It was your typical dreary night in November in Wisconsin. It snowed 4.5 inches the day before, and was a bitter windy cold. Luckily Tool came to town to warm things up with their two-plus hour-long set.
While the setlist didn’t seem to be all that many songs, most were over ten minutes each. The evening was filled with crunchy guitar riffs, and melodic bass lines as you would expect. Tool does their thing better than anyone. With six songs coming off of their latest release “Fear Inoculum” I think it is clear that the band is enjoying playing these songs live.
I saw more energy in Justin Chancellor this time around than I have previously. He was in his groove, and at times hyped up the crowd. His motioning felt as if he was drawing energy off their cheers, screams and head banging. Maynard James Keenan took his usual stance in the back, and paced from side to side with his two stages on each end of Danny Carey.
As with all Tool shows, the sound was immaculate and the light show enthralling. Lasers fill the arena constantly through the night. They draw on the smoke filled room and make it easy to get lost between them and the background visuals on display. Pairing that with the harmonious music creates a rich hit to multiple senses all at once.
Steel Beans was an excellent start to the night. I went into his set not knowing a thing about the band. I was shocked and impressed at the one-man-band. His ability to drum, play guitar and sing was truly awe-inspiring. Add in the crunchy blues driven music, and he was a great addition to the evening. He came out dressed in a nun’s costume outfit. With stockings and all. At one point he flashed the crowd his rubber breasts and cheers and laughter erupted around the arena. He is a true performer and look forward to seeing more of him in the future.
Tool will be back on tour in the US in January with support from Elder:
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WORDS AND PHOTOS BY RANDAL HICKS