prla

Long story short, another great Tool show. A few facts anyway:

1. The doors were opened in a timely fashion, but unfortunately the security barriers were real bottlenecks. This meant people like me who got in line around 7pm only got inside the venue about 8.45pm. Which really blows, because I only caught like half of Mastodon's set and I was really looking forward to check them out again, with the new songs and all. While still in line, I asked a security guy who was wandering around what the hell was taking so long, with the opening band already playing and all, and he said that one of the band members demanded exhaustive searching on everybody getting into the venue plus no moshing/crowdsurfing and the usual no cameras, etc... To be honest, I hate when my favorite musicians turn really picky, but I've come to terms with Tool in this respect. It's the price I have to pay for their incredible music even if it means being let down sometimes. In this case it meant half of Mastodon's set for me and only the last few notes (if that!) to other more unfortunate (and late) people.

2. Mastodon was very very good and Brann Dailor, the drummer, is simply insane. That guy doesn't do rhythm, he sorta just does fills the entire time. Which, by the way, looks and sounds amazing. What I was able to catch of their set included "Colony of Birchmen", "Sleeping Giant", "I Am Ahab", "Megalodon" and "Hearts Alive" (which was the highlight for me!) if I'm not mistaken.

3. I don't think the sound was that bad as some people have mentioned. Granted, the acoustic in this venue isn't great but I think it really depends where you're standing. I was facing stage left, so I was pretty much in front of Justin and Danny and it sounded pretty good to me (and I'm kinda picky about sound quality, believe me!). It was above average as far as I'm concerned and it definitely enhanced both shows.

3. Yes, Tool playing the same setlists, especially when visiting the same countries a few months apart, is not very cool. I don't complain much however because a) I wasn't really able to see them properly a few months ago and b) it's a Tool show, dammnit. They could be playing Stinkfist and Vicarious all night, it would still be kickass. OK, not really, but you get the point.

4. Maynard again wore a gas mask for the duration of the show. I have nothing personal against anyone that smokes but I find that to be a very good way of telling those people to shove it. I wish everyone who wanted to smoke to be able to do it but also that anyone who does NOT want to smoke to ALSO be able to do that. I think I'll bring a gas mask along too next time around, because I had the misfortune of being surrounded by as much as four smokers sometimes.

5. Highlights for me were definitely "Schism", "Sober" and most of all "Vicarious". None was below Tool's average really - though I have a hard time getting into "Rosetta Stoned" at all. I think the band pretty much nailed everything (with the exception of those verses in "Vicarious" that go like "We all feed on tragedy, it's like blood to a vampire" where Maynard only sung "We all feed..." and then the band launched immediately into the climax of the track. Seemed like a bit of a trainwreck to me, but that's fine).

6. If they had played "Wings" and "10,000 Days", this would've been the perfect show as far as I'm concerned (I'm even willing to discount "Eulogy"). In this case, it was "only" great and an excellent night out with one of the best bands around.

That's all I can think of right now.