Tag Archives: Blair

Tool Newsletter April 2011

Posted on by
27

Blair released the April 2011 newsletter on Toolband/Army, and it looks like this month is a return to form of sorts. I discusses mainly the Royal Wedding and also touches on Tool‘s progress:

Q: “Hey, Can you tell me what the new Tool album sounds like?”

A: Well, so far, it sounds like Stockhausen meets Jimmy Durante. No, actually I haven’t heard any of it yet. I did, however, see the dry erase board the other night, and even took a photo of the incomplete (Tool) arrangement on it, only to be later told by a band member not to post it. I don’t know why, though. It was ambiguous as ever. In fact, any musician would have an easier time deciphering the Voynich manuscript. Even so, I’ll go way out on a limb and predict that the new stuff sounds like… Tool. Or at least it WILL once Maynard adds everything that he does to the equation. For truly, that’s when all the colored scrawls of chord progressions, time signatures, and other abstruse musical notations on the board become the kind of Tool composition you’ve become familiar with.

For those of you without the patience to read Blair’s work, that’s about all you need to know (hidden codes aside).

March Tool Newsletter, Other Stuff!

Posted on by
61

I had a busy day yesterday ingesting more beer than my body can safely hand.  Fitting then that Blair releases the March 2011 Newsletter on Toolband that get the collection nuts of Fourtheye abuzz with excitement.  Here’s an excerpt:

In the spirit of this newsletter about Tool memorabilia, "Merch" is going to be putting some nice stuff in the store tomorrow (consider this a head’s up). These items will include vintage tee-shirts (those now out of circulation), tour posters (maybe even a couple of signed ones), and at least one real gem that will have some fans salivating. In the meantime, keep hunting for those Tool rarities. They would sure look good next to that souvenir tour poster that you purchased at the last show.

Well all love a bit of Tool merch, and I know many of you have been hitting up Toolarmy in readiness for this sale, however as I write this tomorrow has yet to arrive and there are no goodies on the site.  Perhaps tomorrow tomorrow… Looks like stuff is there – check the Collectibles section!

In other news, A Perfect Circle will be announcing on-sale details for their summer tour on the 4th of April.  Presumably this will be the times that tickets go on sale and at what outlets.  There doesn’t seem to be any sign of further dates, however there is plenty of speculation (and a gap in the schedule) suggesting that A Perfect Circle could be one of the acts on Lollapallooza this year.

Speaking of APC, drummer Josh Freese has released another range of unique purchase options for his latest EP My New Friends.  The $75k package which included a ride in Danny’s Lamborghini was offered, and as I write this appears to have finally sold to someone!  Presumably it was purchased for me as a gift for my birthday later this month – thanks in advance!

Tool merch is cool and all, but nothing would beat owning a genuine piece of Melvins history!  Point your credit cards at this Ebay auction and buy King Buzzo’s old Hiwatt Cabinet.  Current bidding puts it at US$405.  Bargain!

February 2011 Tool Newsletter posted

Posted on by
106

Blair posted a relatively short, but somewhat exciting newsletter today.  It basically talks about how Tool are quite focused on writing the new album at the moment.  Here’s an abbreviated version of an already short newsletter:

Having returned from their recent tour Down Under, after taking a few days to recover from any jet-lag, and to take care of personal affairs, starting last Monday, members of the band returned to their studio/loft to continue writing and arranging new material. According to one band member, although Tool has received numerous lucrative offers to perform live (summer tours both here and abroad), they have (unanimously) decided to focus their creative energy on producing a new album. As a matter of fact, the all-important dry-erase board has been brought out and is, with each passing day, becoming filled with colorful scrawls relating to the various arrangements that are only decipherable to the band.

Make sure you check out that Fourtheye.com site – I bet it’s full of Tool news!

Danny baking potatoes

Posted on by
7

In a post today Blair tells us that Danny is tonight’s guest at the Monday Night Jammmz at the Baked Potato.  Sound cool for those of us in LA, but the highlighted bit below may be of more interest to most:

DANNY will be performing double duty on this last day in February, first working on new musical arrangements with TOOL and then being the guest drummer at tonight’s MONDAY NIGHT JAMMMZ at the BAKED POTATO jazz club in STUDIO CITY. ARLAN SCHIERBAUM will also join JZ and the others, ripping on an old Wurlitzer and Mini-Moog.

THE BAKED POTATO
3787 Cahuenga Blvd., West
Studio City, Ca. 91604

SHOW TIMES: 9:30 – 11:30 PM

Bring an instrument and join in during the second set.

Sounds like Tool aren’t wasting any time having finished their Pacific Ocean tour…

Blair confirms Big Day Out, no news on sideshows

Posted on by
43

In a short and to the point post on Toolband Blair confirmed the Big Day Out dates for Tool, however has made no mention of any side shows:

BIG DAY OUT FESTIVAL DATES

Jan 21 – Auckland
Jan 23 – Gold Coast
Jan 26 – Sydney
Jan 30 – Melbourne
Feb 4 – Adelaide
Feb 6 – Perth

I still expect sideshow to be announced, the question is when.  As soon as I know you’ll know…

Tool August Newsletter

Posted on by
32

Blair’s August Tool Newsletter is now out.  I’m not sure how long it’s been up since I’ve been without power for the last couple of days!  I’ve only briefly read it, but it appears to revolve around an email he received from a Tool fan looking for somewhere to stay in LA.  No doubt there are many codes and mysteries contained within that I expect you all to analyse and report back to me within 24 hours….

May 2010 Newsletter, LA Dates

Posted on by
22

Blair put out the May 2010 Tool newsletter on Toolband today, and it turns out that it’s his 10th anniversary as writer/content manager.  Congratulations Blair, and despite what some say I’ve always felt he’s been an great webmaster give then guidelines he must work within.

Plenty of goodies inside the newsletter, though I haven’t had a chance to read the full thing, but here’s the bit I like:

Also, with the success certain Karcists are having with the fragments from the grimoire entitled “Libri Of Veneficus Pro Tool”, it would appear that I should get my passport renewed. Once that’s taken care of, hopefully I’ll have a few extra bickies to finally purchase that ILC DOVER-manufactured Extravehicular Mobility Unit that I’ve been yabbering about for years. Remember, the suit with its 3D-Textile “Red Ned” stain proof hydrophilic fibers and polyurethane-coated nylon pressure bladders (hopefully they kept in mind the problem of Chocolate Ripple Biscuits). No wucking furries about the new Assassin spider, but there’s still the usual suspects!

Take a look at the January 2007 Newsletter in particular and some may note the correlation between various terms used….  Perhaps reason enough for Aussies to start getting excited.

There are also strong hints of a website update, something many of us here have suspected for a while now.

In other news today, it seems as though Tool may be playing in LA on the 18th, 19th and 21st of July at the Nokia Center.  This may or may not be Ticketmaster (not on sale yet though) and I’m about to go to bed so haven’t checked personally.  I’m sure someone helpful will post below if this is really the case.