Tool’s last and fourth full length studio effort, 10,000 Days, is approaching its ten-year anniversary. Women have given birth to little girls that are just about old enough to compete in gymnastics at the Olympics in Rio De Janeiro this summer in the time it’s taken for Tool to release a new record, and Britain’s resident crap factory, One Direction, has put out five LPs, since 2011. Ugh.
The band’s fan base could seem to have cared less about these facts as they poured themselves into the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville this past Saturday by the thousands to witness a superlative performance by their heroes Maynard James Keenan, Danny Carey, Adam Jones, and Justin Chancellor. Tool have essentially been rolling out the same stage show and greatest hits driven set list when they’ve chosen to tour sporadically over the last several years, thus I’d be lying if I didn’t convey that I was expecting much of the same this time around. To my delight, Tool’s stage production was ripe with new imagery, including some captivating three dimensional effects, as well as a light and laser show that probably had the potential to send an eight-year old into one of those cartoon oriented seizures I’ve read about on the inter webs.
The set list on the evening did not disappoint, as it featured two tracks that haven’t seen the lighted stage since Bill Clinton was fielding questions about stains on dresses and Whitewater, as well as a couple of songs that have laid dormant since the original 10,000 Days tour. The band even saw fit to throw a bone to the new material hungry crowd by sneaking in a snippet of a forthcoming song.
Shortly after 9:00 PM. Chancellor, Carey, and Jones sauntered onto the Bridgestone Arena’s stage and began playing the first notes to a cover they resurrected from the vault at last year’s Monster Mash, a take on Led Zeppelin’s, “No Quarter”. Keenan himself was the last band member to make his presence known to the 20,000 devotees in attendance. This time, Tool’s ring leader had chosen to take on the stage persona of some kind of Robocop, meets mall security guard, meets futuristic California Highway Patrol officer hybrid. Always the prankster, Keenan’s garb also included a piece of flair on his militarized breast plate that read, “I Love Guns & Coffee.”
Keenan remained lively throughout the set despite typically being set back in the shadows while the other band members remained in the spotlight. The front man engaged with the crowd a few times remarking once, “I don’t get political at shows, but the only choice is Lemmy and Bowie,” this of course being a nod to the recent deaths of the two music industry legends. Prior to launching into the song that every Tool fan can’t help but to to sing-a-long with, “AEnima”, Keenan again displayed his trademark wit by commenting, “You don’t have earthquakes and tidal waves but you certainly have snow storms.”
During the course of the near two-hour auditory and visual bludgeoning, Tool also played new and extended versions of both “Schism” and the seldom played “Opiate” off of the band’s six song EP of the same name. 10,000 Days was well represented on the evening, as well via a few tracks that haven’t been played in quite some time including album opener, “The Grudge”, and “Parabola”, as well as one fans have come to expect to hear on recent tour cycles in “Jambi”.
Some other highlights included the band’s performance of another Opiate-era track long absent from Tool’s set, “Sweat”, and a four-minute new instrumental currently being billed as “Descending”. The evening, probably the fastest four hours of my life recently, came to a close far too soon with the band launching into another AEnima-era classic and fan favorite, “Stinkfist”. Prior to Tool, the Bridgestone Arena crowd was treated to two truly exceptional sets by the legendary Primus, as well as show opener, 3Teeth. The Les Claypool-led Primus delivered an eight-song performance that was largely hit filled and included tracks such as, “Too Many Puppies”, “My Name is Mud”, and set closer, “Jerry Was a Race Car Driver”.
Not to be outdone by the headliners, Primus offered up some unique visuals and a fast paced performance that definitely not only keep the crowd engaged but properly primed them, no pun intended, for what was yet to come. The highlight of Primus’ time on stage had to be a very trippy and close to twelve- minute extended version of “Southbound Pachyderm” off of band’s 1995 release, Tales from the Punchbowl. The song’s performance alone proved why Primus is the perfect fit to accompany Tool on tour, as it represented every element fans of both bands welcome: amazing visuals, superb musicianship, and well, just plain playful weirdness.
The night of music initially began with 3Teeth, an industrial band out of Los Angeles that have been generating quite a bit of buzz since their self-titled debut album in 2014 dropped. Based on their set, it was extremely easy to understand why the quartet was hand-picked by Tool guitar player Adam Jones to join the tour. Like Tool, 3Teeth is doing something most bands have neither the intellectual nor musical chops to undertake: they actually challenge their audience to think. The band’s live performance felt much more like an evil art installation backed by an ominous apocalyptic soundtrack than any actual concert. 3Teeth’s time on stage was violent without any actual violence, musically stimulating, and quite frankly thought-provoking from first note to last. Had zombies started to overtake the inside of the Bridgestone Arena following 3Teeth’s set, I felt as though I would have been better prepared for it, or at the very least much more highly motivated to take on hordes of the undead. When was the last time you could say that about any band’s concert you attended recently?
The verdict is clear regarding this tour – any fan of Tool or Primus should probably consider doing whatever it takes to try and attend this show. For you youngsters out there, steal a few bucks from an older sibling, tell your mom you’re staying at a friend’s house, sneak out a bedroom window, and get out to this concert. As for you older folks, if you have to take out one of those car title loans if you’re a bit short on cash to afford a ticket, take that plunge. Let’s face it, getting to bare witness to two titans such as Tool and Primus performing on the same bill, in addition to a rising star in 3Teeth, is way more valuable than any car. You can always steal a car; you may never get the opportunity to see a live show like this ever again.
