Tool with Isis - Staples Center (Los Angeles) - Friday, September 8, 2006

by Suzanne Baran
15 September 2006

Like the band’s music and presence, this was an event of epic proportions. For one, TOOL has not toured in five years, since the release of their last LP, Lateralus. Second, the band has an aversion to Los Angeles (the place of their inception). And third, I scored tickets through some fancy footwork hours before the show. It was the band’s second and final show in Los Angeles.

Work let out late, and I missed the opening band, ISIS, which I quite regret. Upon entering the fully-packed stadium, I marveled at my luck and good fortune. Being $75 poorer with only $50 remaining for the week was well worth it – and I will always be THAT committed to this band.

My “investment” quickly paid off. Seated in “Premium Steating,” I had a vibrant view of the stage, nearly two sections and roughly 15 rows away. Fifteen rows from my favorite musicians, artisans who defy the monotony polluting our airwaves, who aspire to greatness with a decadent 40-piece drum set, visual effects, and artist ALEX GREY’s intricate skills.

Frontman MAYNARD JAMES KEENAN sported a rhinestone gun belt buckle, tight jeans, a cowboy hat and immediately enveloped the audience with the soothing murmurs of “Intension” off 10,000 Days. I was mesmerized, lulled into a prog-metal concert which built steadily and slowly into a progression of songs, not unlike any single Tool track. I was not surprised when the familiar beats of “Stinkfist” from 1996’s Aenima began to play, and Maynard removed his shirt, to my delight. Fans mouthed the lyrics and swayed with the hypnotic rhythm. Upon hearing the lyrics “Nothing seems to satisfy / I said I don’t want it / I just need it / To breathe, to feel, to know I am alive” an immediate surge of electricity passed through my body, prompting a sanguine epiphany – here is where I have felt the most alive in a long time. I am fearless and utterly thriving in the moment.

I was not alone. A fan with dreadlocks leapt next to me from a few rows behind with his young girlfriend and urged those seated in our section to rise and revel in appreciation for the performance. He turned to me and scoffed, “I asked that guy in front of us why he didn’t get up – and he said he doesn’t know Tool.” I found myself just as annoyed and sharply retorted, “What’s he doing here?!”

At the last Tool show in 2001, in New York City, a statement such as the one uttered by the unfamiliar concert-goer might have caused myriad verbal eruptions by true fans. But this show’s fan base was less passionate. I spied body-sculpted fans with tall Mohawks and tucked-in shirts; people not wearing black, and many seated patrons. All quite surprising to me—because most Tool fans are alight with unbridled passion, mirroring that of every song the band has recorded.

Visuals familiar to fans from old Tool videos graced TV screens perched from ceiling wires when “The Pot” played. A young man behind me sparked a joint, and I heard him say, “There’s no better song or reason to smoke.” That may be true, but according to a Guitar World interview with guitarist ADAM JONES the title refers to the old idiom: “The pot calling the kettle black.” Both Jones and bassistJUSTIN CHANCELLOR stood at the forefront of the stage, while Maynard flailed about near drummer DANNY CAREY. The music kept propelling him closer to the tip of the stage, like the tide coming in on a sandy beach. Maynard was twisting and writhing, entranced in the band’s collaborative efforts.

The highlight of the show: when Maynard first spoke in between songs. “The VIP section is out of beer…but the VIPs always come first, especially in LA. Here’s to it,” and with that “Aenima” blasted through the stadium with a jolt of euphoria from the swarms of lucky fans who were three feet from the stage. Ironic, since the song postures flushing Los Angeles down the drain and denigrates what most Hollywood-industry-influenced residents here value.

In what felt like a post “Aenima”-climax, Maynard took the mic and said, “Every time we come this way we get sick, I guess we’re allergic to LA. Normally we’d go back in our vans and jack off to DVD porn.”

At this point, a hush fell over the vast arena and the band played the two-part ballad honoring Maynard’s deceased mother: “Wings for Marie Part 1” and “10,000 Days (Wings Part 2).” Tears streamed down my eyes when Maynard sang wistfully, “Fetch me the spirit, the son and the father / Tell them their pillar of faith has ascended / It’s time now! My time now! Give me my / Give me my wings!”

They certainly gave the spectators wings. And any listener who was not a Tool fan probably found it difficult to resist the siren’s call, as Ulysses had in the fabled Iliad.

The talented foursome closed the show with a denouement so powerful I felt a wave of catharsis wash over me. Maynard swung the mic wire in broad clockwise motions as he sang, “Push the envelope / Watch it bend.” They had pushed the proverbial envelope further than any metal band I have seen live. They’re just as, if not more, vibrant, moving, intense, genuine, and therapeutic as they were 16 years ago – in the embryonic phase of their career, not the fully-realized adult genius of today. I am still high from the performance.

Filed under concerts prog