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Review |
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Tool returned to England for a small sold out tour calling at Manchester
Apollo and two shows at the Brixton Academy in London, and tonight I attended
the second sold out Brixton Academy show.
Tool are definitely a band you either love or hate, there is no in between
and the bands fans are pretty hardcore, on the short 5 minute walk from
Brixton tube station to the Brixton Academy the touts were out in force
selling tickets for that nights show at over triple the face value with
some fans paying up to £100 per ticket. When we got to the venue
everything was strict everyone had to be frisked down, cameras had to
be confiscated with each and every person being warned if they use a camera,
mosh or crowd surf they will be ejected from the show, all bags also had
to go into the cloak room and were not permitted in the venue and all
drinks had to be poured into plastic cups all down to the bands demands,
this would put most fans off but it didn’t seem to bother Tool fans
who queued patiently to place their items in the cloak rooms.
Tool took to the stage just after 9pm and Vocalist Maynard James Keenan
was situated at the back of the stage appearing silhouetted with the lights
all over the stage lighting up the other band members but steering clear
from Maynard, which seemed to be the case for the majority of the show.
The bands stage show was high tech with big screens taking up the whole
back of the stage showing various different animations whilst still managing
not to shine to much light near Maynard James Keenan. The band started
off with 'Jambi' which has such a long and loud introduction and as soon
as it starts you just know you are in for a stunning show, the band play
'Jambi' spot on with the song sounding the same as it does on cd but just
a lot louder.
The Academy is packed but the good thing about the venue is no matter
where you stand you can see due to the venues floor that’s on a
slight slant. The security are out in force walking amongst the fans ejecting
anyone seen using an camera. Many people around me started getting ejected
for using the camera on their mobile phones which just shows rules were
not there to be broken tonight.
The crowd went mad with cheers and started singing along with Maynard
when he sung "Who are you to wave you finger, you must of been out
of your head" in such an eerie way sounding just as 'The Pot' sounds
on the bands '10,000 Days' album. The song is extremely heavy and loud
sounding with the bass making the walls and floor of the venue vibrate
adding to the Tool experience. 'Schism' went down a storm with the majority
of the video to the song being played on the massive screens at the back
off the stage.
Half way through the show, the band left the stage and we were treated
to a moving a light show with the 3 round sets of lights moving up and
down and spinning around slightly looking and sounding like aliens were
invading with 3 ufo's. The lighting then turned to an extremely stunning
green laser show, with lasers shining all over the venue which would be
enough to excite any Star Wars fans with their light saber resemblance.
The whole show seemed well put together from the amazing video and light
show, the loud bass sound and the fact that every song seemed to follow
on really well with the band hardly taking a break from playing extremely
long songs. Herman Lee from Dragonforce joined the band on stage for 'Lateralus',
which seemed to go down extremely well with the fans. The show finished
with 'Vicarious' which is the first song of the bands current album '10'000
Days' and is quite a catchy progressive song which leaves the crowd singing
along word for word.
Tool have proved they are one of the most talented bands in the world
who have a huge fan base that will do any thing such as abide by the bands
rules and also pay pretty much anything to see their heroes, the band
are also one of the only bands I know who can get away with having their
singer situated at the back of the stage well away from the lights appearing
a black silhouetted figure for the duration of the show.
They band played for just under 2 hours and managed to play just 10 songs
due to the fact most of the bands songs run for nearly 10 minutes. Most
of the songs were from the bands current album with a couple of songs
being played from the bands 1996 album 'Ænema' and the 2001 release
'Lateralus'. The only thing that dissapointed me about the show was the
fact they didn’t play 'Sober' or 'Ænema' but then you can’t
expect to much from a band who have hours of material from just four studio
albums since they formed over 17 years ago. Overall a stunning show from
one of the most creative bands in the world.
5/5
Review By Trigger |
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| Tool |
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Maynard James Keenan (Vocals)
Adam Jones (Guitar)
Justin Chancellor (Bass)
Danny Carey (Drums) |
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| Band
Related Links |
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| Review
Score Code |
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- Top Cheese
- Brilliant
- Pretty damn good
- Ok I guess
-
What Was That? |
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