TOOL Summer Tour 2010 (In case anyone gives a shit)

Sat 6/19 - New Orleans, LA @ UNO Arena
Sun 6/20 - Houston, TX @ Toyota Center
Tues 6/22 - Cedar Park, TX @ Cedar Park Center
Wed 6/23 - Oklahoma City, OK @ Ford Arena
Fri 6/25 - Kansas City, MO @ Sprint Center
Sat 6/26 - St. Charles, MO @ Family Arena
Thur 7/1 - St. Paul, MN @ Xcel Center
Sun 7/4 - Winnipeg, MB @ MTS Centre
Mon 7/5 - Regina, SK @ Brandt Centre
Wed 7/7 - Edmonton, AB @ Rexall Place*
Fri 7/9 - Vancouver, BC @ GM Place*
Mon 7/12 - San Francisco, CA @ Bill Graham Civic

All except "*" which are already onsale, these go onsale this Saturday, May 8 at 10 a.m. local time.

There's few other cities I'd rather see a show in than N.O.

If I had my druthers, I'd be seeing them later in the tour when they've warmed up (and possibly added a song or two to the set). But... any Tool show is usually an awesome Tool show, so I'll take it.

Plus, this ensures that regardless of my will power, I won't be peeking at set lists.

I'm guessing that those aren't ALL the dates. Their lighting guy, Junior, posts on a forum I visit and he hinted as much. Still, who knows.

There's a gap between St. Charles and St. Paul that could get filled. Still, OK City, KC or St. Charles might end up being the closest to you I'm afraid. (Huntsville, right? Or would New Orleans be closer?)

Last summer was dubbed the "East Coast" tour, so...

I wouldn't imagine too many more dates further East, unfortunately. You never know though. They've only just started releasing dates. However they're not far away at all, so it would be tough to add dates in this same time period and still have ample time to sell them (even though they're shows tend to sell out quickly).

They're working on a new album right now. Writing anyway (sans Maynard, who is usually the last piece of the "writing puzzle.")

Here's the official statement via their very cryptic and often half-joking newsletter (though this is mostly straightforward):

Members of the band are still in the process of writing new material (three days a week), and with the latest leg of the “Puscifer” tour nearing completion, it shouldn’t be long before the dry-erase board is filled with a bewildering array of color-coded intros, progressions, agitatos, con sordinos, crescendos, diatonics, inversions, resolutions, transitions, variations, obbligatos, consonance, and endings – the arrangements that millions will attempt to down-load off the internet.

I'm guessing the new tour is either a) a way for them to drum up additional funds for something like the video for The Pot which Adam has been working on and/or more expensive album artwork and/or studio expenses or something of that nature, or b) just something fun to do in the middle of writing with the first reason being a nice side effect. Or c) filming for the long rumored live DVD.

The site has hinted at the live DVD again, but that's been a famous point of contention within the band. Some members are fairly opposed to the idea apparently. Once the shows start though, it'll be fairly obvious if it's for a DVD as cameras will be noticed and the requisite signs implying consent will be seen around the venues.

That is heresy. One of the best songs/suites they've accomplished. Not for everyone I suppose, but I love their longer and more meditative pieces.

And as individual tracks, I think 10,000 Days is a highlight for them. They really upped the songwriting ante with most of those. I just don't think it congeals together as an album as well as Lateralus did.

Seeing Lost Keys/Rosetta Stoned live is a treat though, and for me is the highlight of the 10,000 Days material. Especially the particular presentation they gave it last summer.

I'll admit however to being a total Tool fanboy, and I cherish damn near everything they've ever written.

How was it bratty? I looked at it as a neat way to "share" the break with the audience/fans as opposed to the traditional "go backstage and pretent everything's done with."

They've done that in the past too, as far back as '96. It was also just another way of trying to be "different" and not do the same cookie cutter stuff every other band does.

If it helps, from late 07 onwards, they left the stage during the mid-set break. Although, I personally miss the whole stage-sitdown/lighter routine.

Also at this point, it's expected that when they tour a new album, the set will predominantly be comprised of new stuff. I think it's understandable given their long song lengths. They can only fit so many songs into a two hour-ish set, and it's natural to want to explore the new stuff.

They did perform a slowly rotating bit of older stuff though. Over the course of the 10,000 Days tours, I've gotten to see Sober, The Patient, Aenema, Flood (which is unreal), Swamp Song (again, new twists added which are awesome), and Pushit, along with the "standards" they've been touring this whole stretch (i.e. Stinkfist, Forty Six + 2, Schism, Lateralus).

I appreciate the new twists/extensions added to Schism and Lateralus too.

However, I am really hoping they switch up the setlist a bit this go around. I'd be more than happy with the same one again, because frankly, it doesn't really get old and the interludes/jamming gives the set a different feel each touring leg I see them on. Also, I like soaking in the 10,000 Days material (esp Rosetta Stoned) because it likely won't get trotted out too much after this tour. I'm happy I got to see Wings live so many times, as that will never ever be played again (for numerous reasons).


That said, I really hope they:
-Switch up some of the old standbys. Perhaps swap out Stinkfist and 46 + 2 for Eulogy and/or H? Something like that?
-Drag out an older "epic," ala D/R/T and/or Third Eye. I could certainly deal with Pushit again, that one is incredible live.
-STOP closing with Vicarious. Such an anti-climax after Lateralus.

Niggling gripes though.

Wings was amazing. Although it just had too great a potential for idiotic crowds to ruin it. That songs demands quiet respect, and sadly, there's too many idiots at Tool shows who don't "get it" (at the risk of sounding incredibly pretentious). I saw some jaw dropping performances of it, and some sort of ok ones. It's a complex song to pull off without a hitch.

On that note: don't ever count on hearing Prison Sex live again either. He's directly cited those two as being "done with." Can't say I blame him. Writing those is probably great catharsis, but I'd be hard pressed to want to "rip open those scabs" night after night.

I'd love to see Ticks and Leeches. They've done it a few times, though he uses heavy doses of vocal processing/distortion to pull it off. He doesn't do it au natural as on the album, for obvious reasons. Just listening to that hurts my throat.

I'd tell you to bring a diaper, but then you might be part of that 1% that finds something to whine about because they do things "differently." (And I don't mean that in a snarky way towards you personally)

Here's a prep course:
-They don't do "encores." They typically take a mid-set break and then finish it out. There is no "fake goodbye."

-On the whole, they're not all that animated. So if you're enjoyment of concerts is really dependent on the members thrashing around, jumping off of amps, or wagging their dicks at the girls in the front row... you may be a tad thrown off. Although, Adam has been known to nod his head in extreme excitement now and again, Justin does his share of headbanging, and Maynard may or may not act wild depending on his mood. Which brings me to...

-Maynard. Yeah, he's about as moody of a frontman as you can find. Personally, I love it. Keeps things interesting as you won't get any standard speeches that he gives every night in every town. One night, you may get a veritable stand up comedy act between songs, see him dancing around like a lunatic and overall acting very jovial and into it. The next night, he may be totally silent aside from his singing duties, back to the audience and generally in a bad mood.

This typically has to do with the crowd. The man loathes flash-photography so if there's a lot of it up front, you'll start seeing his back a lot. Doesn't really matter unless you want to ogle him though. He's barely more than a silhouette against those video screens anyway, so who cares? Just pray that some dick-nose doesn't throw something up on stage or shine a laser pointer at him repeatedly. *note: if you see someone near you doing this, please feel free to take the laser pointer and smash it on the ground. Maynard and the entire arena will thank you duly.

-I hope you like your concerts loud. Tool is usually good, "clean" loud, but still about as loud of an arena show as I've seen.

-They like to do trippy, ambient and synth-driven interludes a lot. I love this sort of thing but some don't. So brace for it if it's not your bag.

-I hope you liked 10,000 Days because that's the majority of what you'll hear. Don't go in expecting to hear a laundry list of classics. You'll get a few though. Mostly new album cuts otherwise.

Other than that, enjoy it man. There are few rock bands that are a) that tight and interesting live, and b) do "arena spectacle" in as awesome and tasteful a manner as Tool.

Just wrapped up their biggest tour yet. Supposed to be pretty damn good live too. What little recordings I've heard were really great.

Oh, it's way overboard (I'm far too big of a geek). I've just heard too many people piss and moan about that sort of stuff, figured I'd warn a newcomer beforehand.

New dates! I'd fucking KILL to be able to see one of the Red Rocks nights. Possibly more to come. Newest full tour listing:

* June 19 UNO Lakefront Arena, New Orleans, LA – on sale May 15
* June 20 Toyota Center, Houston, TX
* June 22 Cedar Park Center, Cedar Park, TX
* June 23 Ford Center, Oklahoma City, OK
* June 25 Sprint Center, Kansas City, MO
* June 26 Family Arena, St Charles, MO
* June 28 & 29, Red Rocks, CO – on sale May 15
* July 1 Xcel Energy Center, St Paul, MN
* July 4 MTS Center, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
* July 5 Brandt Center, Regina, SK, Canada
* July 7 Rexall Place, Edmonton, Canada
* July 9 General Motors Place, Vancouver, Canada
* July 12 Bill Graham Civic, San Francisco, CA
* July 13 Arco Arena, Sacramento, CA – on sale TBC

in cast anyone still gives a shit (update)...

some new dates have been added:

010 19 Jun New OrleansLAUSUNO ARENA
2010 20 Jun HOUSTONTXUSToyota Center
2010 22 Jun CEDAR PARKTXUSCedar Park Center
2010 23 Jun OKLAHOMA CITYOKUSFord Arena
2010 25 Jun KANSAS CITYMOUSSprint Center
2010 26 Jun ST. CHARLESMOUSFamily Arena
2010 28 Jun DenverCOUSRed Rocks
2010 29 Jun DENVERCOUSRed Rocks
2010 01 Jul ST. PAULMNUSXcel Center
2010 04 Jul WinnipegCANADAMTS Center
2010 05 Jul REGINA. SKCANADABrandt Center
2010 07 Jul EDMONTON, ABCANADARexall Place
2010 09 Jul VANCOUVER, BCCANADAGM Place
2010 10 Jul SeattleWAUSKey Arena
2010 12 Jul SAN FRANCISCOCAUSBill Graham Civic
2010 13 Jul SACRAMENTOCAUSArco Arena
2010 15 Jul San DiegoCAUSViejas Arena
2010 16 Jul Las VegasNVUSPlanet Hollywood Theater

San Diego and Las Vegas go onsale this Saturday I think. Also, there is either a 2 or 3 night stint in LA (at the Nokia Theater) after the Las Vegas date. Ticket details should be announced soon.

Also, a bit of teasing/oh-don-piano from the frontman himself:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/17386/112763

Well, for me that's more the icing on the cake. I guess part of that is also that I suspect the writer is putting a lot more weight behind those comments than he should.

He's stated before that if they did more Perfect Circle stuff, it'd be more like EP's or isolated tracks. I wouldn't expect a full on album. But then, you never know. When the muse strikes and all that.

I'm just happy to hear that the new Tool album is coming along quicker than I thought. Although, I'm not holding out hope to hear any of it on the tour. Again, I think that was very much a non-answer.

After all, they didn't play Sober once last tour. Shows how much attention the writer pays to his facts.

Since they don't seem to switch the setlist up too much from tour to tour (off the same album anyway), I'm betting you'll get Schism. They have sort of wore out Sober though, so I doubt you'll see that one.

Holy. Fucking. Shit.

If any of you were on the fence about this one, go. They're always awesome, but they're really stepped it up about 10X from the previous 10,000 Days tours.

In fact, they somewhat oddly only played 2 songs from that album, which is fine because I think most people who follow them were dying for a new setlist. And boy, did they give it.

Opened with fucking Third Eye! That made my year right off the bat, and the rest was gravy. Totally new visual elements/material that was unreal as well. The "back wall" screen that covers the whole back of the stage has been revamped with some new very dark rear-projection material. This allows the stage to finally go back to being very dark with the lights off and giving more shadows while simultaneously adding more contrast and a brilliant look to the video.

Then there's 7 screens in total now, two of which move around the stage.

Here's the setlist from the past two nights (New Orleans and Houston so far):

Third Eye (extended)
Jambi
(-) Ions
Stinkfist (extended)
(synth jam) into Vicarious
Eon Blue Apocalypse
The Patient
Intolerance (extended and holy fucking shit! sounds better than ever)
Schism
Forty-Six + 2
*Intermission*
Lateralus
Aenema

Oh, it is. It is. I nearly shat myself when the lights went out and then you just see/hear Timothy Leary begin the whole, "think for yourself; question authority."

And like I said, it's extended. They did some different stuff towards the end of Third Eye that was really intense. Same with Intolerance. They added a new breakdown thing towards the end.

It being New Orleans/opening night, the band was very into it and enthusiastic. Especially Maynard, which is always nice. He tastefully alluded to the oil issue and you could tell the audience really appreciated it.

I have to add also that it was the most polite/awesome audience for one of their shows I've seen. NO flash photography at ALL, which is amazing. They also treated the opening act with respect which is a big plus.