The Tool Page: Opinion - View Single Post - 2006/09/23 - Toronto, ON

I got to the show around 6:30-ish, went to merchandise and got the new ISIS DVD and the big 10,000 Days poster. Sat around and talked until Isis came, which was pretty amazing. They played So Did We (from Panopticon), Dulcinea, and then two songs I did not recognize (my guess is that they're from the new album). Dulcinea was pretty amazing, it looked like they changed up the rhythm of the final sort of tribal-ly part of the song. The last song also had some pretty sweet synth effects from their keyboardist (Cliff Meyer?) which I thought was pretty cool.

But Tool... oh Tool. When the lights went off and the feedback came for Stinkfist, I knew this was it. The mix was amazing - occasionally Maynard was slightly buried in the mix but I think this was kind of intentional (because, as I'll talk about later, he dominated on WFM/10kD). Stinkfist was quite impressive - they did some weird stuff before the "I'll/Keep/Digging..." part, like a bit of a jam (I think it's just the way they play it live). When Stinkfist finished Maynard told us that because we have oil, we should buy the US while our dollar is strong "before it's too late".

He then went into The Pot where he kind of teased us with the lyrics - his vocals were pretty amazing, as was Justin's funky bassline, Adam's guitar and Danny's drumming. The solo was done by Justin, interestingly enough, where he had some weird effect transform his bass into the radio-ey wailing thing. Maynard's vocals were right on, except for the scream at the end (which was shortened and de-intensified so as to be easier on his voice).

The next song was Forty Six and Two where there was this weird synth intro from Adam, which kind of threw people off - of course, when Justin came in with the bassline everyone knew what was up. Adam's guitar sang and cried, and you could feel the strength when he does the part at the beginning:

D-------12--
A-----12---
D---12----

Like the feedback seemed to fill the place. Also worthy of note were Adam's solo with the wah and the tremolo picking and Danny's solo which seemed like the perfect combination of raw intensity and calculation (his drums came out very clearly for most of the concert).

After Forty Six and Two the band went into Jambi, which was accompanied by these images of fire on the screens behind Maynard and Danny. The talkbox solo was done spot on and Maynard used some slight vocal effects on the "Damn my eyes" part which made it that much more amazing. The way Adam did that finally riff before "Breathe in union" was also interesting, because the ending notes seemed to bend slightly - just a side note.

Jambi was followed by Schism, which had the Schism video playing. As somebody already mentioned, they did the sped up interlude part, whcih was interesting but then did it slowly after that... Justin's bass with the slides/digitech whammy (or whatever it is) was amazing, and Maynard also seemed intense during this song.

After this, Justin went behind to his amp to get the feedback going for Lost Keys and Adam played some improvisational stuff before getting into the main riff for Lost Keys. When they went into Rosetta Stoned Maynard had this microphone thing strapped on and did his "Alrighty then/Picture this if you will". It was different from the album version - not quite as ominous and distorted - and that sort of carried through the song. It was actually kind of funny to hear Maynard do that "holy fucking shit!" part (as well as the "Me? they chose me? and I didn't even graduate from fuckin' high school!", he was doing some gestures which made it funnier). The delayed bass and drum part sounded pretty cool (actually, as a side note, I observed a few times throughout the show that Justin's bass sound/playing grooved really really well with Danny's drum sound/playing), as well as the part where Danny does those paradiddles and Adam does the wailing solo. (It was also pretty impressive to hear Adam play those Reflection-esque synths with his toes). Maynard's "Overwhelmed as one would be..." was brilliant and throughout the song there were these strange images of pyramids and weird letters which I could not recognize (as well as other images) mixed together.

The real highlight of the show though, for me at least, was what followed Rosetta Stoned - Wings for Marie and 10,000 Days. Absolutely amazing. I don't really understand how people didn't like it... the lasers meshed really well with the performance, and Adam's playing was spot on (except for missing a one or two notes at the very very end of 10,000 Days, but that makes it more human). Justin's bass also came through really well and Danny's drumming was fantastic. This will with 99.999% certainty sound extremely cliche and pretentious, but when it came to the "High as a wave" part, Maynard's vocals came across in such a powerful way it felt like they cut through the air like the lasers that were cutting through the smoke in the amphitheatre. It was very moving and really made the show - my eyes even began to tear up slightly. I didn't cry though... when the song finished and the band took their break, the smile that came through felt different, as if it had been cleansed in a way. (Although that might have had something to do with the rain that was falling on our heads every now and then.) It was interesting to feel the connection of the band when they did the "Daylight dims..." part - you hear Maynard singing, Justin doing his bass thing, Adam doing his sort of climbing riff (which had some kind of interesting chorus effect that I don't think I've ever heard Adam use) and then Danny hitting the gong. The visuals were also pretty interesting, with white smoky tunnels and fiery tunnels and light and stuff (I didn't pay as much attention to the screens, partly because of my location - I was focussing more on the overall, "gestalt" experience.)

The band took a break, and Danny came out to sit on the elevated stage part where the rest of the band also came. After this they did Lateralus which had amazing visuals, and was executed perfectly, followed by Vicarious which was surreal (the intro sounding different - more palm mute-d and "sharper" in a sense - and the spoons/chimes or whatever they are sounded pretty cool too). Maynard had some effects which helped him with the "Vicariously I/Live while the whole world dies/Much better you than I" and made it sound amazing. Danny and Justin really made this one shine, but Adam's playing was also very strong.

The show ended with AEnema which was amazing. For some reason unbeknownst to me, Maynard went around in circles and did "Fuck retro-anything, fuck your tatoos, fuck all you junkies and fuck your short memories" two or three times instead of "Fuck L. Ron Hubbard/Rupert Murdoch and all of his clones" and some of the other lines. As somebody else mentioned, Justin was really rocking out for this song. The visuals and the lights were pretty cool too, and when they finished, the whole amphitheatre was lit up.

Other general notes: I was a little worried about this show because: a) I had seen the setlists before hand and b) our seats were in section 401, right up against the aisle. However, even from there we had a pretty good view of the band with the possible exception for Danny who was kind of difficult to see behind his drums, although I would guess that it wouldn't be that much easier to see him in section 405 or somewhere more central. We also had pretty good sound: every instrument could be heard clearly (occasionally Maynard was not as clear, like during the first part of Schism, but they cranked him up for 10,000 Days which was perfect), and was adequately loud (as opposed to Isis where I was not always sure whether I was hearing bass or one of the three guitars). As for the setlist thing, their presentation was so interesting that it didn't matter. Maynard also changed up a few of the vocal harmonies for a few songs and had some cool moves during the show, like swaying sideways and kneeling down and putting one hand up in the air, which were amazing.

Overall, the show was outstanding. (and I agree 100% with the guy who said "Fuck you if you missed this show - you'll die regretting it")

09-23-2006, 10:28 PM	#30
Nith Sahor Level 6 - Very Deep Thinker Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Toronto, ON Posts: 197 Bincount™: 9	Re: 2006/09/23 - Toronto, ON - Molson Amphitheatre I got to the show around 6:30-ish, went to merchandise and got the new ISIS DVD and the big 10,000 Days poster. Sat around and talked until Isis came, which was pretty amazing. They played So Did We (from Panopticon), Dulcinea, and then two songs I did not recognize (my guess is that they're from the new album). Dulcinea was pretty amazing, it looked like they changed up the rhythm of the final sort of tribal-ly part of the song. The last song also had some pretty sweet synth effects from their keyboardist (Cliff Meyer?) which I thought was pretty cool. But Tool... oh Tool. When the lights went off and the feedback came for Stinkfist, I knew this was it. The mix was amazing - occasionally Maynard was slightly buried in the mix but I think this was kind of intentional (because, as I'll talk about later, he dominated on WFM/10kD). Stinkfist was quite impressive - they did some weird stuff before the "I'll/Keep/Digging..." part, like a bit of a jam (I think it's just the way they play it live). When Stinkfist finished Maynard told us that because we have oil, we should buy the US while our dollar is strong "before it's too late". He then went into The Pot where he kind of teased us with the lyrics - his vocals were pretty amazing, as was Justin's funky bassline, Adam's guitar and Danny's drumming. The solo was done by Justin, interestingly enough, where he had some weird effect transform his bass into the radio-ey wailing thing. Maynard's vocals were right on, except for the scream at the end (which was shortened and de-intensified so as to be easier on his voice). The next song was Forty Six and Two where there was this weird synth intro from Adam, which kind of threw people off - of course, when Justin came in with the bassline everyone knew what was up. Adam's guitar sang and cried, and you could feel the strength when he does the part at the beginning: D-------12-- A-----12--- D---12---- Like the feedback seemed to fill the place. Also worthy of note were Adam's solo with the wah and the tremolo picking and Danny's solo which seemed like the perfect combination of raw intensity and calculation (his drums came out very clearly for most of the concert). After Forty Six and Two the band went into Jambi, which was accompanied by these images of fire on the screens behind Maynard and Danny. The talkbox solo was done spot on and Maynard used some slight vocal effects on the "Damn my eyes" part which made it that much more amazing. The way Adam did that finally riff before "Breathe in union" was also interesting, because the ending notes seemed to bend slightly - just a side note. Jambi was followed by Schism, which had the Schism video playing. As somebody already mentioned, they did the sped up interlude part, whcih was interesting but then did it slowly after that... Justin's bass with the slides/digitech whammy (or whatever it is) was amazing, and Maynard also seemed intense during this song. After this, Justin went behind to his amp to get the feedback going for Lost Keys and Adam played some improvisational stuff before getting into the main riff for Lost Keys. When they went into Rosetta Stoned Maynard had this microphone thing strapped on and did his "Alrighty then/Picture this if you will". It was different from the album version - not quite as ominous and distorted - and that sort of carried through the song. It was actually kind of funny to hear Maynard do that "holy fucking shit!" part (as well as the "Me? they chose me? and I didn't even graduate from fuckin' high school!", he was doing some gestures which made it funnier). The delayed bass and drum part sounded pretty cool (actually, as a side note, I observed a few times throughout the show that Justin's bass sound/playing grooved really really well with Danny's drum sound/playing), as well as the part where Danny does those paradiddles and Adam does the wailing solo. (It was also pretty impressive to hear Adam play those Reflection-esque synths with his toes). Maynard's "Overwhelmed as one would be..." was brilliant and throughout the song there were these strange images of pyramids and weird letters which I could not recognize (as well as other images) mixed together. The real highlight of the show though, for me at least, was what followed Rosetta Stoned - Wings for Marie and 10,000 Days. Absolutely amazing. I don't really understand how people didn't like it... the lasers meshed really well with the performance, and Adam's playing was spot on (except for missing a one or two notes at the very very end of 10,000 Days, but that makes it more human). Justin's bass also came through really well and Danny's drumming was fantastic. This will with 99.999% certainty sound extremely cliche and pretentious, but when it came to the "High as a wave" part, Maynard's vocals came across in such a powerful way it felt like they cut through the air like the lasers that were cutting through the smoke in the amphitheatre. It was very moving and really made the show - my eyes even began to tear up slightly. I didn't cry though... when the song finished and the band took their break, the smile that came through felt different, as if it had been cleansed in a way. (Although that might have had something to do with the rain that was falling on our heads every now and then.) It was interesting to feel the connection of the band when they did the "Daylight dims..." part - you hear Maynard singing, Justin doing his bass thing, Adam doing his sort of climbing riff (which had some kind of interesting chorus effect that I don't think I've ever heard Adam use) and then Danny hitting the gong. The visuals were also pretty interesting, with white smoky tunnels and fiery tunnels and light and stuff (I didn't pay as much attention to the screens, partly because of my location - I was focussing more on the overall, "gestalt" experience.) The band took a break, and Danny came out to sit on the elevated stage part where the rest of the band also came. After this they did Lateralus which had amazing visuals, and was executed perfectly, followed by Vicarious which was surreal (the intro sounding different - more palm mute-d and "sharper" in a sense - and the spoons/chimes or whatever they are sounded pretty cool too). Maynard had some effects which helped him with the "Vicariously I/Live while the whole world dies/Much better you than I" and made it sound amazing. Danny and Justin really made this one shine, but Adam's playing was also very strong. The show ended with AEnema which was amazing. For some reason unbeknownst to me, Maynard went around in circles and did "Fuck retro-anything, fuck your tatoos, fuck all you junkies and fuck your short memories" two or three times instead of "Fuck L. Ron Hubbard/Rupert Murdoch and all of his clones" and some of the other lines. As somebody else mentioned, Justin was really rocking out for this song. The visuals and the lights were pretty cool too, and when they finished, the whole amphitheatre was lit up. Other general notes: I was a little worried about this show because: a) I had seen the setlists before hand and b) our seats were in section 401, right up against the aisle. However, even from there we had a pretty good view of the band with the possible exception for Danny who was kind of difficult to see behind his drums, although I would guess that it wouldn't be that much easier to see him in section 405 or somewhere more central. We also had pretty good sound: every instrument could be heard clearly (occasionally Maynard was not as clear, like during the first part of Schism, but they cranked him up for 10,000 Days which was perfect), and was adequately loud (as opposed to Isis where I was not always sure whether I was hearing bass or one of the three guitars). As for the setlist thing, their presentation was so interesting that it didn't matter. Maynard also changed up a few of the vocal harmonies for a few songs and had some cool moves during the show, like swaying sideways and kneeling down and putting one hand up in the air, which were amazing. Overall, the show was outstanding. (and I agree 100% with the guy who said "Fuck you if you missed this show - you'll die regretting it")
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