I'm still not sure how I feel about this show. It was amazing, regardless... but I don't know if I left feeling the way that I expected to feel. I now believe that I left the show feeling the way that Tool wanted the audience to feel.

Where shall I begin...

Of course Maynard faced away from the audience, only seen in silhouette. His goal was to focus the attention on the other members of the band. They are just as essential to the Tool experience as he is, and don't get credited enough.

At times, I forgot Maynard was even on stage. One almost had to strain to pick out his voice amongst the music. However, I believe it is Tool's goal to make the experience not about the members, but about the music. There was no connection between Maynard and the audience whatsoever. He succeeded in accomplishing this. However, I missed the connection that was achievable through him being visible, and his vocals being more distinct. I guess the ultimate question is does one achieve a better connection to a song through it being presented without the singer being visible, and the vocals being less clear... and gaining a deeper connection to the musical instruments, or is a spectator's connection to a song best achieved through the lyrics? I'm not sure yet, but I do miss the emotion that ensues clarity of vocals, particularly pertaining to songs with deep-seated emotion, such as Tool's. I'm not sure yet, but I still felt distant at certain points throughout the show.

Fun tidbits:
- all screens for Jambi were improperly calibrated, and strange to view. Also, during Jambi, the Alex Grey artwork that is usually projected behind them for their first few songs were out of proportion, and no longer displayed until the first screen was dropped.
- For Schism, the side screens were peculiarly positioned
- For Vicarious, the leftmost screen displayed a sliver of alex grey artwork, while the leftmost screen displayed a mirror image of what was playing on the center screens. Either the leftmost screen should have displayed Alex Grey, or the rightmost screen should have had an image of the vicarious video.
- Someone was having fun with a laser pointer for the first half of the show. They were forcefully removed by security during "lost keys"
- Maynard was very untalkative. "Good evening." "Presenting Ashton *something* from tweak bird, also known as *something*... let the drumsterbation begin!." "Remove that drum kit from the stage (or something like that)" "And thank you for coming out tonight". were his only spoken words.
- Lasers were top-notch. Amazing laser show. Lighting was excellent. All visuals with the exception of some of the video displays were superb.
- The crowd really went wild during the intermission. Maynard did walk away from the back screen and join the rest of the band for a moment, and the entire coliseum lit their lighters. It was quite a sight for a sold out show.
- Frisbees, and other fun things were thrown to the audience by Justin, Danny, and Adam at the end of the show.
- Moshing seemed to be non-existant, even though there were quite a few ridiculous looking dancing people toward the back of the floor.
- Lines for the bathroom were unbelievably long for men, but women could use the restrooms with ease. (not too many ladies in the audience)
- The one time I used the restroom, there were three empty bottles of Delsym cough syrup and two empty containers of Zicam cough spray on the floor. X'D
- Last, but not least, I saw guy purchase as rip-off tool tour shirt for 10 dollars from a t-shirt scalper (idk what they are actually called, but they sell the fake tour shirts) after the scalper pulled the shirt out his ass (literally reached back into his pants and pulled it out). Lol. that made my night.

Eh, it was worth 30 bucks. I'll have to see a few more shows this tour to get used to the new feeling obtained from Maynard performing the way he is. He's never been the spot-light kind of guy, but I think he's really pushing it to the limit, at the stake of their live display. Oh well. They're still selling out. As long as they keep rockin' I'll be happy. :D