Tool

Tool 1/12/20

Bob was the one that was able to secure tickets for the show two nights prior to this and when he did was also able to get two tickets for the Sunday show. His wife expressed interest in possibly going so in the name of spreading joy to the world I agreed to forgo my ticket for her if she chose to go but in the end she passed. Unbeknownst to me he had not even told her that he bought tickets for the Sunday show so he did not know if he was going to make it until the last minute. By the time we figured it all out we were walking in just as “Fear Inoculum” was starting and had to kick someone out of our seats. We did have slightly better seats for this show but they could not be classified as premium seats by any stretch of the imagination so it was funny to walk in on someone trying to snake our seats.

Since it was a Sunday we decided not to drink at all for this show (don’t fret dear reader I still had a couple gummies) so I was able to notice a few more details than I recalled from the Friday show. The first thing I noticed is that people get really cranky about standing in their seat space instead of sitting down in their seat. For some reason people think you cannot hear them when they are talking right behind you but then again maybe they were talking louder than normal to make sure they were being heard. Bottom line this is not your fucking living room so if you don’t want to stand then maybe you should pony up extra dough to sit somewhere else or shut up and deal with it.

The next thing I noticed is that Maynard seems to be coming out of his shell a little more lately. Two nights ago he had come down from his platform but tonight Maynard hung out on the drum riser for a moment then was later seen on top of a speaker cabinet being pushed across the front of the stage and finally briskly walking from one side of the front of the stage to the other at the very end as he was saying farewell. I was also attuned enough to notice that he embellished some of his vocal lines throughout the night.

Tonight I noticed the exact moment that the “fishing wire curtains” peeled back was during “Parabola” to reveal a naked band – not naked in the sense that they were not wearing clothes but just more exposed. This was met with a roar of approval from the crowd. Those same “fishing wire curtains” closed them back in for an INTERMISSION of about 12 minutes with a projected countdown timer and all right after “Forty Six & 2 (this happened at the Friday show as well but I had forgotten).

The only difference in the setlist from two nights prior was the inclusion of “The Pot” and “Part of Me.” At this point anything from Opiate seems otherworldly since it is a short blast of pure rock fury vs. a crazy extended musical journey. People were not as cool on this night with keeping their phones out of their hands but despite this Maynard once again proclaimed that it was ok to openly carry during “Stinkfist,” which turned into an extended jam near the end right when you thought they were mere seconds from being done. This to me was a good summation of Tool: right when you think they are about to disappear they remind the world that they were never really gone. They also remind the world that we need them more than ever.

SETLIST: Fear Inoculum, AEnema, The Pot, Parabol, Parabola, Pneuma, Schism, Jambi, Vicarious, Part of Me, Forty Six & 2, Chocolate Chip Trip, Invincible, Stinkfist

Tool 1/10/20

I guess it was only fitting that the first concert for me of the new decade was Tool. It was also fitting that a couple days before this show I randomly ended up driving behind a car with a custom license plate that said “Schism” as I was listening to Tool.

Schism

After going through hell to get tickets right when they went on sale (eff you Ticketmaster) Bob was able to secure four seats together not far behind the mixer board. After Bob and I met up with Kyle and Chris for a quick beer at Eureka! we met up with Wayne to make our way in (Chris had a seat on the floor) after I had a couple “cookies” for dessert.

I had just seen Tool at Aftershock less than three months before this but was excited at the possibility of them stretching out a little more since this was their own headlining show. It ended up being a very similar setlist as Aftershock but they threw in a partial cover of Rush’s “A Passage to Bangkok” due to the sad announcement earlier in the day that Rush’s legendary drum god Neil Peart had passed away from brain cancer at the age of 67. After a particularly vicious “Forty Six & 2” and intermission they paid tribute again by projecting a picture of Danny and Neil behind the drum kit as Danny was performing “Chocolate Chip Trip.” Finally as they walked off the stage “2112” blasted through the sound system. R.I.P. Doctor.

No Tool show would be complete without crazy visuals and this show utilized what I can only call fishing wire curtains in front of the band for a majority of the show to project trippy landscapes onto. Maynard uncharacteristically came down towards the front at one point and seemed to be in a good mood. Right before AEnema he quipped “San Diego is pretty close to L.A.” before a round of “boos” quickly came back at him. Tool has a very strict no phone policy and threatened removal if caught using your phone but everyone seemed to be ok with being in the moment. Possibly since everyone behaved Maynard then announced right before “Stinkfist” that it was now ok to get out your phones for the last song.

SETLIST: Fear Inoculum, AEnema, Parabol, Parabola, Pneuma, Schism, A Passage to Bangkok, Jambi, Vicarious, Descending, Forty Six & 2, Chocolate Chip Trip, Invincible, Stinkfist

Aftershock 10/13/19

Since Bob and I played Fantasy Football (nerd shit) against each other this week we sat around our hotel room watching football all morning until it was time to go (I ended up winning). Our M.O. for Sundays at Aftershock is usually to find a Buffalo Wild Wings to watch football and get sauced before heading over to the show but B-Dubs was packed. This lead us next door to a restaurant that served up the biggest burrito I have ever seen. I almost took it all down before we headed over to the show to catch Gojira. Joe loves Gojira but I was indifferent about them. Maybe it would have helped if I already knew the songs.

Chevelle was the next band I wanted to see but unfortunately it seemed like they “phoned it in” a little. I cannot explain it exactly but after seeing them as many times as I have it is easy to distinguish a performance that is off. It could have been because they had a shortened set in the daytime while it was still light outside. Then again that exact scenario is how I saw them in the early days when they used to play the second stage or really early on the main stage at Ozzfest.

Young Wicked, The Clincher, Get Some, An Island, Door to Door Cannibals, Face to the Floor, Vitamin R (Leading Us Along), Send the Pain Below, The Red, Still Running, I Get It

Korn have been on a tear the last few times I have seen them and tonight was no different. This time they were touring for their new album The Nothing that was released exactly a month before this. The Aftershock lineup for this year was incredible but Korn was some next level shit compared to most of the other bands that had played up to this point. The first four songs they played set a tone that never wavered from then on out. The set as a whole reminded you why these guys have been able to sustain a career for as long as they have. Still got it.

Blind, Clown, Faget. Here to Stay, Rotting in Vain, You’ll Never Find Me, Shoots and Ladders (with Metallica’s “One” outro), Got the Life, Twist, Freak on a Leash, Coming Undone, Falling Away From Me

It had been over two years since I last saw Tool and the big news since then was that there was finally a new album! Fear Inoculum was released only two weeks before this and was worth the wait. Seeing Tool live never gets old but merely having a chance to see a new song performed live was probably enticing enough by itself to get me to Sacramento. Lucky for me they ended up playing two new songs on the album and equally exciting was when they played “Part of Me” because I am almost certain that in all the times I have seen Tool that I have never seen them play that song. I was also lucky that Ken of all people had procured a doobie from someone since I was out of gummy rings. Musically they were absolutely incredible and somehow their stage show continues to keep evolving to greater heights. The lasers alone were more impressive than the entire stage show of most bands I see.

Fear Inoculum (live debut), AEnema, The Pot, Invincible, Part of Me, Parabola, Jambi, Forty Six & 2, Stinkfist, Pneuma (live debut)

The group as a whole made it through one more day together without separating so we all walked back but on the way realized we were staying right across the street from Old Town Sacramento. After a chiliburger and completely unnecessary beer we wrapped up another Aftershock. Until next year…which we already bought tickets for since it was announced Metallica is going to be headlining on two of the three nights with completely different sets for each night!

Tool 6/24/17

It’s hard to believe that it had been nearly eight years since the last time I saw Tool and almost equally hard to believe that 10,000 Days from 11 years ago was still their newest release. Due to so many concerts this year I almost didn’t go but as the date got closer the lineup just became too good to pass up. Unofficially dubbed “ToolFest,” the lineup boasted Tool’s friends and past touring mates Melvins, Fantomas, Clutch and Primus with The Crystal Method filling in the gaps between bands. It was supposed to be Bob and I but Bob bailed and Joe decided to fly down from Portland to go with me.

The Glen Helen Amphitheater is kind of out in the middle of nowhere so the nearest hotels are about 12 miles away in San Bernardino proper and San Bernardino is sketchy. At 1 pm we arrived at the ghetto fabulous Motel 6 to see an unfilled swimming pool, cheap banner wrapped around the official sign and an armed guard. Even that was a first for me but almost any accommodations are good for a night when you’ve been drinking. Anyways it was 1 pm but check in was not until 3 pm. This caused an issue because doors to the show were at 2 pm, for once we wanted to see every band playing and we were hoping to get a little pregame in to save some money on the $13.50 we knew each beer would be at the venue. Once we walked into the office to talk to the front desk guy who was behind bulletproof glass about checking in early we saw that there were two different couples who appeared to be trying to do the same thing. While one couple was at the window we started chatting with the other couple that had come all the way up from halfway down Baja in Mexico. What happened next was one of the strangest moments I have ever had. The couple at the window informed us nobody was going to be allowed to check in until three and walked out of the office. The other couple from Mexico then asked us if we wanted their room for free. Joe and I thought they meant we could hang out in their room but apparently they decided to stay somewhere else for the night and could not get a refund for this night and were only in the office to get a receipt of some kind. This solved all of our woes and saved us some money that we could then blow on beer. It is still hard to wrap my head around that moment even while writing this. That couple knew us for 60 seconds and decided that we could be trusted not to trash the place and charge any damages to their credit card. No complaints here.

After drinking some of the beer obtained from the padlocked coolers at the gas station across the street and a short Uber ride we were ready to take on the crisp 100 degrees without a cloud in the sky and rock. The venue holds 65,000 people so once we got settled we found a spot at the front of the lawn section to watch King Buzzo in a bizarro robe and the rest of the Melvins. It was a little ironic that I had not seen Melvins since I saw them back in 2004 with Joe in Portland. “Queen” put a smile on my face and my neck on notice. They also played a dissonantly heavy version of the Beatles “I Want To Hold Your Hand” that was cool.

I had never seen Fantomas so I was interested to see if their stage presence was as crazy as some of their music. Unfortunately Mike Patton’s microphone was fucked up for most of the set, which put a damper on some of the frenetic energy I was hoping for.

Next up was Clutch and they were the kick in the nuts that the crowd needed to waken them from their heat and beer induced slumber. My last time seeing Clutch was also with Joe at Aftershock a couple years back. I won the bet with him that Clutch would not play super old stuff but I was still plenty happy with newer rockers like “Firebirds!” and “X-Ray Visions.”

I had not seen Primus since the 3D tour almost five years before. They opened with one of my personal favorites “Those Damned Blue Collared Tweekers” and then pretty much stuck to the hits. “My Name is Mud” was Bad.Ass. At this point the sun had finally started to go down to give us some reprieve and for the first time in the day the video monitors fired up. Prior to this there were no visual effects or so much as a band backdrop for any band. Judging by the many Tool t-shirts in the crowd I do not think that bothered one person here, as that stood to enhance Tool’s world-class laser light production that much more.

The only taste of newness we got from Tool was “Descending,” a tune they have been playing live for awhile that is more like a teaser/movie trailer of the actual song according to Adam Jones. Although I do miss the early days when Maynard was not hiding in the back amongst the shadows seeing Tool never gets old. They played “Opiate” which I have only seen them play a few times and “Sweat” which I am not sure if I have ever seen them play. This was also a rare night they played “Third Eye.” A brief interlude followed “Forty-Six & 2” that Tool came back from by way of a Danny drum solo that was three minutes of pure fire and speaking of fire, there was a bonfire of trash in the lawn section; a fitting sight since the first time I ever saw a bonfire at a show was the only other time I came to this venue to see Slayer and Marilyn Manson. Stay classy San Bernardino.

Getting out of the venue was a shit show. The people who were parked at the venue could not get out which also meant Uber drivers could not get in to give us a ride back to the Motel 666. After admitting defeat and staring at the stars we sat up to see the original couple from the hotel that was denied check in. We decided walking a mile and splitting a surge priced Uber was a better option than just sitting there so that is exactly what we did.

SETLIST: The Grudge, Parabol, Parabola, Schism, Opiate, AEnema, Descending, Jambi, Third Eye, Forty-Six & 2, The Pot, Vicarious, Sweat, Stinkfist

Epicenter 8/22/09

The Fairplex in Pomona is basically the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds that underwent a name change in 1984 and host to the largest county fair in the world. I drove up with Bob and a guy he works with to get scorched by the sun and a pretty solid lineup.

The first band we gave any shit about was Street Sweeper Social Club, which was Tom Morello’s new project with Boots Riley from The Coup on microphone duties. I did not have the benefit of really listening to their newly released self-titled debut album before we saw them because I only learned of them at all very shortly before the show. In an article written by Alex Young in Consequence of Sound Morello described the project/album as “revolutionary party jams. It’s got huge steamroller riffs combined with depth, charge, funk, while Boots unloads clip after clip of incendiary rhymes rich with satire and venom.” Boots Riley added “this is a time when the working class is being fleeced left and right. More families will be homeless and more people will be jobless. They’ll need something to listen to on their iPods while storming Wall Street.” The music was all those things. I only wish I had the benefit of getting to know the songs prior to seeing the performance.

Wolfmother was up next and I had just seen them open for STP less than a month before this. They were awesome again but essentially put on the same show as the first time I saw them.

Alice In Chains was the first band I really really wanted to see again. This was to be my third time seeing them with William DuVall singing but now they were only a month away from releasing the excellent Black Gives Way to Blue so we got to hear “Check My Brain” and “A Looking in View” in addition to the classics. It was a little strange to see them in full daylight but they killed it.

Linkin Park was up next and I had not seen them since the two times I saw them back in 2001 when they were touring for Hybrid Theory. At this point they were a full on hit factory and their newest album was their third album Minutes to Midnight. They were touring pros by now so the set was very tight and they looked like they had gained some confidence after years on the road.

Closing out the night was the almighty Tool. I do not care how many times I have seen them they still blow my mind. It’s like an old friend that you haven’t seen in awhile and I had not seen them for almost two years since I saw them in Spokane. Tool is an experience. The visuals are on par with the epic nature of the music and the whole thing can very easily put someone into a trance like state. The pot that I smoked did not do anything to counter this feeling. The newest album was still 10,000 Days but I was in hog heaven. Adam Jones has a way of playing guitar sometimes where he appears to be staring into the crowd fixated on one spot as he is pulling off these badass rhythms. We were watching from his side of the stage and I was right in his stare zone, which was messing with me in my state of affairs. Also of note was that Maynard performed on crutches due to an injury. Not that it affected his performance since he stays in the back of the stage anyway, but it was pretty cool he did not call off the show.

Tool 12/7/07

I was making good money at the time and I love Tool so I decided to fly up to Spokane to hang out with a couple friends and see Tool for the third time in the last seven months. I was already cutting it close by flying into Spokane just a couple hours before the show started but that margin shrank even more when JetBlue delayed the flight. Lucky for me Ryno was able to pick me up at the airport and we hightailed it directly to the arena. Even luckier for me – once we started wading through the floor towards the stage (I love general admission) I ran into Roscoe who immediately smoked me out. Two minutes later Tool was on the stage. Whirlwind. It was pretty much the same stage show as the last two shows I saw but this was one of the only times I have ever seen them play “Flood.” I lost my shit when they played that. Epic.

SETLIST: Jambi, Stinkfist, Forty-Six & 2, Schism, Rosetta Stoned, Flood, Wings for Marie (Part 1), 10,000 Days (Wings Part 2), Lateralus, Vicarious

Tool 5/3/07

I did not originally set out to see Tool two nights in a row but quickly changed my mind after seeing such a juggernaut performance the night before and realizing that these opportunities do not come along very often. Besides that Macy’s boyfriend Jake had never seen Tool so it was perfect excuse to go again. I remember struggling to find tickets the day of on Craigslist so I think we just went to the venue in search of a scalper and almost immediately scored tickets once we parked and started walking around. Our tickets were a little closer than the night before but off to Justin’s side of the stage. I am fairly sure they did not sell alcohol like they did the night before. Other than that the setlist was the same except they replaced “Rosetta Stoned” and “Right In Two” for “Pushit,” which as told by Maynard was something they had not done in awhile. Don’t take my word for how badass this show was; you can listen/watch it thanks to someone else that was at the show who recorded and uploaded it to YouTube.

SETLIST: Jambi, Stinkfist, Forty-Six & 2, Schism, Pushit, Wings for Marie (Pt. 1), 10,000 Days (Wings, Pt. 2), Lateralus, Vicarious, Aenema

Tool 5/2/07

This show was originally supposed to be on March 20^th but got rescheduled due to drummer Danny Carey tearing a bicep while “picking up his dog at home.” Danny Carey is six foot five so he must have a giant fucking dog! All joking aside this show’s audience was a little more under control than when I saw them at Street Scene about nine months prior because there were actual seats. Everyone had assigned seats even on the floor and ushers were walking around with flashlights to ensure people stayed in their seats. I am lucky that I have perfect eyesight because my seat was at the back of the arena but the silver lining was that it was behind the mixing board so the sound was excellent. The visual aspect of Tool’s performance intensified every time I had seen them and this my sixth time seeing them was off the charts. The floor of the stage was completely white and they used this previously untapped resource to project things onto the floor. Even the stage crew got in on the action by wearing white lab coats.

Since this was the official tour for 10,000 Days we got to hear some songs they did not play at Street Scene: “Rosetta Stoned,” “Right In Two,” and “Wings” Parts 1 & 2. I remember Maynard commenting something to the effect of how polite it was to drink beer and holler during a song that was written about his mother who passed away when they did “Wings.” Danny’s bicep must have healed up nicely because he put on an absolute drumming clinic during “Right in Two.” Phenomenal show.

SETLIST: Jambi, Stinkfist, Forty-Six & 2, Schism, Lost Keys (Blame Hofmann), Rosetta Stoned, Right in Two, Wings for Marie (Pt. 1), 10,000 Days (Wings, Pt. 2), Lateralus, Vicarious, Aenema

Street Scene 8/5/06

This was the second year in a row that Street Scene was held in the Qualcomm Stadium parking lot. It also happened to be the same time I was scheduled to spend a week in the Pacific Northwest for my Mom’s wedding and my 10-year high school reunion. Sometime after I booked my flight to go to Oregon/Washington it was announced that Tool would be headlining Street Scene. I was never all that pumped about going to the high school reunion so ultimately I decided I would rather see four dudes that I had not seen for almost five years (Tool) rather than see a bunch of people that I had not seen for 10 years. Street Scene was Friday the 4^th and Saturday the 5^th but I came back just for Saturday.

I remember coming home to a dead battery in my car since it had been parked for a week. After I convinced my then roommate Macy to drop me off I got to the concert with just enough time to find my friends Marvin and Bob, have a beer with them and get over to see the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. They were touring in support of their new album Show Your Bones that was released about four and a half months earlier. This was my second time seeing them, with the first time being about two years earlier right after I first moved to San Diego. They were as great as they were the first time but now had another album of songs to choose from.

SETLIST: Gold Lion, Fancy, Phenomena, Mysteries, Honeybear, The Sweets, Maps, Y Control, Date With the Night

It was convenient that Tool played the same stage as the Yeah Yeah Yeahs since we were already in good position at that stage. This was my fifth time seeing Tool but as stated earlier I had not seen them for about five years and now they had a new album in 10,000 Days that was released just about three months prior to this. Everything started off well but then all hell broke loose with the crowd near the end of their second song “The Pot.” People were being trampled near the front to the point where Maynard was telling people to move back during the song and then they ended up stopping the show for about 10 minutes until people moved back. Apparently 15 people ending up getting seriously hurt. I think if Maynard would not have stopped the show that count would have been much higher. I got separated from Marvin and Bob but apparently Bob ended up having sex in the audience. I am not sure how that is possible with people on all sides of you but the crowd was very raucous and Bob is not known to be a lying braggart.

SETLIST: Stinkfist, The Pot, Forty-Six &2, Jambi, Schism, Sober, Lateralus, Vicarious, AEnema

Article about 15 fans injured during Tool

Tool 11/6/01

Honestly, I don’t remember a great deal about this particular show. I do know that Lucinda was finally able to see what the fuss was about this time and that it was my fourth Tool experience. I also know my friend Joe drove down from Pullman, WA with his then girlfriend Kristy and had a completely different experience than us because he had different seats and dropped acid. We all met up at Joe’s hotel right across the street from Portland Memorial Coliseum for a beer before the show but didn’t see each other again that night. I think my lapse of memory is probably due to the show being much like the prior one I saw but minus the intimacy of the venue.

Rock N Roll Recollections

Fuzzy recollections of bands that rocked my world