ISIS began playing promptly @8, opening w/that familiar instrumental song from Panopticon, the one w/crashing chords & soaring screams at the end. They played 4 songs for a total of 30 minutes. The last song had a killer rockin' outtro. The lead singer thanked everyone at 8:30 & they walked off the stage. A short but sweet set from everybody's favorite post-hardcore band.
Thus began a very curious intermission wherein stage technicians efficiently assembled TOOL's stage & set. The curious part was when, after removing ISIS's equipment offstage, they first laid down this pristine, glossy white floor w/a backdrop of the same material that stretched from one edge of the stage to the other in a 5 foot tall strip. The results looked like a miniature hockey rink of perfect white, and for a moment we wondered: Were we going to be treated to "TOOL ON ICE" - ?
After Danny's drumset & the amps & the rest of the equipment was finally set up, the results were a very sparse looking stage w/a long white backdrop strip behind it with a perfectly unblemished white floor (the techs who set it up wore special clean rubber shoes so as not to mar that flawless surface).
The setup gave the stage a very clinical appearance. Throughout the show this effect was complemented by Adam's guitar tech, a woman in a white hospital lab coat. Apparantly we were going to have our minds operated on after being abducted by TOOL. Yet nobody panicked or made a rush for the EXITS as the infamous quartet strolled casually onstage. Instead, they were received w/a bonafide full house standing ovation of thundering applause, whistles, and cheers.
Maynard wore blue jeans w/an oval silver belt buckle, and no shirt. He sported the old school mohauk. He said something cryptic to the effect of "So you're all still here-?" insinuating an impending calamity, and they tore into the familiar pummeling of Stinkfist, as we knew they would. This came as a relief, since we all understood if they opened with anything else, they would have been cleverly disguised imposters.
The 2nd song picked up the momentum with a redemptive version of The Pot. I would wager doubters understood, like losers never would, how much collective booty this tune actually kicked. Unsurprisingly, nearly half the freakin' place lit up for this one. Well not your trusty reviewer, who chose not to partake in substances leading to sensory distortion or enhancement. I preferred experiencing TOOL perfectly sober.
Then they launched into 46 & 2, and by this time, their warm-up was through and the sound began to level off to a more satisfactory focus. It turns out the white backdrop strip behind the band comprised of about six seamless panels was a carefully modulated video screen (duh). During the first song only one panel lit up w/trippy imagery, the one directly behind Maynard.
During The Pot, the psychedelic visuals stretched out to cover two panels. Little by little, as each subsequent song began, more panels were integrated with sharp, hi-contrast imagery that soon enough resolved itself into the familiar videos for the songs. The entire floor lit up to mirror the backdrop strip, and we felt lucky to have seats close to the stage and eleven rows up into our section which afforded us a view of the cinematic stage and floor.
Jambi sounded awesome and it was a pleasure to listen to Adam's Joe Walsh -inspired guitar solo midway through. TOOL have a way of making any song they perform sound fresh & dynamic, regardless of how overplayed the song may be. This was certainly the case w/the opener Stinkfist as well as w/Schism and even Sober and Opiate; no matter how many times they've been heard, these tunes always sound killer live.
After Schism, the high point of the show began in earnest. Starting with Rosetta Stoned (featuring the most outrageous & trippiest visuals of the evening) and continuing on with a nicely evolved sounding Opiate, a strident & crushing Sober, & on into the set's peak w/the superb title track Lateralus.
You should have seen the visuals during Rosetta Stoned: there was repeated motifs of hallucinogenic meltdowns, and halfway through all the screens merged to showcase planet earth seen from about the moon's orbit, and then it pulled back eventually to show Saturn, which really lent a majestic feel to the song itself. At the end of the song there was this creepy ass alien Grey -like face, only really disturbing looking and not your typical stylized Grey. It looked more real - reminescent of Aleister Crowley's depiction of a higher Enochian being.
The moment the song Lateralus began, we were all reminded exactly why the album LATERALUS is the crown jewel in TOOL's canon. Justin Chancellor was thrashin' like a heavy metal madman, near us on stage left, his long curly hair whipping about all over the place, while Jonesy remained rooted to his spot like he always does, over on stage right, doin' what he does best, strangling the sickest array of sound effects out of his axe. Danny Carey never fails to impress behind his magickal drum kit, although to be honest I thought he wasn't quite up to par with his usual kinetic clarity.
Maynard also wasn't 100% up to snuff, perhaps the years of belting out these tunes have begun taking their toll, but whether that's from worn out vocal chords or enthusiasm is the real question. I rather tend to think it's the latter. Herein may be glimpsed the one possible weak link in the chain of camaraderie, for I got the feeling Maynard's heart may not be into it anymore.
After Lateralus, Keenan walked off stage while the other three guys actually sat down on stage front center, obviously exhausted, and drank their bottled waters while soaking in the thunderous applause. This was a first for me; usually they all retire backstage for a few minutes before returning for the final encore.
It didn't occur to me right then, but looking back on it, I can almost see Adam, Justin, and Danny just soaking in the fan-worship as if they may not be getting to for much longer. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
Eventually Maynard came back out and they launched right into Vicarious. As w/The Pot earlier on, this live rendition was so kickass & heavy, it managed to transcend the perception it's "just another derivative single" and proved itself worthy as a bonafide TOOL epic, similarities to older songs notwithstanding.
Finally they ended the show w/Aenema, half drowned out by the crowd shouting along w/middle fingers raised. The song was great but ended kind of muddy instead of with its usual dynamic & resounding punctuation mark.
As for in-between song chatter and the like, the first incident (during the 2nd song The Pot), I spotted down front on the floor (all seated) people began passing the fold-up chairs hand over head. Maybe a half dozen chairs floated to the front by song's end, and Maynard paused to tell them to quit with that shit and that if anyone got hurt because of him singing, he would leave. "They're just rock songs, people," and that settled them down real quick. Then they launched into 46 & 2.
After Lateralus, Maynard made "Mooing" and "Baaahing" sounds. When the band finished their encore, Keenan walked off stage-left flashing the peace sign w/his right hand; he was so outta there. Meanwhile, the rest of the guys remained onstage without him to salute the crowd cheering them on. Danny walked over and gave Jonesy a hug, and Justin joined in for a group hugs, while the crowd showered them with screaming love.
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