Barely slept a wink last night - (my baby son Ihsahn plays this fun game called "let's sleep deprive Dad") so sat up with him most of the night, and when he finally went down in the wee hours, was too on edge about tonight to relax.
So primed... Got swimming then soccer with Wolfgang, my other son, this morning, then straight to the airport after dropping them off with Grandpa, to hop down to Melbourne. Hoping Jetstar don't fuck me again like they almost did with Puscifer in Brisbane in February.
Giddy fucking up. 5th Tool tour, 8th/9th/10th shows coming up.
buzzing with anticipation. To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.
^I'll post a quick review about an hour after the show but while I'm there it's all about enjoying the experience rather than use my mobile to update the world via internet as to how things are going. I hate people using their phones at gigs. Why are you on the phone at a gig, especially when Tool are playing live right in front of you etc.
I'll get the setlist though. Cheers!
__________________ 22/04/02 Brisbane, 21/01/07 Gold Coast BDO, 24/01/07 Sydney, 25/01/07 Sydney BDO, 31/01/07 Melbourne, 11/07/10 San Francisco, 12/07/10 Sacramento, 14/07/10 San Diego, 24/01/11 Brisbane, 27/04/13 Melbourne, 3/05/13 Sydney, 4/05/13 Sydney, 6/01/16 San Francisco, 7/01/16 San Francisco, 9/01/16 San Diego, 10/01/16 San Diego
__________________ 10-30-01 @ Cricket Pavillion | 11-19-02 @ America West Arena | 6-6-06 @ Gammage Auditorium | 9-1-06 @ Theatre Under the Stars | 9-9-06 @ Cricket Pavillion | 6-6-07 @ Tucson Convention Center | 6-15-07 @ Bonnaroo | 12-13-07 @ The Pearl | 12-14-07 @ The Pearl | 7-18-09 @ Mile High Festival | 7-19-09 @ Energy Solutions Arena | 7-21-09 @ US Airways Center | 7-18-10 @ Nokia Theatre | 7-19-10 @ Nokia Theatre | 1-17-12 @ Tucson Convention Center
Spectacular concert. Overwhelming. I loved all the extra sections. Maynard was a bit wobbly at first but Push It was glorious, and Jambi and Aenema were brilliant. Lighting was amazing. Even at 50 (!) I am a huge fan and Tool really rewards their fans generously in their gigs.
Second time I've seen Tool. Wish I had seen them 10 or 15 years ago in order to compare. I don't think Maynard was so bad, possibly because his voice was so drowned out by everything else when I last saw them at the Myer Music Bowl. He made a couple of mistakes but was still very strong when it counted.
Got goosebumps during Hooker With a Penis and was refreshing to hear Sober. Everything was great as usual. Wish there was more Undertow and was hanging out to hear The Patient or DRT, but beggars can't be choosers.
The intermission-drum solo-segue-jambi thing way fucking cool! That totally made up for Maynard coming in early on Vicarious and then leaving out a verse in the same song. He also left bits out of the climactic vocal part of Lateralus. But those 4 tracks after the interval were fucking awesome; the new Jambi intro thing was great, straight into 46 & 2, Aenema & Stinkfist. Starting with Hooker was good but Maynard needs to lose the megaphone thingy. Vicarious was bad, really bad. SOber redeemed things, Schism was standard, Pushit was great, Intension was okay, Lateralus was soild. Good Tool show overall. The end was better than the start.
And on the way back to the city we saw a busker dressed as Elmo, playing AC/DC on his bagpipes. Classy stuff Melbourne...
__________________ 22/04/02 Brisbane, 21/01/07 Gold Coast BDO, 24/01/07 Sydney, 25/01/07 Sydney BDO, 31/01/07 Melbourne, 11/07/10 San Francisco, 12/07/10 Sacramento, 14/07/10 San Diego, 24/01/11 Brisbane, 27/04/13 Melbourne, 3/05/13 Sydney, 4/05/13 Sydney, 6/01/16 San Francisco, 7/01/16 San Francisco, 9/01/16 San Diego, 10/01/16 San Diego
Like the last dude said, they kicked the fuckin ass out of the arena after intermission. HWAP was a pretty phenomenal opening. Vicarious was probably a bad call for second song. My mate said MJK was hammering water straight after HWAP and he was off on Vicarious. Stuffed up words on first verse then missed pretty much the whole second verse after a couple of attempts with wrong lyrics/phrases. Dan and Justin held it together though. Sober was mad. Nice jam on that track. Schism good as always but Pushit was a definite highlight. They got lost on Lateralus and it didn't help MJK in the bridge, he pretty much seemed to have a blank on the lyrics and then Dan changed into the polyrhythm bridge beat a measure early and it ended up a bit all-over-da-shop. Then intermission. Think they might have called this a song early to get back on it. Either way, they went out back and pulled their shit together because the second part was FUCKIN ON FIRE.
Dan soloed into Jambi (which had red confetti!!!), and they were just all over it from then. I'm not gonna say too much but they've incorporated a new stage/crowd prop which gets busted out in Aenima. One great big festering neon distraction, if you will. Lasers were pretty rad,Adams tones are sounding better than ever and Justin was loving it as always. Danny best on ground but pretty good show being the first of a tour. Looking forward to tomorrow night.
__________________ "DECEMBERUNDERGROUND is a time and a place. It is where the cold can huddle together in darkness and isolation. It is a community of those detached and disillusioned who flee to love, like winter, in the recesses below the rest of the world."
-DXH
Yeah, I literally sat down as they burst on stage. Craziest security shit I've ever seen.
And that was fucking immense. I hate Rod Laver but they blasted the crap out of the place, I'm amazed they were better there than in the Music Bowl 2 years ago. I'm so going tonight now.
Also, sooo tortured that they didnt quite fall into playing Third Eye.
Yeah, I literally sat down as they burst on stage. Craziest security shit I've ever seen.
And that was fucking immense. I hate Rod Laver but they blasted the crap out of the place, I'm amazed they were better there than in the Music Bowl 2 years ago. I'm so going tonight now.
Also, sooo tortured that they didnt quite fall into playing Third Eye.
I thought they might have been about to fall into Right in Two.
There was a dj who played support until about 8:10pm. Tool were meant to come on at 8:40pm but the lights didn't go down/out until 8:50pm. From the first heart beat/pulse/sound until they left the stage at intermission at about 9:05pm they played those first 7 songs. When they came back for the last 4 songs they finished at about 10:45pm.
But once again, the last 4 songs were fucking awesome. I felt that Maynard tried to redeem himself during Sober after the disappointment of Vicarious. The vocals seemed turned up after that and he seemed to be really singing & putting in effort etc. I know that sounds strange but it's what happened.
The improved stage is really cool - more video screens ends up creating an entire wall of images by the end of the show. But JAMBI blew me away. I've seen that song 6 times now but the new intro with Danny just makes it even better. And the Aenema 'addition' to the stage production was cool...
__________________ 22/04/02 Brisbane, 21/01/07 Gold Coast BDO, 24/01/07 Sydney, 25/01/07 Sydney BDO, 31/01/07 Melbourne, 11/07/10 San Francisco, 12/07/10 Sacramento, 14/07/10 San Diego, 24/01/11 Brisbane, 27/04/13 Melbourne, 3/05/13 Sydney, 4/05/13 Sydney, 6/01/16 San Francisco, 7/01/16 San Francisco, 9/01/16 San Diego, 10/01/16 San Diego
Yes, lines to get screened were quite insane. We arrived at the venue at 7.45, got through security at 8.40, just time for a quick piss and a quick stop at the merch desk before hitting our seats 5 minutes before lights go down.
Very poorly organised - definitely needed more people doing screening (6 for a crowd of 15,000 ??)
Its a shame some people never saw mjk perform in the 90's, from a vocal perspective and from an entertainers perspective, I'm talking pre Lateralus, he gave it his all.
I can understand with maturity he doesnt move like he used to and I dont know if his vocals are shot or he just cant be bothered but he a shadow of his former self.
Musically the rest of the boys blew me away, 16 yrs after first seeing them and they are still the best band going around.
Its a shame some people never saw mjk perform in the 90's, from a vocal perspective and from an entertainers perspective, I'm talking pre Lateralus, he gave it his all.
I can understand with maturity he doesnt move like he used to and I dont know if his vocals are shot or he just cant be bothered but he a shadow of his former self.
Musically the rest of the boys blew me away, 16 yrs after first seeing them and they are still the best band going around.
I agree with you almost 100%. Except I'd say he gave it his all through all of the Lateralus tour as well. 2001-2002. Even in some of the earlier shows from the 10,000 tour he had the same passion. I know age takes a toll on his vocal chords and he tries to preserve them by omitting certain parts of songs that are very demanding, I get all that. There's something more than that though. Almost seems like he feels obligated to the other 3 guys to keep the TOOL thing going. I've been to many TOOL shows since 1996 and the bands playing only gets better. These Melbourne shows proved that...very tight playing by Justin, Adam, and Danny. I'm not complaining about MJK...as long as we get to hear the music I'm cool with it. Do what you gotta do Maynard. Was cool to see Opiate back in the mix, figured the chance would be good what with the reissue and all. (got v5 and v3)
P.S. I'd be VERY surprised if they ever include songs like "eulogy" and "the grudge" in a TOOL set list ever again...although I'd still love to hear them even if Maynard left out some of the more taxing vocal parts.
__________________ I bought some powdered water, but I don't know what to add.
__________________ "DECEMBERUNDERGROUND is a time and a place. It is where the cold can huddle together in darkness and isolation. It is a community of those detached and disillusioned who flee to love, like winter, in the recesses below the rest of the world."
-DXH