Tool
Date: August 24, 2002 Alive and Breathing Last fall, I was fortunate to attend Tool's Montreal appearance. While I was very impressed by the band's ability to create a proper mood and quite happy to take in their involved visuals, I couldn't help wishing that I was on the floor, for the physical release. As it turned out, Tool included Ottawa on this summer's tour plans, so I was able to experience a similar, but subtly superior, concert from a very different, and much more engaging, perspective. I was quite interested in witnessing openers Tomahawk, one of Mike Patton's supergroups. I had never heard any of their songs before, but the opportunity to absorb a Patton performace was promising. My hopes proved to be well founded, as Patton, dressed in police attire, came out relatively sedate for the first minute, before twisting his voice into a manic shriek. His vocal acrobatics dominated a very dynamic set that featured frequent tempo changes and musical shifts. A brooding cover of "In Every Dream Home a Heartache" proved that they could succeed with a quieter approach as well as with their ferocity. When seeing Tool from an arena seat, the instrumental excursions and quieter interludes provide an opportunity to absorb the visuals and take in the mood that the band was creating. From the floor, ten feet in front of stage centre, such pauses are all that allow you to survive the night. From the opening notes of "Sober," the crowd was as active and physical as any I have ever seen. Admittedly, many did fall by the wayside as the concert continued; but the churn always produced enough bodies for a solid mosh. Equalling the band's pace for the two hour affair was a challenge; but every moment of calm was only a prelude to a release fierce enough to stir up the masses yet again. In addition to "Sober," the set list covered "The Grudge," "Stinkfist," "Ænema," "Schism," "Parabol/Parabola," "Disposition," "Reflection," "Triad" and "Lateralus." As with the Montreal show, the long performance was split by an electronic interlude. The acrobatic display that accompanied this sequence on the previous tour was absent; but the insertion of the night's most interesting graphics (including a fascinating face and skull animation) provided a visual focus. Each song was technically flawless, making it difficult to choose a highlight. However, I greatly enjoyed the series of songs that followed the interlude, culminating in the excellent percussion-led, tribal finish. It was particularly cool to see Tomahawk's John Stanier return to add extra drum work, matching Danny Carey's contribution to the end of Tomahawk's set. Each of the friends who went to both shows with me agreed that the Ottawa performance was superior, a comment that I heard echoed by several people exiting the Corel Centre. For me, it was no contest: being on the floor amplified all of the great impressions that I had from my first Tool concert. I could have asked for no more. <--Prev (Nashville Pussy) | Next (Neko Case)-->Return to Concert ListReturn to Main Page |