The Tool Summer 2017 tour is done; capped off with a huge show at San Bernadino this evening. I’ve been holding back posting much about the tour, as I don’t really want to spoil it for those who are attending shows, but now that were all done, here’s a re-cap of what went down:
- Tool played much the same setlist each night. It was a pretty good one, though some are critical that it doesn’t include Lateralus:
- The Grudge
- Parabol
- Parabola
- Schism (typically the extended version)
- Opiate (the new extended version – more on this further down)
- Ænema
- Descending
- Jambi
- Third Eye
- Forty-Six & 2
- ~12 minute intermission
- Drum Solo
- The Pot/Vicarious/Eulogy
- Sweat
- Stinkfist (typically the extended version)
- Vicarious was played at most shows, with Eulogy once in Hershey, PA and then The Pot at several others. Those at the San Bernadino show were lucky enough to see both Vicarious and The Pot.
- The Pot was accompanied by some cool new video footage some speculate may be the video that was recorded for it sometime many years ago. There has been no official confirmation of this.
- The stage configuration was similar to the past couple of tours, with a few new lights in stage, as well as lasers placed in the centre of the main video wall (which made for a few cool effects). Despite bans on recording, there’s plenty of footage of the show on Youtube for those curious.
- The posters for the shows were variations of the bug theme used on recent tours. While this may seem a little disappointing, the poster quality was pretty high with a foil type paper used on many of them. (image pinched from pooptank55 on Reddit)
- The San Bernadino show had a one off poster by Adi Granov. Image taken from Adi Granov’s Instagram account
- Speaking of San Bernadino, despite a few suggestions otherwise there didn’t appear to be much “special” about the set. As previously mentioned, they played a song longer than usual, but there were no guest slots from what I’ve heard. Given the quality of the support acts, no doubt it was a great day, but the Tool set didn’t appear to be much out of the ordinary.
- From the videos I’ve watched, I have to say the band are in really good nick. Maynard’s vocals are as good as they’ve been for quite some time now, in fact probably the strongest since 10,000 Days.
- Reports from the VIP sessions sound like they were much the same as those in the past, with one important distinction – attendees were shown part of the new video for Opiate (which is strongly suspected to be the “curveball” Blair has referred too over the years). The whole video wasn’t shown, but what was shown was reportedly excellent. Accompanying the video is a new recording of the extended version of the song, including new vocals from Maynard. Nor release date for this was given, though I read that Adam suggested this could be released digitally at the appropriate time.
Here’s a collection of reviews from the tour:
- Raymont Flotat from mxdwn.com
- Andrew Bansal from metalassault.com
- Johnny Firecloud from Antiquiet
tl;dr a couple of minor surprises, otherwise the same old (albeit high quality) Tool show
Wasn’t there supposed to be a “Special Guest” for the San Bernardino everyone was speculating about? (Devo Keenan, Aloke Dutta, etc) Or, was that the Crystal Method? No collaboration on any songs with Les Claypool?
Yeah, I forgot about that.
They did play The Pot and Vicarious at their last show, but like I figured, nothing out of the ordinary.
i found that odd too. all in all an awesome day. blistering hot in the lawn but everyone was cool and having a good time. but yeah. nothing special which is sort of the thing with tool these days. it was odd because the crystal method dude even mentioned a special guest before leaving the stage. also crystal method are kinda weak. everyone else ruled. the 2 1/2 hour wait to exit vip parking was a heart breaker.
I thought The Crystal Method was awesome considering he’s not just hitting a play button he’s actually mixing all of that shit live. My buddy and I just got in the car and took a nap in the parking lot for a few hours. Occasionally waking up to watch some drunk fuck or another stumbling around with their phone and a drink asking “WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU!?” almost in a child like panic. People got fucking trashed at that show before it even started. I saw a guy getting arrested on the lawn before the first band even played.… Read more »
to each there own . crystal method is sort of like a 3rd rate american
version of chemical brothers in my opinion.
lot of people getting hammered up in the lawn but again. it’s a big summer rock
show. so it’s to be expected. i didn’t drink mainly because it was way too hot and you sort of have to pace yourself in these situations. my crew and i just got high. good times.
to me lots of lots of people maybe didn’t attend many shows. a few people kept asking my friends and i what song was being played.
We definitely took in a hand full of joints so that was good for sure. The shrooms kicked in at a beautiful moment as well.
At Sacramento show, they played 1 LESS song, which kinda sucks. Good thing the performance and show was SO good, I didn’t really mind. They haven’t been this energetic in years and years.
I feel like progress on album must be going well, because they seem to be more into it and if new music is flowing that is an extremely positive feeling. Hopefully it turns out to be a positive sign!
Yeah man they played tight and that tells me that they’ve been clicking together lately. I’m getting the same positivity out of it that you are.
https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/fans_furious_at_tool_as_their_exclusives_promise_turns_out_to_be_nothing_special.html
Please don’t link to shitty clickbait sites here…
I was a bit surprised by Kabir’s take.
The SoCal event, other than other bands there warming up for Tool, didn’t sound very special.
What’s up with Adam’s quote on Tool’s site: “According to a recent interview in the Orange County Register, ADAM reveals that the band “has a couple of things up its sleeves to share exclusively with its hometown crowd.” ”
Was it just that there are other bands playing?
And this: “A reminder that TOOL will be finishing up their 2017 tour with a very special performance”
I guess their definition of “special” and mine are totally different.
I’ll sum my two show experiences up the best I can here… Sacramento VIP and show was nothing short of amazing… So yes they re-recorded “Opiate” all the way through and added 5 minutes to it. We got to watch about 3 minutes of the new video for it and Adam did not make the video. He said this was the first time he’s ever been hands off with one of their videos and it felt good. He said it was very refreshing because for the first time he was able to see their music through the eyes of a… Read more »
it’s kinda weird. you’re an example of a tool fan that… i don’t want to be mean. but you slag fantomas and melvins and Mike Patton and are meh on clutch but you rave about tool?? the band that is basically a non functioning entity that tours the hits to pay the bills? let’s be honest. that’s all it is at this stage. and the guitarist will charge you an exhorbitant fee to have an audience with him. that’s corny. again. not being a dick to each their own. music and art is subjective. but to me. the support acts… Read more »
Yeah I’m not an example of anything you speak of. To each their own is exactly how it should stand. Don’t try bunching me into some group of people you have an opinion about because you don’t know me. “exorbitant fee” is a pretty subjective assessment. For me… dropping $495 for that experience was more than worth it and not much more than a scratch on the surface in my bank account. Also, to get a decent seat in that place was only a few hundred dollars less (if that) and totally justifies it for me. What would you prefer… Read more »
you sound upset. it’s cool. much of your description of
the lawn sounds a bit dramatic and not entirely accurate
i brought up the monster energy fest as a comparisson between what the lawn is really like when things get rowdy. not as a
“who is heavier than thou” argument.
and you didn’t piss in my cereal. i had fun. you need a lot more chill and should stop taking yourself so seriously. it’s a stupid
fucking rock show.
Oh for the record not “slagging” Mike Patton either but anybody that I’ve said I didn’t like Fantomas to has only responded “But dude! it’s Mike Patton!”… to which I respond “Yeah and I don’t give a fuck who is in it it still sucks.”. That’s what I mean about not “sucking Mike Patton’s pee pee”. It’s like Puscifer, I know a lot of people love Puscifer and that’s great but I’m not just going to like them because “dude it’s Maynard!”. Faith No More is great especially live and Mike Patton is very talented in that arena in my… Read more »
Smithers that was quite the dickish comment. Thanks Z for sharing your experiences. Considering all that you were able to witness and get, $500 doesn’t seem all that bad, and I would’ve been happy to drop that for all of that access. It sounds great. They played an extended middle music section in Opiate at sac, which they’ve been doing every time they play opiate as of late. I’m assuming that is the extra 5 minutes? They clearly are getting he cobwebs off. New website, new opiate, longer and way better tour, Ect. When did the crystal method even play?… Read more »
Hey thanks Drury it was definitely worth it and for those that are hinged on a decision for throwing out the extra cash I definitely wanted them to know of my experience so they can decide themselves. Yes I loved the whole VIP experience and Adam’s attitude about it was very endearing which I thought made it that much better. He seems very thankful for the fan support. I don’t remember what time The Crystal Method started but I’d guess around 7:30ish? Doors for general public opened at 6:30PM which is why I figured they were going to have an… Read more »
no. honestly.. understand that we tool nerds aren’t common. the casual fan could care less about repetitive setlists. vip experiences… etc. most just want to hear stinkfist because it’s what they heard on KROQ. i hurt your fee fees because i bagged on the vip experience and crystal method. and i get it. sorry…. it’s cool. to each their own. but the lawn wasn’t out of control. there were maybe 20/30 dudes doing the pack of wild indians dance around the trash fire. standard operating procedure of the glen helen GA lawn. i will say i too hate when people… Read more »
You didn’t hurt me dude I’m cool no worries. Regarding the guys with the cell phones I think you missed the point… they weren’t taking pictures… They were just turning the flash light on and waving it around in peoples faces during the show while saying “TOOL RAVE! TOOL RAVE! TOOL RAVE!” … much different than taking a photo with the flash on. I agree Mike Patton is talented I just did not enjoy Fantomas live nor did I enjoy any of the albums I listened to beforehand. I’ve always enjoyed Crystal Method and there was only one of them… Read more »
Yeah I will never understand the people who get smashed at a TOOL show. Completely diminishes the experience in my opinion. Your clarity of perception is vital to capture every precious nuance of the performance and spectacle. That is why I always make sure to have some sort of psychedelic flowing through me; it makes every second count. Being drunk on any level I feel would numb my perception and spoil the whole show. Before Primus even started there was this guy two seats over from me in the section behind the orchestra who was vomiting and ended up passing… Read more »
I share your sentiments with regard to TOOL… spot on man and my shrooms were really snapping mental images the whole time. I remember some really vivid moments during the show…
WOW WERE THEY ON POINT OR WHAT!?
For the record I was not on shrooms at the Sacramento show but I was however smoking weed and drinking… still an amazing show as far as them being tight.
Wait, Adam Jones had no part in the video for Opiate? Did he come up with the concept for it? Do you know who made the video then? That’s very odd. Was the video for The Pot (assuming the footage being played during their live shows is the music video) made by Adam Jones? Does the video for The Pot look in any way like the video for Opiate? Did you get to hear the song itself too? How’d the song sound compared to the original version (especially Maynard’s vocals)? I’m sorry for all these questions: I am just very… Read more »
Oh no the questions are all good. Yeah Adam had an artist friend that he went to and asked him if he would make a video for the song. He said that his friend asked him “Well what do you want the video to be and Adam said “that’s your decision”… He said the friends name but I don’t remember who it was. Definitely somebody in the film industry one way or another though. I’m sure the video that was played for The Pot live was made by Adam but he made no mention of it during the VIP and… Read more »
Awesome! Thank you, Z-Werewolf.
I cannot wait to see the video…
I’m sure it’s going to be epic….
Yeah it’s pretty bad ass and I’m very impressed with the new part they added to it. The re-recording of it just sounds so much better than the original too.
Dominic Hailstone was previously mentioned as the director of the Opiate video.
Here’s a link to his short film, The Eel: https://vimeo.com/2089565
There you go that seems right. It’s a pretty fucking cool and weird video. People will be pleased for sure. The new part of the song is just beautiful too.
https://consequenceofsound.net/2017/06/tool-bassist-justin-chancellor-says-the-band-is-90-done-writing-new-album/
Just FYI before we all get excited by this “90% done” quote: If it’s taken 11 years to get this far, it means the final 10% will take another 10 to 14 months. It would be nice if they could record later this year but I doubt it.
Hopefully 2018 brings more news…
90% done with putting music together.
Maynard still needs to do all of his parts and then they have to record it. At least a year.
thanks for all the info, Z-Werewolf! i didnt think they were as tight as people have mentioned though, they screw up every show that i have heard. its not anything that i worry about or think is so bad or something but they do! Cool to hear M doesnt talk all day so he can give a good performance. a lot of people think they dont care anymore and these tours are just cash grabs. well of course their cash grabs but most of us still go. right ? they still enjoy performing. so also. thats not just for the… Read more »
Hi Bob, One thing that Adam talked about in the VIP was that when they record Danny does not play to a click… WHEN THEY RECORD… They want to get that “HUMAN” feel injection… So when they mess up live I have a deep appreciation for it. Now knowing that, the depth of that appreciation should hopefully increase for you. No click tracks… fucking amazing. Yeah Maynard refuses to speak so he can give us the best performance and that to me is very cool. That guy is a hard worker and he values his art. Albeit, he is kind… Read more »