tool

As soon as I heard that Tool was coming to the Van Andel arena, I knew that I had to get tickets to the show. But I had a lot of other things to do, and other things to buy, so I didn't plan on getting one. Then I found out that I had some extra money, so I went out and bought a ticket.

The seat I got was really crappy, almost behind the stage. I was disappointed, but still excited that I was going to get to see Tool in concert, because I've been a big fan of their music since 1995.

I saw my friend Josh there, and with his help, we managed to get onto the floor area, or as I call it, mosh pit area.

The opening band was Meshuggah*, and to say the least, they sucked. They sucked really, really bad. While they're music was heavy, and I love heavy music, they just didn't seem into the performance. So i patiently waited for Tool.

When the band was finally done, the lights came, and everyone cleared into the auditorium for drinks and bathroom-usage. While this was happening, the lights came on, and one of the workers noticed that I didn't have on a wristband, so he called me over and escorted me to the big room outside the main stage room. I was PISSED!.

So about 10 minutes later, the lights finally went out again, and it was obvious that Tool was about to grace the stage. My mind was racing, so at the last minute, I raced into the room just as they closed the curtain. They opened the set with "The Grudge", the first track off their latest release "Lateralus". Behind the band were two huge screens that had imagery projected onto them. The first image was one of what looked like a shriveled up man, who kept swelling up as if he was going to explode.

Throughout the song, they played pictures just like this one, and even more disturbing than that. Tool isn't really the kind of band that you would expect to have a mosh pit, but they did. And it wasn't one of those really violent mosh pits. It was one of those not-so-bad mosh pits. It was actually quite fun, and not too rough at all.

The next song they played was from their cd "�nema", and the song was called "Stinkfist". Stinkfist is one of my personal favorites by Tool, and I enjoyed it very much. Tool only managed to play 11 songs, even though they played 2 and a half hours. But I walked away satisfied.

They are some of the most dedicated performers I have ever seen.

Some of the other images projected were naked women drowning each other, a naked man and a naked woman standing side-by-side, shuddering and twitching, and two naked women walking in circles around a mannequin for about 20 minutes.

The longest song they played would have been one off of Lateralus, which lasted about 25 minutes, and projected imagery of a run-down bathroom with human torso's lying about, and what looked like a ring master just standing there, twitching. Other pictures were too disturbing or screwed up to remember. During Schism, the two actors from the music video came out and appeared to "mate" on stage. Later in the set, two other naked people climbed up ropes to the top of the Van Andel, tied them around their ankles, and hung upside down for about a half hour.

Tool is obsessed with nudity**. Even lead singer Maynard James Keenan was dressed only in a speedo, and smeared from head-to-toe with white paint. All in all, I'd have to say that Tool is the most depressing/disturbing group to see live, because of their obbsessions with all things dark.

One mistake that I made was wearing my glasses into the mosh pit. Here's a tip: if you ever do go into a mosh pit, DON'T wear your glasses, because if you do, then you won't have glasses anymore.

*Ed.- they're Swedish, Rolling Stone describes them as the most intellectual metal band around.

**Ed.- Hmmm... kinda like us teenagers.