We arrived at Cricket Pavillion at around 6:00PM, my friends CJ and Kristin and I. They had just started letting people into the venue, and we worked our way up to the lawn (yes, we had cheapo tickets) and got a seat right at the very front, in the middle. We sat in the grass, waiting for Isis, the opening band, to come on, passing the time by playing Battleship on Kristin's Sidekick. Eventually 8:00 rolled around and Isis took the stage.
I'd listened to Isis before, and I thought they were alright, but not very engaging. They were just as unexciting live. They played two songs I recognized and three I didn't, and everyone was glad when they finished. We stood around for about 30 minutes (we couldn't sit down, as the crowd and filled in behind us), while the anticipation built around us as we all waited for Tool to take the stage.
Eventually the lights dimmed and Adam, Justin, Danny, and Maynard came out onto the stage, and started playing Stinkfist. I was blown away. Their stage layout is vastly different from their Lateralus setup. The floor of the stage was covered in white sheets, and behind the band was low, white wall about 6 feet tall. Onto the wall and floor, as well as two giant screens high up to the left and right of the stage, was projected all sorts of images. In the case of Schism and Aenema, they showed their respective music videos, but for the other songs, colored patterns, alien images, flashes of enochian writing, clouds, and all kinds of psychedelia were displayed. It was a delightful bombardment of light and sound. That, combined with the amazing extended version of Stinkfist they play live, was the most awesome intro to a concert I could ever imagine.
After Stinkfist ended, Maynard spoke to the audience. "Today is my friend Eddy's birthday, so on the count of three, I want you all to yell, 'Eddy, you're a ****ing idiot.' One, two, three."
"Eddy you're a ****ing idiot!"
"...it's not really his birthday, anyway."
The band started playing The Pot. About a minute into the song, however, someone threw a beer bottle at Maynard and hit him right in the head. He threw the mic down and ran backstage, leaving the rest of the band to play The Pot on their own. He came back after it was over, and the band moved onto 46&2, but Maynard just stood there and didnt sing until the very end, after Danny's drum solo. After the song ended, he said, "Thanks for throwing a ****ing beer bottle at my head. Didn't even break. You need to find a better way to express your love."
During Rosetta Stoned (which was accompanied by some awesome video), some idiot in the crowd behind us thought it would be cool to take off his pants and light them on fire. He did, and threw the pants on the ground. People starting moshing in a circle around the fire (which they kept going by throwing on thier own clothing), pushing everyone out and jamming my friends and me into the railing. Not a very comfortable way to enjoy the song, but it's to be expected. Eventually the venue staff brought out hoses and got the fire out, and then continued spraying water up into the air above the lawn, getting the audience nice and wet.
But then they played Lateralus. It's here that they expanded on their visuals, turning on the strings of lights leading down to the stage in arcs from the cieling, which flashed and changed colors with the music. Accompanying this was a series of lasers lights, throwing patterns and beams up into the air. It looked really amazing, and of course the song was played just as awesomely. After Lateralus, they played Vicarious, and Maynard addressed the audience again.
"It seems that every time we come to Phoenix, we come by way of LA. And everytime we go through LA, I get sick. Maybe I'm allergic. Or maybe it's just because I ****ing hate LA. I have a solution though... we can flush it all away." Naturally they followed that speech with Aenema, which was absolutely epic.
The stage lights turned white and fully lit the stage, and the band grabbed the water bottles and sat on the edge of the drum podium, taking a break before their usual encore. Justin pulled out his lighter, and held it up in the air. Hundreds of people in the audience pulled out their own lighters, forming a sea of light and flame. Maynard stood up and spoke into the mic.
"If you're good we'll play one more song." The crowd cheered. "Gooder..." The crowed cheered louder. "Better..." Even louder. "Alright."
They all went back their positions, and played Wings For Marie/10,000 Days. Such a beautiful, emotional song, and a great closer. After the song, Danny and Adam both gave Maynard a big hug (who was probably very emotional after Wings/10KD), they all waved to the crowd and left the stage.
It was such an awesome experience. Even though I wasn't able to get great seats, they made up for it by having such amazing visuals. I was a bit disappointed that the set wasn't longer (I was looking forward to hearing Jambi), but since Maynard was sick I'm not too bothered. If you like Tool, and have a chance to see them this time around, definitely go. Even if you can't get great seats, it will still be an awesome show. I can't wait til they come back next year.
Setlist:
Stinkfist (Extended)
The Pot
46 & 2
Schism (Extended)
Rosetta Stoned
Lateralus
Vicarious
Aenima
Wings for Marie
10,000 Days
I'd listened to Isis before, and I thought they were alright, but not very engaging. They were just as unexciting live. They played two songs I recognized and three I didn't, and everyone was glad when they finished. We stood around for about 30 minutes (we couldn't sit down, as the crowd and filled in behind us), while the anticipation built around us as we all waited for Tool to take the stage.
Eventually the lights dimmed and Adam, Justin, Danny, and Maynard came out onto the stage, and started playing Stinkfist. I was blown away. Their stage layout is vastly different from their Lateralus setup. The floor of the stage was covered in white sheets, and behind the band was low, white wall about 6 feet tall. Onto the wall and floor, as well as two giant screens high up to the left and right of the stage, was projected all sorts of images. In the case of Schism and Aenema, they showed their respective music videos, but for the other songs, colored patterns, alien images, flashes of enochian writing, clouds, and all kinds of psychedelia were displayed. It was a delightful bombardment of light and sound. That, combined with the amazing extended version of Stinkfist they play live, was the most awesome intro to a concert I could ever imagine.
After Stinkfist ended, Maynard spoke to the audience. "Today is my friend Eddy's birthday, so on the count of three, I want you all to yell, 'Eddy, you're a ****ing idiot.' One, two, three."
"Eddy you're a ****ing idiot!"
"...it's not really his birthday, anyway."
The band started playing The Pot. About a minute into the song, however, someone threw a beer bottle at Maynard and hit him right in the head. He threw the mic down and ran backstage, leaving the rest of the band to play The Pot on their own. He came back after it was over, and the band moved onto 46&2, but Maynard just stood there and didnt sing until the very end, after Danny's drum solo. After the song ended, he said, "Thanks for throwing a ****ing beer bottle at my head. Didn't even break. You need to find a better way to express your love."
During Rosetta Stoned (which was accompanied by some awesome video), some idiot in the crowd behind us thought it would be cool to take off his pants and light them on fire. He did, and threw the pants on the ground. People starting moshing in a circle around the fire (which they kept going by throwing on thier own clothing), pushing everyone out and jamming my friends and me into the railing. Not a very comfortable way to enjoy the song, but it's to be expected. Eventually the venue staff brought out hoses and got the fire out, and then continued spraying water up into the air above the lawn, getting the audience nice and wet.
But then they played Lateralus. It's here that they expanded on their visuals, turning on the strings of lights leading down to the stage in arcs from the cieling, which flashed and changed colors with the music. Accompanying this was a series of lasers lights, throwing patterns and beams up into the air. It looked really amazing, and of course the song was played just as awesomely. After Lateralus, they played Vicarious, and Maynard addressed the audience again.
"It seems that every time we come to Phoenix, we come by way of LA. And everytime we go through LA, I get sick. Maybe I'm allergic. Or maybe it's just because I ****ing hate LA. I have a solution though... we can flush it all away." Naturally they followed that speech with Aenema, which was absolutely epic.
The stage lights turned white and fully lit the stage, and the band grabbed the water bottles and sat on the edge of the drum podium, taking a break before their usual encore. Justin pulled out his lighter, and held it up in the air. Hundreds of people in the audience pulled out their own lighters, forming a sea of light and flame. Maynard stood up and spoke into the mic.
"If you're good we'll play one more song." The crowd cheered. "Gooder..." The crowed cheered louder. "Better..." Even louder. "Alright."
They all went back their positions, and played Wings For Marie/10,000 Days. Such a beautiful, emotional song, and a great closer. After the song, Danny and Adam both gave Maynard a big hug (who was probably very emotional after Wings/10KD), they all waved to the crowd and left the stage.
It was such an awesome experience. Even though I wasn't able to get great seats, they made up for it by having such amazing visuals. I was a bit disappointed that the set wasn't longer (I was looking forward to hearing Jambi), but since Maynard was sick I'm not too bothered. If you like Tool, and have a chance to see them this time around, definitely go. Even if you can't get great seats, it will still be an awesome show. I can't wait til they come back next year.
Setlist:
Stinkfist (Extended)
The Pot
46 & 2
Schism (Extended)
Rosetta Stoned
Lateralus
Vicarious
Aenima
Wings for Marie
10,000 Days
