You could feel it in the air that the people waiting outside were expecting something special this evening. And this was from a wide range of fans, judging by the different T-shirts floating around. Apart from Tool and A Perfect Circle (obviously), there were: NIN, Radiohead, D12, Marilyn Manson, KMFDM, (hed)p.e. and Korn, as well as earthtone9 guitarist Owen Packard. Hell, there were people here from places as far away as Auckland and Perth.
However,not one of them were here to see Cortizone, since only a handful of people bother to acknowledge the fact they even got on stage. Dwarfed by screens behind the stage and on a podium, as well as an ominous covered-up shape, the three of them look tiny up there. However, they had a solution for this eventuality-make a lotta noise!
At first their nothing to lose policy pays off, with a few heads bobbing around here and there, although by the end of penultimate (and best) track aired, My Girl (I think), the people are calling for Maynard and co. The banter doesn't help their cause. I mean, here's a few examples:
"You lot look rather happy, for a Tuesday night."
"We usually throw out a bag of crisps with this one..."
Eventually they got a cheap pop for namedropping the headliners, and went on their way.
After the unveiling of Danny Carey's impressive drumkit, it was time to set up the stage, accompanied by some Bill Hicks-spiked Drum n Bass, including some from the Pi soundtrack. With the lights being tested at the same time, it was like an impromptu rave broke out.
Suddenly the Lateralus ring appears on the screen, with a shimmering eye in the centre, as Tool make their way onto the stage. Danny Carey in a Lakers jersey (smug), Adam Jones and Justin Chancellor in regular street clothing, before Maynard James Keenan makes his way out in a suit jacket and leather trousers. Rather than go full throttle into it, they prepare, with maynard nonchelantly siping a bottle of water, before plunging into The Grudge, with trippy CG visuals accompanying all the way, and a crowd rooted to the spot in awe.
That is soon (relativly speaking, since they have sigues between tracks) by the quick arrival of Stinkfist, with annotated highlights of the video showing, whilst a maelstrom of activity erupts in the pit with the sudden realisation of what is happening. Eulogy makes sure, complete with human-faced maggots on the screen. You did read that correctly.
Then, Maynard speaks, with the nugget that is "This next one's called Salival. It's a song about communication." I think it's Salival, ince softly-spoken Maynard can't compete with the rowdy Aussies making sure no-one goes within two feet of them. Swamp Song, complete with migrane-enducing visuals, didn't help.
Of course, the animations did have the bad habit of being so intricate that at times they hijacked attention away from the band. After all, when you see a deserted mansion, panning across to a silheoetted man with no head waving in a bathroom whilst a severed arm appears to be beckoning on the floor, panning past some hamsters(!), before reaching a sinister attendant looks at you over their shoulder, before the camera flies down the toilet. Only when Adam Jones is left all alone onstage playing the end guitar bit of Eon Blue Apocalypse for what seems like 10 minutes do we realise they are supposed to be the focus of attention. And we missed Reflection in the process.
The band stroll off, and the Salival image appears rotating on the screen, accompanied by a strange noise, before the Schism video plays. Just the video, no band. And I thought the Stinkfist vid was weird. Also weird was the fact there were several moshing and crowdsurfing to it.. Too bizarre for my liking. Can you get back on and do your encore before my head collapses?
After a set also featuring the likes of Forty Six & 2, Parabol/Parabola, Sober, Aenima and many other classics, the night can only be summed up by MJK's comment during their encore: "Think of what you're feeling now and shout it out. There's a lot of negativity out there, and we need something positive. There's a war going on now, and the good guys are losing." Enigmatic words, b=ut this was no mere gig. It was an experience.
By the way, "Exhilleration."