in Lateralus.

Rosseta Stoned is officially my favourite song for this tour.
The intro of the lasers is incredibly fucking epic. I shit my seat.
I think mjk was changing the lyrics significantly for rosetta, because I couldn't follow along at all with the lyrics for the megaphone faster parts. I know he usually changes his timing and pitch, but I'm fairly confident it's significantly different this tour. Although it looks like he is having fun on this tour. He made another near-naked appearance following the lateralus breakdown.

Once again, I have to give amazing credit to Junior and his team. Vicarious is the pinacle of the show for the lighting/visuals. The backdrop behind the band is split into 2 sections both playing the Lateralus video. The last 3 minutes with the alex grey net of being 3d world part is unreal playing behind the band live. Visual masterpiece.

By the way, in case anyone was wondering: Adam is NOT a statue!
He moved around the stage frequently tonight, which was quite unusual for him.

Overall this show kicked serious ass.
Aenema was a treat, and unexpected.
The setlist is getting better, the visuals are epic, and mjk was really into it.
Bravo boys, tonight significantly exceeded my expectations.

Also: For the third straight night, as soon as Vicarious ends maynard runs off the stage for the night. This slightly annoys me because they don't do the group hug anymore and he's not there when the other members are all soaking in the appreciation and waving goodbye. I know it's not a big deal, but it has been happening every night so far.

on to alberquourque, or something...