Desert Rat

This is my 2nd Tool show, my first one was in 2001. I'll start this by getting the customary 'fuck you's out of the way. Whover the prick bastard was who hit Maynard with ther bottle, go to hell, fuck off and die! Bodysurfing during Wings for Marie, grow the fuck up, already! Now that that is out of the way...

Hopefully I get the sequence of events correct. Maynard was not feeling well tonight. I'm fortunate to read the reviews here from the LA shows, because that way I knew. Tool didn't start until about 9:20. It was funny during Stinkfist when the fans were singing the final stanza when the band made the detour into another bridge. After Stinkfist, Maynard said, "today's my friend Eddie's birthday, let's give him a "hey Eddie, you're a fucking idiot!". The crowd cooperated, lol.

The Pot, well, he sang the "who are you to wave your finger", then nothing, waiting for the crowd to finish it, perhaps, but then he continued with the rest of the song. I don't recall at which point in the beginning of the song it was, but some fuckhead in the pit threw a water bottle. I saw it hit Maynard square in the melon. He turned, DISGUSTEDLY slammed the microphone down, kicked the stand away and trudged off the stage for the rest of The Pot. Adam looked behind after about a minute and had a "where the hell is Maynard?" look on his face. MJK came back out toward the end of the song, put his ATF jacket and cowboy hat back on and just hung out in his usual spot on stage and didn't sing until the last verse of 46&2. I thought that he may just say, fuck this, I feel like total shit and these retards are throwing bottles at me? It was a warm, humid night, the only reason you'd put a coat on is if your feeling chills, so I was convinced he was sick more than he was cashing it in, but it was a nice scare. The band kept playing, like the pros that they are. I was guessing the crowd may start singing the vocals in the meantime, but I think everyone was too drunk, stoned or just shocked. After 46&2, MJK said, "a water bottle thrown at my head, nice...you people need to find a better fucking way to express your feelings...is it safe for me to continue?". He did.

I remember when Tricky opened for Tool here in 2001, someone pegged him with something and he spent the rest of the set standing silently with his back to the crowd. Roger Waters had the right idea with The Wall, but that's neither here nor there.

The new fast part in the middle of Schism sounded great, it's good to hear some enhancement on that. I wish Osseus Labyrint could have been there again. Lost Keys was more like just an interlude (no doctor scene), but the opening notes of Rosetta Stoned were good to hear. Maynard FLAWLESSLY sang that difficult song. I was glad to hear that in person.

I love Lateralus, but IMO it was performed better in 2001, ending the show and I like the visuals better, then. Even so, Danny was just amazing and was wearing a Shawn Marion Suns away jersey, none of that Lakers crap. Justin was way better than I remember. Adam was his usual self, which is always a good thing. I loved the lasers, they are a great visual enhancement. Vicarious must be a tougher song to play then you'd think, they did well with it, but Maynard was having a lot of vocal problems and didn't even sing "vicariously I...live while the whole world dies...much better you than I" to end the song, Whatever was ailing him took it toll. He mentioned that he must be allergic to LA, since he always gets sick after leaving there and that he knows a solution. Of course, Ænima was next and he kept messing up all the 'fuck all these..." lines and he seemed to weak to complete the song (the crowd sang the "suck it down" lines). At some point during the break of one of those songs, he had a huge handkerchief that he looked like he blew his nose in, but I was in the back of section 202, so I may be wrong.

The band took a seat on stage, conferred with each other and Justin lit a lighter and held it up for about three minutes. We then had a pavillion of lit lighters (people were also using their cellphones as such, um, that doesn't do it!). When Maynard got up, he said, "we'll play some more if you're good" or something. A roadie brought out a stool for Justin and that meant Wings/10000days was next, which saved my evening, I would have been completely pissed if they didn't play those. The vocals at the beginning of Wings were a bit muddled, but they are on the CD, too. Still, MJK braved his way thru it and thru 10000 Days. I was hoping for just one more tune to end the show, but I bet Maynard was just too damn sick to continue. Oh well. I would have loved to have heard Jambi live, that could have ended the show marvelously but you can't have everything. The concert was somewhat bizarre, thanks to MJK's health and some scumbag with a water bottle and good aim.