Despite taking the stage at the Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto 45 minutes late, Tool did not disappoint in their almost two-hour set. They opened with Jambi, the third single off of their last studio album, 10,000 Days. Featuring a talk-box guitar solo, this was a crowd favorite and an excellent choice to start the show. Perhaps the biggest crowd reaction of the night came for the second song, Stinkfist, which was delivered note-perfect and thunderingly loud. By the time the main portion of the setlist was nearing its end, we had been treated to an excellent choice of songs, maybe not the iPod-playlist material but delivered fantastically live. At the end of the set, the four band members stood in silence, shoulder to shoulder, not moving, for about a minute, prompting some confusion from the crowd- the very stoned guy next to me leaned over and screamed "what the hell are they doing? Play some rock n roll!" in my ear. This was followed by an encore break while they set up a second drum set, to be used by Crystal Castles drummer Christopher Robin as part of a drum duel for the latter half of the song Lateralus. This was the first of two songs in the encore, and done very well; the show closer was Vicarious, the lead track and single from 10,000 Days. The lights hit a peak during this song; Tool is a very multi-media experience live. Lasers, fog machines, lots and lots of vibrant lights. Vicarious was absolutely drenched in effects, which was an amazing spectacle.
This was hands-down one of the best musical experiences I've ever witnessed. Tool are astonishingly talented musicians; these aren't dumb stoner metalheads who mangle power chords and can't keep rhythm. When you combine their superior musicianship with their dynamic stage display (including some seriously disturbing visuals on giant screens around and on the stage), this is quite the experience and I think every serious rock fan should see Tool.
However, to be fair, this will largely appeal only to die-hards; there is very little movement out of the band members at any point. You don't get the feeling that they're having much fun, except for the end of the show that singer Maynard James Keenan played in short-shorts (or underwear?) while eating something out of a bowl onstage. He danced a little, weird, disjointed alien dancing; he made a couple of glib remarks, but overall his presence as a frontman is intentionally diminished. He wore all black while the frontline of the band (guitarist Adam Jones and bassist Justin Chancellor) wore all white, and was not spot-lit at any point, singing from the drum riser. Not your typical rock frontman. That, and the low point of the show was a five-minute feedback squeal from some synth thing played by drummer Danny Carey, as part of Lost Keys (Blame Hofmann). People around me were literally plugging their ears. I didn't; based on the ringing in my ears this morning, maybe I should have. But I wasn't bothered by it (although the show would have been maybe just a tad better without it?) because Tool is just that damn good. Definitely worth seeing. Go, and go now!
