9:21, lights go down, band comes out and “Third Eye” kicks off the show. For me, this is one of the best representations of the band. If someone asked me what does Tool sound like this would be the song I’d tell them to listen to. It encompasses the heaviness of their earlier work with more of the progressive tendencies we hear on Lateralus and 10,000 Days. Screens behind the band enhance the visual aspect with the trademark “what the fuck is going on” Tool artwork and videos. The band members themselves are decently lighted except for Maynard whose silhouette plays upon the video screen. Maynard sports a cop uniform and at the conclusion of “Third Eye” reassures us in what can be termed as a typical Maynardism, “It’s ok, I’m a cop…uhh that’s all I’ve got, sorry.”
“Jambi” gets the newly acquired Tool fans going while two side screens turn on and add another dimension to the visual experience that makes up a Tool show. Reactions to this song were good but not quite as strong as what they could be. Going back to the Aenima album, the rhythm section of Justin Chancellor and Danny Carey gets heads nodding to the bass of “Stinkfist”. Anyone who’s heard this song performed live has probably heard them do their extended version of this song. Not wanting to disappoint, Adam Jones included his extra guitar parts in there. “Stinkfist” really captivated the crowd as a sea of fist pumping and head nodding could be seen from sections A-Z.
The order in which the set list was played meshed really well based on the crowd’s reaction and in my opinion as well. “Vicarious” brought out a slew of screams. Personally, this is the only one of their hits and a fan favorite that really doesn’t grab me by the balls like their other songs do. It doesn’t even matter as the laser lights, videos, and band aura more than makes up for it. Tool went from a popular song in their catalog that most people listen to, to one casual listeners skip over on 10,000 Days. “Intension” is not one most people request to hear but for us diehard Tool fans, it was a breath of fresh air. The stage darkened and the crowd response was predictable, as about half of the audience sat down during this song. Not as many paid attention and you could see people checking their text messages while the band was playing. Whatever, this is LA so fuck those fair weather fans. This song made up what was part one of a 1-2-3 punch that the band didn’t play the night before.
One of the best parts about Tool’s music is the contrasting ideas they bring. Whether it’s Danny playing his own beat and then catching up to what Adam’s doing on guitar meters later or just the soft/heavy contrast of the intensity, one cannot deny the band makes opposites attract. After the light attitude that “Intension” brought, what better way to follow it up with a song that progresses and slowly builds where “Intension” left off, creating tension that’s barely containable. “The Patient” is one that really strikes a nerve with me. The combination of Maynard’s voice with the steady guitar picking of Adam creates that sense that you’re about to do something you really, really do not want to do but you know you have to. Once the song hits the 2:20 mark, that monkey on your back has just been lifted. You feel so much better and can continue on with life. But this isn’t a day you will forget either as Maynard says in the song, “must keep reminding myself of this.” This song makes the hair on my arms stand on end. Any song that does that is a keeper. Two punches down but I’m still standing, here comes the third.
Undertow is such a dark record. Unfortunately, the band doesn’t play many songs from this album in one night. If you’re lucky, you will hear two songs from this record at a given concert but realistically just one. It’s not hard to see how Tool gets lumped in as a metal band when you listen to this record as non-metal fan. The album is so fucking heavy but in an atmospheric and lyrical way. I’m not sure what kind of place Maynard was in when he penned the lines for the songs on here but it must have been some deep shit. The album opens up with “Intolerance” and this is what the band chooses to play this night. I had never heard this song live so for me this was extra special. Before ripping into the song, Maynard tried to get something out but I guess forgot how to talk. He said something along the lines of "Raise your hand if you’ve seen Back to the Future. Alright this song is kind of like that movie. It’s like the scene where Michael J Fox, now bear with me this is hard math, where he comes back from the future, or wait, back from the past to the future...or no wait...fuck it!" Another Maynardism for the night. Song sounded spot on and as always, it’s good to hear some older material in their set list.
“Schism” was next and what’s left to be said that hasn’t been already? Everyone knows this little gem, including people who didn’t even know they knew a Tool song. This song accomplishes that rare feat of appealing to mainstream as a single and diehards as a core Tool song, still appreciating and digging it. The music video accompanied the band on all the screens adding to that dynamic Tool complexity. You’ve seen the video; you know what I’m talking about. If you weren’t too caught up in everything going on visually then you were caught up watching the beast of a drummer that is Danny Carey. My god this man runs a clinic. More on that later. After a brief pause between songs, Maynard belts out “who are you to wave your finger, you musta been out your head” to which the crowd went nuts for. “The Pot” sounded like it was altered slightly in tune; perhaps to suit Maynard a bit more comfortably or maybe they were just mixing it up. This was cool to hear and one that kept the crowd singing the words back to the band.
Tool has a tradition of having a member of the opening band (usually the drummer) come out on-stage and play with Danny half way through during their rendition of “Lateralus”. The opening band this time however was a rap group who had no drummer. Both men who make up Dalek came out and did some beats with their retarded little Mac setups they have. I wasn’t close enough to see Danny’s eyes but I’m pretty sure he was rolling them, as was 99% of the audience. If there was any downfall to the performance it was the inclusion of these twats. Luckily, the dipshit openers didn’t ruin it. Oh, remember that whole clinic thing I spoke of earlier? That was just summer school to Danny’s playing on this song. I was indifferent to this song when I first started listening to Lateralus but it definitely grew on me over the years and now is a favorite. I looked around to see if anyone else was paying attention to the teacher and it was obvious by the stillness of the heads and the attentiveness that Mr. Carey had the class in the palm of his hand. It astonishes me to think how one would go about trying to write a song like this, whole band included. The way the guitar plays off of the bass which plays off of the drums which Maynard then adds one more layer to is so far beyond what most bands at the creative peak can come up with.
Maynard mentioned something about this next song being dedicated to Arizona and anyone who knows Tool lyrics already know that “Aenima” is next and will finish up the night. This song never gets old and I hope I never see a show where they don’t play it. I think Justin’s bass really makes this song and gives it that driving backbone force. The lyrics are so bleak and could have easily been found on Undertow. Pulling out all the stops with strobes, lasers, videos, and charisma, Tool sent the audience home happy. Anyone that caught the previous night’s performance I think will agree with me in saying the final night of the tour trumped the night before. No, they didn’t play “46&2”, “Flood”, or “Right in Two” but they gave you “Intolerance”, “The Patient”, “Intermission”, and “The Pot” instead.
Bottom line is if you’ve never experienced Tool live then you really haven’t experienced Tool. Even if you don’t like their music, if you have even so much as half of a creative bone in your body you will walk away satisfied with their show. This is not a rock show. This is not Motley Crue, Rage Against the Machine, or Marilyn Manson. This is an experience. For 7,000+ fans at the Nokia Theater, they all have an experience they will never forget.
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