Alright just to warn you, my post is going to be out of the norm.
call me a heretic- I could care less.
I got a couple really sweet pictures on my camera phone, email me at
[email protected] if you want links to them- I've never seen anyone post pictures in these review threads so I'm sure there's a forum rule floating around there not allowing direct linking of pictures in posts.
*currently my phone is being retarded- if you email me it may take a while for me to get you the pictures.
Well first of all to Edgar (who flew to London just to see Tool) and Abe (was tripping just off the music) I give you guys 10 brownie points. I hope you're reading this.
Secondly to all Tool fans out there, I think it's hilarious when I hear most of you saying whoever threw the water bottle should burn in hell when many of you are responsible for dumping your crap all over the parking lot like animals. Way to make the world a better place... I'll get back to Maynard though.
I've been a Tool fan for about 3 years, enough of a Tool fan to literally get a runner's high type buzz after curling up and listening to 10,000 days all the way through for the first time. This was my very first Tool show, and my second big concert ever so please forgive my noobishness ;)
I was so happy waiting in line when I heard the 98.whatever phoenix rock radio announcer saying "We're here at the SOLD OUT Tool concert". That's when my blood started running. We got into the pit like 5 minutes before Isis started playing (early), and after one song we sat down to save our energy for Tool and the pit was only 1/4 full at that time (I regretted sitting down though- that second song they played, towards the end of it- was insane)
Anyway so Isis dropped the mic and we took our place about 2 people back from the railing. Tool was about 20 minutes late coming out and it was pure torture.
Me and my brother started the clap and chant that got pretty big but died out in a minute- the roadies weren't done doing sound-checks and stuff. Even though it was torture I had some good chats with the aforementioned Edgar dude and Abe, who told me the real scoop on CoacHELLa a little more in-depth than the reviews I read here. The roadies took the black cloth off of Danny's Magic Machine, and the crowd went nuts, although I'm sure it's nothing compared to the thunder at Coachella.
So we here some mad bass descend upon us like a THX ad, and the stage is completely lit by blacklights. All four members walked out at the same time and put on their weapons of choice with Maynard lagging behind a little. He took of his hat and ATF jacket and got up to the mic, and said
Maynard: "Hey it's my friend eddie's birthday today"
pit: all different variants of "yeah eddie!"
Maynard: "so on the count of three I want you all to say, 'Eddie, you're a fucking idiot' "
I assume you all can guess what happened.
Anyway Adam and Justin started winding up and when Stinkfist hit us, the screens behind Maynard and Danny lit up radioactive green, a pretty cool contrast change coming straight from all blacklights. I've seen much better performances of Stinkfist on the web, but Maynard's voice was lacking already.
So then the lights changed and the visuals changed to rippling blue smoke, Maynard sung the line "Who are you to wave your finger" and turned the mic to the audience (who wasn't ready) the band repeated for the hiccup, and they continued with "you musta been out your head"
somewhere in the middle of that was where Maynard got nailed in the head by someone in the back of the pit with (what looked like at the time) a gaffer's tape ball (anyone here who has worked on a stage before, knows what those are) but all I really know was that it was black and roundish from our angle. Maynard didn't seem to recoil that hard from it and it bounced off like a ball (which is why I thought it was a tape ball at that point). He slammed the mic stand on the ground and stomped off behind stage while the rest of the band completed the song without lyrics. Who knows- maybe Maynard needed a good smack to the head for karma even though it was definitely uncalled for.
Some idiots on our left and our right where moshing, so to protect my best friend (small 5'1" girl) me and my brother sandwiched her and moved to the back of the pit where it was safer. I swear- the moshers there only moshed just to do it, they didn't even have a correlation to the intensity of the music. They'd just back up to the wall take a huge drag off their friends joint and went back in to their animalistic games. tool is no doubt awesome, but go to a Slipknot concert you intoxicated imbeciles.
Anyway the band finished The Pot and Maynard came out midway into Forty Six & Two. I distinctly remember 46&2 being pretty much devoid of lyrics because my brother (who has really heard nothing of Tool) bent over and said "I bet this song is a lot better with lyrics."
After Maynard the song he said something to the fact of
"Thanks for the water bottle, that was great"
(crowd boos whoever threw the bottle)
"I took a little break there, that was nice"
"Someone needs to find a new way to express their fucking excitement."
Schism came, Not much to say about that besides the fact that Maynard was not performing 100%.
Rosetta Stoned came out of the buzz, I was so psyched, my favorite part of the song (8:38 on the album) and my favorite snippet of Tool ever that can put me in a coma was coming up, but it came, and went- Maynard could scream but there was no power behind his voice at all for the "overwhelmed as one would be..." I was so let down- I would have sold my soul to hear just that snippet done proper live.
Well, crushed as I was, Adam starting picking away at the silent part of Lateralus and I knew this would resurrect the performance. The song slammed down upon us like an airliner hit the crowd, which is where the show upgraded from just visuals on the various screens to smoke and lasers. It was almost as pleasing to see how the lasers landed on the pavilion steel structure behind/above us than watching the show in front of us.
Short of the long, Lateralus was the best hit of the night.
Next, surprisingly, came Vicarious, which rocked despite the lack of power behind the final line "Vicariously, I live while the whole world dies...much better you than I." which Faltering (great review btw) missed as well :(
After that he talked about how whenever they stop through AZ they go through LA first
"I think I'm allergic to that city"
and went on to say he was sick. Why else in hell would you wear a black jacket on a hot stage in Phoenix anyway...
"I think I have a solution though- we all need to pray for an earthquake"
and with that, Ænima hit us. I'm not a fan, and I won't comment because I'm sure you all don't want to hear negativity.
I think it was after this we heard "Goodnight" and "I'm going to go and jack off to Comedy Central"
After this I don't recall much, we though it was over so the 3 of us went through with our plan and left the pit to beat the crowd. We hung around in the pathway between sections because getting out of the pit was half the victory. Before we knew it, we looked around and everyone had a lighter out. I took a picture of that too. Far more lighters where out then the Damion Marly/Ben Harper concert at Dodge Theatre that I went to, and even better then the pure volume of flames, the lighters outnumbered cell phones 10 to 1. So many where out that the roof of the pavilion was visibly lit up. There where SO MANY people there- I didn't even get to see how many people where up on the lawn. It was also the largest crowd feedback of the entire night- the place was one giant roar.
We hung out in the pathway, wondering if the show was over, and I really can't remember much up to the point that Wings for Marie started.
Personally that was a let down. There is no way Wings Part 1 and 2 could have been that bad Live. It had to be the fact that I was pampered by the audio quality in the pit. It had to be. The whole time I was listening I imagined myself back in my office with the same songs cranked on my surround sound system. Had I known those where the very last songs of the night and how bad they where, I would have left. We stuck around because I was hoping to God they'd play Right in Two. Missing Jambi (Dim my eyes!!!!) was a bummer being one of my top 5 favorite songs, but Right in Two would have totally turned that concert around.
I'll give Tool the benefit of the doubt and recognize that the songs probably rock live with the right seat and Maynard not being sick- but that won't prevent the fact that I would have rather gotten out of the parking lot sooner (we where lucky- it only took us about 15 minutes) than having to stay for the last songs. The standing ovation with the lighters would have been a much better ending for the night.
We where there long enough to see Danny throwing his sticks into the pit, frisbee'ing drum skins into the audience behind the pit, and Adam tossing normal clear water bottles into the back-left of the pit where the notorious throw originated from. (He should have chucked them instead of his lofty toss- that would have been far more hilarious)
Sorry to leave you on a negative tone, (refer back to Lateralus)
Oh well, definitely worth the 3 free pit tickets I got :P