I finally got around to documenting my MASSIVE Tool weekend. It’s a long read…
I can’t believe it’s been over three weeks, is anyone else having major withdrawals? I need some Melb bootlegs to get me through, let me know if you spot any around. (EDIT: Found an audio recording from night 1, haven't found much from night 2)
Day 1
It all kicked off with a fantastic little Fourtheye meetup. Thanks again HB, great meeting you, along with Busty, Liz and a few others. We even had the Tool Shed website dude with us too?
Me and my crew walked over to the arena around 7.45ish, much later than I planned. I landed in my seat just as the opening bars of FI started. I was annoyed about being so late, and for the fact that everyone stayed seated the entire show, besides Stinkfist, of course!
The extreme side angle was Ok, knowing I’d be down in GA for night 2. Terrific view of all the antics on stage, spied Adam and Maynard chilling behind the risers during DC’s solo.
Stoked to hear The Patient again, but happy to hear anything from Lateralus really. And of course Part Of Me was brutal. I didn’t have the best view of the full light show from this seating position, but I did notice lighting rigs setup in the middle of the arena roof, which I haven’t noticed before, adding an extra element of lighting to the back of the arena. Nice touch Junior.
I ended up bailing on my seat after Vicarious, and joined someone who was standing up and getting right into it on the furthest edge of the seating, I just couldn’t stay seated for a Tool gig. Busty you’re right, Melbourne crowds have always been fairly reserved, but that doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy what we’re watching.
I grabbed a few more beverages during intermission to see me through till the end, glad I decided to move and stand up, ended up enjoying it a lot more, Descending was phenomenal.
We ended up heading out after the show for some post brews with my crew, so night 1 ended up being pretty wild, which didn’t set me up well for the VIP experience the next day…
Day 2 - VIP
As expected, I was suffering a lot from night one, so I took things a little easier for day 2, and therefore my recollection is a lot better. I managed to arrive at the arena at 2.30pm to join the other VIP folk. Scored a position near the front of the group which set me up for prime spots later, and met a few terrific fans during the day. We handed over our phones, picked up the sub-par ‘exclusive’ merch and headed to the merch stand where we were offered 15% off, although they had limited stock. Signed posters hadn’t been delivered yet so I picked up a standard one for $45, in hopes to score a signed one after soundcheck.
Soundcheck
We waited a while before soundcheck started, excitement kicked in when we could hear MJK singing verses for 7empest!
That lasted for 15mins approx before they took us inside and down to the barrier. I managed to score a spot directly in front of Justin. They continued running through 7empest, mainly Adam’s solo parts. Justin turned around to his speakers then back to us and pretended to be surprised to see a bunch of people staring back at him, funny bastard. They did the token run through of Fear Inoculum, when Danny hit his kick drum the drone completely took over the whole room and was felt through everyone!!! I’ll never forgot that feeling! It felt so surreal being in this huge empty room in front of these masters. I spotted a fairly used soccer ball up on the stage, in front of Justin, of course.
Next thing we know, Justin walked down off stage to come chat with us, he shook some hands (mine!) and handed out a few bass picks.
Danny came down shortly after, and had a bit of a chat with us before we had the group photo. ( I didn’t realise at the time, but Adam also came down for a chat too, on the opposite side. Danny and Justin both left and shook more hands on the way out. They all seemed extremely humble.
After that we were led to a private room with two bars and plenty of canapés served to us for the next hour or so, with the Tool back catalogue as a soundtrack. We were given the opportunity to go out and get a headstart to purchase signed posters, I missed out by 10 minutes, also spotted a couple of signed drum skins, they were going for $500 I think!
Showtime
So the VIP peeps had a chance to go down to the barrier first, before the doors officially opened, I opted to wait with another VIP buddy for the rest of my crew to arrive. We headed down to GA about 20 minutes before showtime, and managed to get an amazing spot about 10 people back on Adam’s side. Had the perfect view of everyone for the entire show.
Fear Inoculum is an epic opener, love the way it continually builds and builds. The curtain and visual cues worked perfectly too, the giant colourful iris’ staring down at ‘nard. I thought they did a good job of replicating all the vocal fx in a live environment.
Maynard quote: Following on from last night, he tried to get us to cheer louder than Sydney, asking; “Let’s see if you’ve learned anything… Melbourne. (Crowd roars) Hmm, not bad, still not as good as Adelaide.” Which was followed by some “Ohh’s” and “Boo’s”, quite funny. My guess, it was a little nod to Rad-elaide because they missed out on shows this round.
The Pot was unexpected (I was hoping for Swamp Song), there was a false start on the vocals, sounded like nards mic wasn’t on, so that caught me off guard. Great lighting on this…
Parabol/Parabola was one of my clear highlights, I’ve been waiting a LONG time to see that live, and it did not disappoint. Opening the curtain during the outro was genius, and added to the ethereal ending.
Pneuma has really grown on me, after seeing it live. Junior and team have really polished the visuals and lighting cues for this song, and it really elevates the whole performance.
MJK did his usual stunt of riding Adam’s speaker stack across stage, he ended up leaving it next to Adam, when it came time for Adam to launch into the solo, he put his foot up on the speaker and kicked it away as he started the solo - it was the most fucking rockstar move I’ve seen from Adam on stage!
Jambi still delivers as a great live addition, I enjoyed the slightly extended section before Adam’s talkbox solo and also how Adam walks over to play next to Justin for the first verse.
Vicarious felt a bit flat and ‘phoned in’ this time around, mainly due to nard’s vox and apparent lack of interest. They should really think about replacing it for something he might enjoy singing.
7empest - Well that was insane! They totally nailed it. Only criticism, I thought the bridge section when MJK builds up the lines “A tempest must be just that…” didn’t hit as strongly for me when Danny comes in with the crash. I’ve noticed since the NZ shows that MJK is delivering on the last line with more conviction now, which makes it feel a lot more powerful.
Forty Six & 2 was amazing, as always, Danny’s solo still manages to blow minds!
At the end how Danny stood up behind his kit and just stared up at the roof with his arms by his sides, until the lights went down, as if he was being ‘beamed up’.
CC Trip is amazing, I’m surprised how much it’s grown and developed into a feature part of the set now. I’m a drummer so I really appreciate all his noodling on the gong and the inclusion of synth. The visuals are next level too, nice touch with the aerial camera above Danny.
Invincible is such a powerhouse live! This really blow be away! The 7 sided star is almost like the fifth member on stage, I love how it’s being incorporated differently in each song and moves around constantly with different lighting cues. Brilliant work from Junior.
I treated this like the last song, because I knew we were getting the staple Stinkfist next, and it worked really well to round out what had been a perfect performance, and one that i’ll never forget.
Stinkfist was standard fodder, I really miss the extended bridge, it really lacks without it.
I decided to bail during the last verse and make my way down to the sound desk at the back of the arena to try my luck at nabbing a setlist, which I managed to do, to the disgust of a few others. I also tracked down Junior and had a quick chat with him, mainly to congratulate him on his work for this current tour, he seemed very humble. What a legend, keep it up Junior, and thanks for the chat.
I spotted a large-ish video camera setup in the lighting section of the sound desk area, I’m assuming it’s for Junior’s crew to watch back and make changes to the show, if required?
Man, I’d love to get a copy of that recording. I also noticed a few speakers at the front of the stage that looked mic’d up too, I wonder if it was recorded?
Did anyone else notice MJK’s left hand has been taped up during the AU tour? Wonder if it was from a martial arts injury?
Well, that’s my extremely brief (haha) wrap up of the Melbourne shows, what an amazing weekend, I walked away with new friends, meeting members of the band, new merch and incredibly deaf. It was expensive but completely worth, and I’m regretting not trying to catch more shows interstate. Until next time…
Hahaha, nothing like a back handed comment. 
come the warmer weather though this is going to slow down so things might work out slightly better being most shows are around that time. will see.