HOOKER
46+2
SCHISM (new jam intro)
PUSHIT
INTENSION
LATERALUS
__________________ (intermission with lights on)

DC DRUM SOLO
JAMBI
OPIATE (majorly extended with new material in middle)
AENEMA
STINKFIST (extended)

aloha,

After posting my last review yesterday morning I was sitting in the hotel room completely exhausted with a cold/runny nose and sore throat. With a Saturday morning flight to Reno I had to be at the airport by 9:00 AM. This meant driving (while sick) to Eugene for the show, driving back immediately after and waiting around for the morning flight. I would be lying if I said I did not seriously consider skipping the Eugene show. Also, it’s Eugene - seriously Tool? Eugene!?

On top of the exhaustion and sickness, I also did not have a ticket for the Eugene show. I decided that unfortunately it was not going to work out. I headed down to the hotel lobby to extend my stay for 1 extra night in Portland. While waiting in line for what seemed like eternity to speak to the hotel front desk, I hopped on the computer/internet in the lobby and randomly checked Ticketmaster – 1 ticket search. Section 113, Row A, Seat 12. What!? First row, beside the stage! I have no idea how I pulled that seat up the morning of the concert, but I promptly hit the purchase button. Sick or not, Kanaduh was going to Eugene!

The next step was to grab the rental car for this road trip. I wandered over to the Budget rental car place and got a pretty good deal. The worker offered me to pick from any of 3 cars that were the same price: 1) Taurus 2) Civic 3) Beetle. LOL! Are you serious dude, of course I want the beetle. I was going on a road trip in west coast USA to a TOOL show in Eugene, OR in a damn Volkswagen Beetle!

I set out on my journey and stopped at Denny’s once again for breakfast. After that there was a pit stop at a pharmacy for various drugs/cold and flu meds to hopefully help me recover. The drive to Eugene was shorter than I expected, with lots of mountains and cool scenery in the distance.

I LOVE this place! It’s a massive College/University town, but also seems like a Hippy Mecca – far more than Portland. Everything about this area has a genuinely friendly vibe.

Before the show I met up with the same Toolnavy buddies from Portland, and smoked some of the best quality ganja I have ever had. I was extraordinarily high in the hours leading up to the show. But I was in Eugene – everyone was high. We grabbed some drinks at a local brewery beside the venue to kill time because the doors had not opened yet. Did you know that Oregon apparently has more microbreweries than any other state? I’ve noticed so many diverse beer options on the west coast. In Portland I tried a stout (similar to Guinness) that had an espresso/chocolate aroma and was probably the best beer I have ever tried.

It was finally time to head to the venue.
I arrive at the seat which I bought earlier in the day on Ticketmaster for face value. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!? This was the best seat/view that is physically possible for a show! Row 1 directly on the side of the stage facing Adam. Because the seating area is elevated I was on a slight angle from above which was absolutely perfect! I had to make sure not to fart during the show so it wouldn’t throw off Adam’s concentration!

To give you context on just how amazing this seat was – I could read the setlist on the paper that was taped to the stage beside the sound tech.

Prior to the show I noticed that there were a surprisingly high number of people inside the venue who were either massively drunk or passed out. A few people were kicked out before the show even started. During the show two guys (both must have been 250 to 300 lbs) got into a huge fight with security and there was basically a brawl right in front of the stage in the VIP seating area. Of all the shows I have been to Eugene definitely had the drunkest/most aggressive crowd. I also suspect a lot of people at the show were there because they live/go to school in Eugene and not many concerts pass through.

Another thing I noticed was Aaron Harris (Isis/Palms) was in the sound area hanging out. I am pretty sure the guitarist of Isis/Palms was also with him, but I could not tell from so far away. I did hear from some VIP guests in Portland that apparently Chino (Deftones) would be attending the show today – which makes sense considering I saw two other members of Palms. I was wondering if maybe Chino would join the band on stage tonight.

TOOL
The lights go out. Hooker with a Penis is the opener again. Even though I preferred Third Eye (as most people would) I was intrigued that they were changing the setlist again. The sound quality for this show was almost perfect because of where I was sitting. At the beginning of Hooker one of the speakers behind Adam made a huge buzzing sound that was really loud for 10 seconds (not sure if anyone else could notice this from the rest of venue). For the entire first song the stage and guitar techs were scrambling by the sound board and speakers to figure out what happened. Adam spent a lot of time watching/helping them while playing. I actually did not watch/enjoy much of Hooker as I normally would because I was paying full attention to the communication between Adam and the techies trying to fix the problem. This seat was a once in a lifetime experience so I wanted to notice some other aspects of the show aside from the lighting/music.

46 &2 was next. Amazing sign because once again the setlist is changing!

Schism - Here is an interesting note about Danny Carey. We all know he is a beast and usually that drum solo at the end of 46 & 2 is ridiculously epic. However, last night I realized that the extended-double time extension to Schism is actually way more impressive and epic from a drumming perspective. I don’t think most people (myself included) give this live version of Schism enough credit.

Pushit – holy fuck this is an incredible song. The section near the climax/end of the song where they all go crazy on their respective instruments was indescribable.

Intension – This is the worst song of the tour by far. Although I like the ambient intro sounds they create, this song does not flow with the rest of the setlist. I don’t think I’m alone with this opinion.

Lateralus – Holy fuck my ears are still ringing from that GONG hit at the end.

Intermission – Usual 12 minutes with the lights back on unfortunately.

Drum solo – Danny has his 8 minutes to do his thing.

Jambi – This was awesome because I could clearly see the talk box inside his mouth during the solo.

OPIATE (Part 1). I have never heard Opiate live before so this was a treat for me. They stopped playing it about halfway through to do what some others called an “extended” version. I had a front row seat for this and I can tell you with 100% certainty that this was NOT simply an “extended version”. That was something totally new.

“NEW SONG” – So they abruptly stop Opiate and begin playing this new material. Overall it was about 5 to 7 minutes long and I will do my best to describe the sounds and also why I am convinced this was part of a future new song.

Before they started the new material, Justin looked at Adam/Danny with the biggest smile on his face and starting “dancing” for lack of a better term. He was swinging his right arm over his shoulder repeatedly again and again, and then started moving his hips and outright dancing while doing the arm movements.
The new material sounded fucking incredible – this is exactly what you would expect from a new TOOL song. The most notable part for me was the drumming – it was fast (but not heavy – think Right in Two first half) with a lot of mandala/electronic drum usage. All 3 of them were standing right in front of each other so they could communicate. Maynard had no part in this whatsoever – however he did not leave the stage and just stood there and watched the entire sequence with the rest of the audience.

I have seen this band many times and they have played many different segues/intros/ambient sounds in between songs – take my word for it when I tell you that whatever they played last night in between Opiate will be part of one new TOOL song. It’s also just the body language and communication I noticed from the front row seat that made this piece something more than an “improve or extension”.

(part 2)

Aenema and Stinkfist were the last two songs once again. However I spent most of them still thinking about the new material we had all just witnessed.

I’m still feeling sick/like shit from the travelling and I am probably not going to be making it to Reno. Considering how unique and fun Eugene should be, I am probably going to stay here a few days until the SF shows. I need some time to recover physically/health, but this also seems like the perfect place to do it. I will probably drive to SF down the Pacific coast which should be a beautiful experience. Time to party with college hippies for a few days! A Canadian driving a VW beetle going to see TOOL shows should be a slam dunk with these girls!

If someone told me last week that I would be staying for 3 days in EUGENE of all places, I would have called them crazy.

And here I am, in Eugene.

Thanks again to “Bob” and “Kyle” for letting me crash at their hotel after the show last night (and for sharing the Pacific Northwest ganja). Meeting and drinking with some amazing people from these forums is the most important and best aspect of these TOOL trips – usually more than the concerts!

Cheers. I’m gonna go be a hippie now. See you in a few days California.

NOTE #1: I took some pictures I will post later.

NOTE #2: I wanted to record/video a lot of the show because of my seat, but it was nearly impossible to do with the anal security plus all the sound techs/TOOL staff directly below me. However I recorded the final 90 seconds once Stinkfist ended where the band hugs/says goodbye to audience. I figured that there will always be hundreds of live videos from people at shows, but seeing the band in the final moments after the show ended (from a really awesome close angle) would be something new a lot of people on these sites might appreciate. Once I figure out how to upload/post the video properly I will.

There are a few uploads on youtube of the new material in the middle of Opiate. I was on the floor and looked around on both sides and the back of the arena and it looked like everyone was standing there in awe of the new stuff - nobody that I could see was rocking out or anything, except the band

NOTE #2: I wanted to record/video a lot of the show because of my seat, but it was nearly impossible to do with the anal security plus all the sound techs/TOOL staff directly below me. However I recorded the final 90 seconds once Stinkfist ended where the band hugs/says goodbye to audience. I figured that there will always be hundreds of live videos from people at shows, but seeing the band in the final moments after the show ended (from a really awesome close angle) would be something new a lot of people on these sites might appreciate. Once I figure out how to upload/post the video properly I will.[/QUOTE]

Do appreciate it thank you for the epic reviews, Vegas will be epic!