SETLIST --

*DO NOT POST IF YOU WERE NOT AT THE SHOW!

third eye
jambi
vicarious
you lied
flood
schism
lateralus
aenema
stinkfist

You lied!

This concert was great fun. Maynard's mike was too low but it was difficult to actually identify this problem because of the roar of the crowd singing along. It always comes as a surprise to be part of a thousand-piece metal choir.

This was the chattiest and most flexible I have seen Tool - lateralus was really interesting with a cool series of interlocking solos. AND how awesome was it to hear from Salival!! It was like a setlist for real fans. Even a nod to Metallica.

I was expecting Third Eye but even then it was still very powerful to hear that eternal message - think for yourself, question authority (a bit of a theme for me recently). I hope people were really listening. The band sound fantastic and they really looked like they were happy to be there - there was no sense that this was the last gig of the BDO tour - they were tight and committed. And the fans really seemed to appreciate it (except for the douches directly behind us).

Ending with stinkfist was genius!

And the lighting was outstanding (thanks junior). One of the things that really hit me was the absolute effort that Tool (and other bands) invest in their gigs. There is none of that idea that "you are honoured just to be in my presence" that some bands have (like Iggy Pop, grr). Tool are clean, cool, professional and yet passionate. Despite their alleged disdain for their fans they really honour us with their thoughtful, intense, powerful performance.

Having said that, Rammstein were truly extraordinary. And, even though I am not really a fan, the John Butler Trio were really cool. I infinitely prefer Karnivool to Birds of Tokyo. But I loved Dead Letter Circus and Little Red were a great start to our BDO day.

BUT the absolute highlight of the gig was when Danny Carey walked right by us and said hello!!!!

I will die a happy old woman.

Considering there's still 3 Big Day Outs plus a sideshow to go this is no great surprise!

Yeah - my bad. I got carried away with the rhetoric.

I know the Stooges aren't everyones cup of tea, but I have been front and center for every one of their BDO shows so far.
I feel honoured that they are on our stage. They get me psyched for the Tool show.

Well, I respect your opinion and will regard them with more of an open mind in future.

I thought of you when Tool were setting up. I was watching the lighting setting up and thought Junior must be involved in this. Was the number/letters in the boxes about the lighting? How does that work considering the lighting effects are much smaller than those boxes? Are they just to orientate everything correctly? AND (sorry) how does each band swap lighting effects when they must have been set up before hand?

The LED video screens are made up of many smaller panels all locked together. The numbers and letters are just for the video techs to see that they are all working, and if one is not they can trace it down on the grid.

Not sure I know what you mean by the last question?

Ah - I see. That's kind of what I thought when I was watching although I thought it related to lighting not video. Thanks.

I only just realised that Tool and Rammstein were the only two bands that used lighting so I guess you didn't really have to coordinate with other bands at BDO but it must happen fairly often that the previous band's lighting stuff is all up and going and then Tool have to come along and set up theirs. For example, Iggy's drum kit gets taken off and Danny's is bought on. But you can't do that with lighting - the lights are mostly fixed (or perhaps I have that wrong).

How much resetting of lighting is there between acts? I guess that is what I am asking.

Rammstein specified the lights for the orange stage and Tool specified the lights for the blue stage. In this case (BDO) no other bands were really involved in the process. The rig that hangs on the blue stage all day is basically Tool's most recent US setup modified to fit in the BDO roof structure.
At many festivals a more generic system is hung and everyone uses it. With the exception of a few floor lights (Birds of Tokyo, for example) it would be nearly impossible in a festival setting to reconfigure the overhead lights.