Whether it's your first Bonnaroo or you’re a music festival veteran, we welcome you to Inforoo.
Here you'll find info about artists, rumors, camping tips, and the infamous Roo Clues. Have a look around then create an account and join in the fun. See you at Bonnaroo!!
Bonnaroo 2008-2013
0ct 11 Pearl Jam
Oct 12 Pearl Jam
March 16 Arcade Fire
April 29 Arcade Fire
Sept 4 Wilco
Sept 9 The Hold Steady
Oct 16 Pearl Jam
Oct 17 Gaslight Anthem
Grouplove was fun as expected. They covered Drunk In Love. I had a drunk constantly stepping on my toes.
Then I took my 10 year old to see Cher Lloyd on Friday. I was pleasantly surprised when she covered Sam Smith. My kid had a blast and got to meet her and she was very friendly. Her life was made and mom is awesome.
Tool was f'ing amazing last nite! Paid a pretty penny for my ticket, which wasn't floor, but still an awesome seat with a great view. Had I known there was going to be an intermission, I would have held off on smoking a cig during...good thing it was during Intension. While all the songs were great, Lateralus was just beyond great!! Grabbed an awesome poster and t-shirt as well. Only thing about the shirt is that they only had XXL of the one I wanted...still took it, but with the intention of cutting out the designs and sewing them/safety pinning them onto a sweater. Overall, a great show that I do not regret paying what I did. Next is Deltron 3030 later tonite!!!
Post by gardenfresh on Mar 26, 2014 2:38:01 GMT -5
Saw The National tonight at the historic Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. It was a double feature: the Los Angeles "Red Carpet" premiere of their new documentary followed by a full concert from The National. The movie was touching, I definitely recommend it to anyone that even remotely likes The National or wants to see a film that shows a side of being on tour that we never really see... it was a great flick. Then like 20 minutes later after the fastest set-up and soundcheck I've ever seen, the band came on and rocked a 21 song set. I was feeling the Bonnaroo vibes, as I will never forget their set with the clouds moving overhead and the anticipation of soon-to-come rain. Such vivid memories, and tonight was a extra special show because of it.
Don't Swallow the Cap I Should Live in Salt Mistaken for Strangers Bloodbuzz Ohio Sea of Love Hard to Find Afraid of Everyone Squalor Victoria I Need My Girl This Is the Last Time All the Wine (stopped) Abel Slow Show Pink Rabbits England Graceless Fake Empire
Humiliation Mr. November Terrible Love Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks
Wow, it's hard to even know where to start the review for this show. Be prepared for a long winded account of my experience from beginning to end, as it was quite an adventure. For those who don't want to read it, just know, the show was absolutely incredible. This whole day is my favorite musical experience I've had in my life up to now.
I was caught off guard when Tool announced their mini-tour down to Mexico and back, and beyond ecstatic when I saw a date in Cedar Park, a suburb of Austin. I saw on Tool's website that they were offering VIP tickets for all the US dates. I have done VIP for the past two Puscifer tours, and was very pleased with the experience. However, for the Tool VIP, there was also a Q&A and meet and greet with Adam Jones, the guitarist. In addition to the ticket, access to sound check, and some free band merch. Unfortunately, due to Tool's popularity, the VIP tickets were quite a bit more expensive then the VIP Puscifer tickets. Decisions had to be made.
Flash forward a couple days and I'm sitting eagerly in front of my computer waiting to buy two VIP passes to the Cedar Park show. VIP tickets are slowly being added to the site, date by date. Cedar Park tickets were finally available for sale a nerve-wracking 40 minutes after the advertised time. I quickly snatch up my pair and sit in complete silence for a minute, smiling, knowing this was going to be a show of a lifetime.
I had debated trying to buy tickets at the normal on sale time, and then only buying the VIP tickets if I didn't get a good ticket. Thankfully I didn't do that. The show sold out instantly. I got stuck in a waiting room and was unable to get tickets (I was trying just to see what I could get). And by that point, the VIP tickets were sold out too. I would have been at the mercy of scalpers at that point.
Thankfully my girlfriend was able to get the day off work for the show too. She's been a long time fan of Tool (not quite from '92, but close!), but has never had the chance to see Tool or A Perfect Circle. So needless to say, finally seeing Tool was something she's been waiting a long time for. I've had the pleasure of seeing Tool 5 times previously, so I knew she was in for a treat.
Fun fact, Tool is actually the band that got me to Bonnaroo for my first time back in 2007. I had seen them for the first time in 2006 in The Woodlands, TX and San Antonio. When they announced their summer tour in 2007, my brother, our friend, and I decided to get tickets for Corpus Christi and Houston. But when I looked at their full tour, I noticed a stop in Manchester, TN for Bonnaroo. I had heard the name Bonnaroo before, but nothing more then that. A little investigation later, and my ticket to Bonnaroo 2007 was bought, and my love of festivals was born. I guess I was one of “those Tool fans” who ruined Bonnaroo that year Thanks Tool!
Back to the story at hand. After much anticipation, the day of the show was almost upon us. In the days leading up to the show, I had read other's accounts of their VIP experience, so I knew what to expect. My excitement was literally bubbling over. There were numerous occasions when I would giggle out loud just thinking about it. As high as my expectations were, they were utterly exceeded.
We have to be at the venue at 1pm to check in. My girlfriend and I leave at 11:15, which would normally be enough time to make it. We unfortunately hit some construction traffic, and were about 15 minutes late to the check in. We were the last people in line to check in, however, this was the best possible thing that could have happened to us. Juan, our “envoy” for the day, had a stack of tickets that he was handing out to people as they checked in.
As I looked down at my tickets, I saw Floor 2, Row A, Seats 1 and 2.
Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit.
In some stroke of luck, the last two tickets handed out were front row, seats 1 and 2. There are literally 10 tickets in the entire venue that are better then ours (seat 12 would be dead center). People with the VIP passes were seated in the first 4 rows, in the center section of the floor. Being late turned out to be the best thing we could have done.
As they herd us inside through security, we have to hand over our cell phones. In a previous VIP session, someone had recorded the Q&A with Adam and the sound check and proceeded to post it online. As a result, no phones allowed anymore! We write our names on a piece of paper, rubberband it our phone, and hand it over. It sucks to have to do it, but if you know Tool, you know they're very strict about photography/recording of their shows. But that's a different debate. You know the rules going in, and if that's what I have to do for this, then fuck it, here's my phone! As a testament to Juan and the rest of the Tool staff, everyone received their phone back without incident.
There are 100 people here for the VIP experience, and we're all now gathered in a small conference/lounge room in the venue. It's a very odd shaped room, narrow and long. Unfortunately the seats are oriented along the long axis, so there are a lot of short rows. The reason for this, as was later explained, was at a previous stop in a similarly shaped room, they did orient the chairs the other way. However, it sounded terrible.
Both of us get seats near the back, but this turns out to be another blessing in disguise. Adam moved around the room quite a bit during the time, but he spent a large chunk of time talking to us from our row. We were literally 5 feet from him for portions of the talk.
When Adam walks in the room, he just smiles, and says, “Wow, 100 people in this room!”. You can immediately tell that he's a down to earth guy. He explains how it will work, he will talk about a variety of subjects for a bit, and then at the end, open it up to questions from us. He explained that Tool had never done a meet and greet before because they felt it was always very cheesy. If they were going to do it, they wanted it to be different. Adam explained that he wanted to be able to connect with the fans on a real level. He wanted the talk to be like we were hanging out in the kitchen, just a kitchen with his guitar and amps set up!
I can say with 100% certainty, Adam achieved his goal. The personal connection that he made with each one of us was truly amazing. Even though there were 100 of us in the room, I can promise you that everyone walked away feeling it. When you looked Adam in the eyes, you could tell he truly appreciated the fans. He really is an amazingly talented, down to earth person who loves what he does.
His talk covered a wide array of topics from his early love of music, his progression to being in Tool, how the band formed, how they write music as a band, his approach to guitar, lessons on poly-rhythms, pretty much everything. The entire thing with the Q&A was nearly 2 hours long.
A few choice nuggets: -We have that iconic banjo line in “Deliverance” to thank for Adam picking up the guitar. -Tool was started as a joke band between Adam and Maynard. However, once Adam really heard Maynard sing, they started to take it more seriously. -Danny only drummed for them out of pity. They had scheduled a drummer, but he bailed on them. Once Danny played with them, he quickly turned his focus to it. -When picking a replacement bassist for Paul, Adam was worried the discussion would come to blows. Adam wanted Justin, but he thought Maynard and Danny wanted a different bassist. Maynard and Danny also wanted Justin, but they thought Adam wanted the other bassist. They quickly realized they all wanted Justin and had a good laugh about it. -The song title “Jambi” comes from the character Jambi in Pee-Wee's Playhouse. The original riff that Justin brought in reminded them of when Jambi would say “Meka leka hi meka hiney ho”. -Both Danny and Adam are classically trained musicians. Adam was trained in the Suzuki method of violin. -Adam, Danny, and Justin write and jam together for a long time before Maynard gets involved. Once the songs have gotten close to their final shape, Maynard will come in and write the vocals. -Maynard often puts vocals where the other members weren't expecting it when they wrote the music. -Adam is extremely detail oriented, and will spend hours on something. Maynard is often able to come in and just nail his part in a few takes. -Adam's stop motion work in Jurassic Park was cut out for “new technology”, CGI. -On several occasions, Adam has hidden stinky cheese on another band's tour bus. While on tour with Fishbone in Europe, he mentioned doing this. He mentioned doing it to The Flaming Lips as well. As a result, the members of Fishbone ended up in a fist fight over accusations of who was responsible for the smell. Adam never admitted to it, and kept low the rest of the tour! To be fair, this was in response to Adam picking up a cup full of urine in the dressing room and spilling some on himself. Apparently one of the members of Fishbone had a habit of peeing into any available object when he needed to go. -After spilling said urine on himself, some record executives came to meet him. Without hesitation, he shook their hands with pleasure. He was quite upset with them at the time. Tool's albums weren't in the stores in many of the European cities they were playing, like the label had promised.
As the climax of the talk, he gave a guitar lesson on “Jambi” and then proceeded to play it live for us using a click track with the rest of the band. Seeing him play it in such a small, personal space really was amazing. As I mentioned earlier, he spent a lot of time in front of our row. When he was playing in front of us, he was so close you could hear the unamplified scrape of the strings.
After his talk wrapped up, he opened it up to questions from us. After a few questions had been asked, I mustered the courage to raise my hand. I was beyond nervous, and just praying that I was able to form a coherent sentence. I got a little tongue tied, but managed to get my question out. I asked if Tool had any intentions to put their music on high resolution digital sites like the upcoming Pono Music Store. He said he didn't know what Pono specifically was, but that they do want to put their music out on iTunes and other digital platforms. He said it basically comes down to disagreements with the label. Their label is basically trying to say they own the digital rights to the music, and obviously Tool disagrees. So hopefully they get it resolved by the time the next album comes out. I can't imagine they'd try and promote it without a digital presence.
As the Q&A portion ended, we got ready to take a picture with Adam. As we lined up, we went to a table and picked up our phones. When it was finally my turn to take a picture with him later, he shook my hand and said thank you. All I could stammer out was a “thank you” in response, I was still star struck. He asked if I had a good time, and I just shook my head and said thank you again. Not the best use of my time with him, but I was just trying to concentrate on not looking like a crazy person.
I had brought my poster from my first Tool show, in the hopes I might get it signed. The information specifically said not to bring personal items for autographs, but it was worth a shot. My plan was to wait at the back of the line for pictures, and ask him to sign the poster instead of taking a picture. However, we were already running nearly 25 minutes late, and the head security guy had reiterated to please not ask for autographs. So I decided against asking. The first VIP show they did, they allowed people to get things signed, and it took nearly 2 hours. They made the change that Adam would presign our VIP posters for us to save time. Would have been nice, but oh well, I get it.
After the picture, we came back into the conference room and picked up our swag bag. It included a special VIP Tool poster signed by Adam, a VIP Tool T-shirt, a beanie, a keychain, a sticker, and a VIP laminate, all in a Tool tote bag.
Before Adam left for the pictures, he left his guitar and said he were welcome to pick it up and hold it. He just stressed to be careful with it, as it is one of his original guitars and he still plays it on stage. The level of trust that must have taken is pretty impressive to me. Unfortunately the guitar got taken away by the guitar tech relatively quickly, they were late and needed it for the sound check. Adam had talked longer then he was supposed to, and because our room was open air to the arena, they couldn't sound check some things while the talk was going on. However, this again turned out to be a blessing.
As we all were gathered in the conference room again, they brought in two video props. The guy from the “Parabola” video, and the guy from the “Schism” video. Really cool to see them up close. Once again the level of trust necessary to have them out was pretty high. Both pieces were art pieces, they were extremely fragile and not made to be sturdy. You could tell too, unfortunately the “Schism” model had some toes broken off, and a finger was cracked. Juan told us it has it's own custom case for travel.
We went out as a group for a smoke break as we waited for sound check to start. I don't smoke cigarettes, but I was ready to use my vape pen. As we were outside, I over hear the guy next to me say, “I left my butane hash oil in the car, don't think I can go get it”. Hearing that, I give him a nod and hand him my vaporizer. His eyes light up and tokes enthusiastically. So once again, a shout out to EJMix and the Liquidizer team for allowing me to enjoy some heady goodness in complete stealth. No more smuggling, I use it in regular e-cig equipment. My high refreshed, it's time for the sound check.
We were told we wouldn't see Maynard at the sound check we had access to. Maynard would come in, do his sound check and leave. We would then be allowed in for the rest of the sound check with the remaining band. However, we were still able to hear Maynard do his portion of the sound check. If you remember, I mentioned our conference room was open air to the arena, so we were able to hear it fairly easily. Got to hear him do Aenima.
Maynard leaves, and we are allowed into the arena. As you walk in, you're greeted by a floor to ceiling display of LED screens and the sounds of Tool messing with their instruments. They just jam for a bit before busting into “Sober”, followed by “Hooker with a Penis”.
At first I was slightly apprehensive about hearing “Hooker”. I've been watching the setlists Tool had played leading up to Cedar Park. They had a habit of alternating the opening song between “Hooker” and “Third Eye”. The last show they played, they opened with “Third Eye”. That, coupled with hearing “Hooker” at sound check had be worried I'd miss “Third Eye”. “Third Eye” is probably in my top 3 Tool songs I want to hear live, and is probably the best opener in their catalog. It just sets the tone for the rest of the show. So needless to say, I'm holding out hope that maybe we get “Third Eye”.
Sound check is over, and as we are walking out, I hear one of the most beautiful sounds I could hear at that moment. Over the speakers comes Timothy Leary, “Think for yourself, question authority”. My smile spreads from ear to ear, we're getting “Third Eye” for our opener!
Something pretty cool happened to my girlfriend during sound check too. As she was leaving from taking her picture with Adam, he said, “I'll see you in sound check”. As she was walking out during sound check she was looking at Adam. He saw her and gave her a wave and smile. Something little, but pretty cool in my opinion.
After sound check is over, we're free to go back outside if we want. We'd just have to re-enter at doors with the general admission line. That's no big deal though, everything was seated, so no need to wait in line. We head back to the car for a little tailgaiting before the show starts. The venue was cool, and didn't hassle anyone in the parking lot.
My girlfriend and I look at each other, and all we can do is smile. I feel like I've already gotten my money's worth out of the ticket, and am in complete ecstasy...and we haven't even seen the show! Which is kind of a reflection of this writing, I can't believe I've written so much and I haven't even gotten to the show!
It's finally time to head into the venue for the show. As we make our way to our seats, it really hits me how close we were going to be for the show. We are literally in the front row, positioned just right of center perfectly in between Danny and Justin. Failure was the opener. Never listened to them before. They were alright, but to be fair, I could give a fuck who was on the stage at that point.
Finally the time arrives. The lights dim, and a heart beat echos across the arena. Soon you hear the familiar voice of Timothy Leary. Fuck yes, we're getting “Third Eye”. I can barely contain my excitement. I stand by my opinion, “Third Eye” is the ultimate opener for a Tool show. As Maynard stomped the ground while screaming “PRYING OPEN MY THIRD EYE!”, I knew I was exactly where I was supposed to be at that moment in time. No where else could have compared. I have no shame in admitting I had tears down my face at several points during that song. The level of emotion in my body then couldn't be contained, the music was in me, I could feel it. Even as I write this now, thinking back on it, gets me a little misty. I'm sure the security guy in front of me thought I was absolutely crazy.
Tool proceeded to rip through an amazing set:
Third Eye Vicarious Schism Pushit Intention Lateralus ---Intermission--- Danny's Drum Solo Jambi 46 & 2 Aenima Stinkfist
At two points during the set Maynard dedicated the show to Oderus Urungus, founder of GWAR, saying to live every day as if it's your last.
The high points of the show for me were “Third Eye” and “Lateralus”. “Lateralus” is probably my favorite Tool song of all time, and seeing it live is on another level. “Lateralus” should be in every Tool setlist for the existence of the band in my opinion. This was also the climax for the show, visually. There were floor to ceiling LED screens projecting the classic Tool/Alex Grey imagery that we all know and love. During “Lateralus”, the lasers were introduced into the show. I'm a self admitted laser-whore. You have lasers in your show? Chances are you just bumped up a step in my book. They had literally a rainbow of lasers, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple. They also put a large bank of lasers and lights back by the sound board to project from a different angle all across the arena. It was really cool to look back and see the whole venue lit up in psychedelic jubilation.
The whole crowd was really into it. The guy behind me ingested a bit too much of something though. Any time I looked back, he was sitting down, head in his hands down by his knees. I get it though, I've been there before! My very first Tool show was accompanied by a little fungus. Intense doesn't even begin to describe it. Sometimes all you can do is close your eyes and melt away.
Danny Carey is without a doubt, my favorite drummer. That guy is absolutely astounding. In the talk Adam gave us, he said Danny never stops drumming. He walks in on him practicing anything from basic skills to the most complex rhythms you can imagine. He's just always drumming, improving. Watching him really is a treat. In one previous show I'd seen, I had side stage seats, elevated just enough to get a top down view on Danny. That was a great show to appreciate him (San Antonio, 2006).
I always forget how big on an influence Justin is on their music too. Adam called him a “riff writing machine”. Over the years, I've come realize a lot of the sounds I initially thought were coming from Adam were really Justin on the bass. The guy really gets into it too. During parts, he'd have a very intense look on his face, you'd just see the sweat pour off him as he pummeled us with his bass.
Maynard was good as usual. My only complaint of the show is Maynard's vocals were hard to hear the first half of the set. Perhaps part of the problem was our seat? I've read a few other reviews of the show saying Maynard sounded great. He'd break through at times, but he was buried pretty low most of it. Things definitely improved after the intermission. You could tell he was holding back at times, but he hit Pushit perfectly.
As the show ended, all I could do was try and capture that moment in time, that entire day in fact, into my memory. That's partially the function of writing such a lengthy “review” (maybe an essay at this point?). I want to be able to look back years from now and conjure up some of the memories from that day. Wait...does that mean you're reading my diary right now?
As I look back on my experience of that day, all I can do is smile and laugh. It really was a once in a liftime thing for me, and am glad to have experienced it.
I know probably one person read the entire thing, but hopefully someone out there enjoyed reading it. As I sit here I realize I've spent a few hours writing this. Time to go get something to eat.
tl;dr Tool is fucking awesome. If you're a huge fan, and they do VIP again, do it, you won't regret it. Adam Jones is one of the nicest guys I've ever met, he truly appreciates the fans.
Wow, it's hard to even know where to start the review for this show. Be prepared for a long winded account of my experience from beginning to end, as it was quite an adventure. For those who don't want to read it, just know, the show was absolutely incredible. This whole day is my favorite musical experience I've had in my life up to now.
I was caught off guard when Tool announced their mini-tour down to Mexico and back, and beyond ecstatic when I saw a date in Cedar Park, a suburb of Austin. I saw on Tool's website that they were offering VIP tickets for all the US dates. I have done VIP for the past two Puscifer tours, and was very pleased with the experience. However, for the Tool VIP, there was also a Q&A and meet and greet with Adam Jones, the guitarist. In addition to the ticket, access to sound check, and some free band merch. Unfortunately, due to Tool's popularity, the VIP tickets were quite a bit more expensive then the VIP Puscifer tickets. Decisions had to be made.
Flash forward a couple days and I'm sitting eagerly in front of my computer waiting to buy two VIP passes to the Cedar Park show. VIP tickets are slowly being added to the site, date by date. Cedar Park tickets were finally available for sale a nerve-wracking 40 minutes after the advertised time. I quickly snatch up my pair and sit in complete silence for a minute, smiling, knowing this was going to be a show of a lifetime.
I had debated trying to buy tickets at the normal on sale time, and then only buying the VIP tickets if I didn't get a good ticket. Thankfully I didn't do that. The show sold out instantly. I got stuck in a waiting room and was unable to get tickets (I was trying just to see what I could get). And by that point, the VIP tickets were sold out too. I would have been at the mercy of scalpers at that point.
Thankfully my girlfriend was able to get the day off work for the show too. She's been a long time fan of Tool (not quite from '92, but close!), but has never had the chance to see Tool or A Perfect Circle. So needless to say, finally seeing Tool was something she's been waiting a long time for. I've had the pleasure of seeing Tool 5 times previously, so I knew she was in for a treat.
Fun fact, Tool is actually the band that got me to Bonnaroo for my first time back in 2007. I had seen them for the first time in 2006 in The Woodlands, TX and San Antonio. When they announced their summer tour in 2007, my brother, our friend, and I decided to get tickets for Corpus Christi and Houston. But when I looked at their full tour, I noticed a stop in Manchester, TN for Bonnaroo. I had heard the name Bonnaroo before, but nothing more then that. A little investigation later, and my ticket to Bonnaroo 2007 was bought, and my love of festivals was born. I guess I was one of “those Tool fans” who ruined Bonnaroo that year Thanks Tool!
Back to the story at hand. After much anticipation, the day of the show was almost upon us. In the days leading up to the show, I had read other's accounts of their VIP experience, so I knew what to expect. My excitement was literally bubbling over. There were numerous occasions when I would giggle out loud just thinking about it. As high as my expectations were, they were utterly exceeded.
We have to be at the venue at 1pm to check in. My girlfriend and I leave at 11:15, which would normally be enough time to make it. We unfortunately hit some construction traffic, and were about 15 minutes late to the check in. We were the last people in line to check in, however, this was the best possible thing that could have happened to us. Juan, our “envoy” for the day, had a stack of tickets that he was handing out to people as they checked in.
As I looked down at my tickets, I saw Floor 2, Row A, Seats 1 and 2.
Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit.
In some stroke of luck, the last two tickets handed out were front row, seats 1 and 2. There are literally 10 tickets in the entire venue that are better then ours (seat 12 would be dead center). People with the VIP passes were seated in the first 4 rows, in the center section of the floor. Being late turned out to be the best thing we could have done.
As they herd us inside through security, we have to hand over our cell phones. In a previous VIP session, someone had recorded the Q&A with Adam and the sound check and proceeded to post it online. As a result, no phones allowed anymore! We write our names on a piece of paper, rubberband it our phone, and hand it over. It sucks to have to do it, but if you know Tool, you know they're very strict about photography/recording of their shows. But that's a different debate. You know the rules going in, and if that's what I have to do for this, then fuck it, here's my phone! As a testament to Juan and the rest of the Tool staff, everyone received their phone back without incident.
There are 100 people here for the VIP experience, and we're all now gathered in a small conference/lounge room in the venue. It's a very odd shaped room, narrow and long. Unfortunately the seats are oriented along the long axis, so there are a lot of short rows. The reason for this, as was later explained, was at a previous stop in a similarly shaped room, they did orient the chairs the other way. However, it sounded terrible.
Both of us get seats near the back, but this turns out to be another blessing in disguise. Adam moved around the room quite a bit during the time, but he spent a large chunk of time talking to us from our row. We were literally 5 feet from him for portions of the talk.
When Adam walks in the room, he just smiles, and says, “Wow, 100 people in this room!”. You can immediately tell that he's a down to earth guy. He explains how it will work, he will talk about a variety of subjects for a bit, and then at the end, open it up to questions from us. He explained that Tool had never done a meet and greet before because they felt it was always very cheesy. If they were going to do it, they wanted it to be different. Adam explained that he wanted to be able to connect with the fans on a real level. He wanted the talk to be like we were hanging out in the kitchen, just a kitchen with his guitar and amps set up!
I can say with 100% certainty, Adam achieved his goal. The personal connection that he made with each one of us was truly amazing. Even though there were 100 of us in the room, I can promise you that everyone walked away feeling it. When you looked Adam in the eyes, you could tell he truly appreciated the fans. He really is an amazingly talented, down to earth person who loves what he does.
His talk covered a wide array of topics from his early love of music, his progression to being in Tool, how the band formed, how they write music as a band, his approach to guitar, lessons on poly-rhythms, pretty much everything. The entire thing with the Q&A was nearly 2 hours long.
A few choice nuggets: -We have that iconic banjo line in “Deliverance” to thank for Adam picking up the guitar. -Tool was started as a joke band between Adam and Maynard. However, once Adam really heard Maynard sing, they started to take it more seriously. -Danny only drummed for them out of pity. They had scheduled a drummer, but he bailed on them. Once Danny played with them, he quickly turned his focus to it. -When picking a replacement bassist for Paul, Adam was worried the discussion would come to blows. Adam wanted Justin, but he thought Maynard and Danny wanted a different bassist. Maynard and Danny also wanted Justin, but they thought Adam wanted the other bassist. They quickly realized they all wanted Justin and had a good laugh about it. -The song title “Jambi” comes from the character Jambi in Pee-Wee's Playhouse. The original riff that Justin brought in reminded them of when Jambi would say “Meka leka hi meka hiney ho”. -Both Danny and Adam are classically trained musicians. Adam was trained in the Suzuki method of violin. -Adam, Danny, and Justin write and jam together for a long time before Maynard gets involved. Once the songs have gotten close to their final shape, Maynard will come in and write the vocals. -Maynard often puts vocals where the other members weren't expecting it when they wrote the music. -Adam is extremely detail oriented, and will spend hours on something. Maynard is often able to come in and just nail his part in a few takes. -Adam's stop motion work in Jurassic Park was cut out for “new technology”, CGI. -On several occasions, Adam has hidden stinky cheese on another band's tour bus. While on tour with Fishbone in Europe, he mentioned doing this. He mentioned doing it to The Flaming Lips as well. As a result, the members of Fishbone ended up in a fist fight over accusations of who was responsible for the smell. Adam never admitted to it, and kept low the rest of the tour! To be fair, this was in response to Adam picking up a cup full of urine in the dressing room and spilling some on himself. Apparently one of the members of Fishbone had a habit of peeing into any available object when he needed to go. -After spilling said urine on himself, some record executives came to meet him. Without hesitation, he shook their hands with pleasure. He was quite upset with them at the time. Tool's albums weren't in the stores in many of the European cities they were playing, like the label had promised.
As the climax of the talk, he gave a guitar lesson on “Jambi” and then proceeded to play it live for us using a click track with the rest of the band. Seeing him play it in such a small, personal space really was amazing. As I mentioned earlier, he spent a lot of time in front of our row. When he was playing in front of us, he was so close you could hear the unamplified scrape of the strings.
After his talk wrapped up, he opened it up to questions from us. After a few questions had been asked, I mustered the courage to raise my hand. I was beyond nervous, and just praying that I was able to form a coherent sentence. I got a little tongue tied, but managed to get my question out. I asked if Tool had any intentions to put their music on high resolution digital sites like the upcoming Pono Music Store. He said he didn't know what Pono specifically was, but that they do want to put their music out on iTunes and other digital platforms. He said it basically comes down to disagreements with the label. Their label is basically trying to say they own the digital rights to the music, and obviously Tool disagrees. So hopefully they get it resolved by the time the next album comes out. I can't imagine they'd try and promote it without a digital presence.
As the Q&A portion ended, we got ready to take a picture with Adam. As we lined up, we went to a table and picked up our phones. When it was finally my turn to take a picture with him later, he shook my hand and said thank you. All I could stammer out was a “thank you” in response, I was still star struck. He asked if I had a good time, and I just shook my head and said thank you again. Not the best use of my time with him, but I was just trying to concentrate on not looking like a crazy person.
I had brought my poster from my first Tool show, in the hopes I might get it signed. The information specifically said not to bring personal items for autographs, but it was worth a shot. My plan was to wait at the back of the line for pictures, and ask him to sign the poster instead of taking a picture. However, we were already running nearly 25 minutes late, and the head security guy had reiterated to please not ask for autographs. So I decided against asking. The first VIP show they did, they allowed people to get things signed, and it took nearly 2 hours. They made the change that Adam would presign our VIP posters for us to save time. Would have been nice, but oh well, I get it.
After the picture, we came back into the conference room and picked up our swag bag. It included a special VIP Tool poster signed by Adam, a VIP Tool T-shirt, a beanie, a keychain, a sticker, and a VIP laminate, all in a Tool tote bag.
Before Adam left for the pictures, he left his guitar and said he were welcome to pick it up and hold it. He just stressed to be careful with it, as it is one of his original guitars and he still plays it on stage. The level of trust that must have taken is pretty impressive to me. Unfortunately the guitar got taken away by the guitar tech relatively quickly, they were late and needed it for the sound check. Adam had talked longer then he was supposed to, and because our room was open air to the arena, they couldn't sound check some things while the talk was going on. However, this again turned out to be a blessing.
As we all were gathered in the conference room again, they brought in two video props. The guy from the “Parabola” video, and the guy from the “Schism” video. Really cool to see them up close. Once again the level of trust necessary to have them out was pretty high. Both pieces were art pieces, they were extremely fragile and not made to be sturdy. You could tell too, unfortunately the “Schism” model had some toes broken off, and a finger was cracked. Juan told us it has it's own custom case for travel.
We went out as a group for a smoke break as we waited for sound check to start. I don't smoke cigarettes, but I was ready to use my vape pen. As we were outside, I over hear the guy next to me say, “I left my butane hash oil in the car, don't think I can go get it”. Hearing that, I give him a nod and hand him my vaporizer. His eyes light up and tokes enthusiastically. So once again, a shout out to EJMix and the Liquidizer team for allowing me to enjoy some heady goodness in complete stealth. No more smuggling, I use it in regular e-cig equipment. My high refreshed, it's time for the sound check.
We were told we wouldn't see Maynard at the sound check we had access to. Maynard would come in, do his sound check and leave. We would then be allowed in for the rest of the sound check with the remaining band. However, we were still able to hear Maynard do his portion of the sound check. If you remember, I mentioned our conference room was open air to the arena, so we were able to hear it fairly easily. Got to hear him do Aenima.
Maynard leaves, and we are allowed into the arena. As you walk in, you're greeted by a floor to ceiling display of LED screens and the sounds of Tool messing with their instruments. They just jam for a bit before busting into “Sober”, followed by “Hooker with a Penis”.
At first I was slightly apprehensive about hearing “Hooker”. I've been watching the setlists Tool had played leading up to Cedar Park. They had a habit of alternating the opening song between “Hooker” and “Third Eye”. The last show they played, they opened with “Third Eye”. That, coupled with hearing “Hooker” at sound check had be worried I'd miss “Third Eye”. “Third Eye” is probably in my top 3 Tool songs I want to hear live, and is probably the best opener in their catalog. It just sets the tone for the rest of the show. So needless to say, I'm holding out hope that maybe we get “Third Eye”.
Sound check is over, and as we are walking out, I hear one of the most beautiful sounds I could hear at that moment. Over the speakers comes Timothy Leary, “Think for yourself, question authority”. My smile spreads from ear to ear, we're getting “Third Eye” for our opener!
Something pretty cool happened to my girlfriend during sound check too. As she was leaving from taking her picture with Adam, he said, “I'll see you in sound check”. As she was walking out during sound check she was looking at Adam. He saw her and gave her a wave and smile. Something little, but pretty cool in my opinion.
After sound check is over, we're free to go back outside if we want. We'd just have to re-enter at doors with the general admission line. That's no big deal though, everything was seated, so no need to wait in line. We head back to the car for a little tailgaiting before the show starts. The venue was cool, and didn't hassle anyone in the parking lot.
My girlfriend and I look at each other, and all we can do is smile. I feel like I've already gotten my money's worth out of the ticket, and am in complete ecstasy...and we haven't even seen the show! Which is kind of a reflection of this writing, I can't believe I've written so much and I haven't even gotten to the show!
It's finally time to head into the venue for the show. As we make our way to our seats, it really hits me how close we were going to be for the show. We are literally in the front row, positioned just right of center perfectly in between Danny and Justin. Failure was the opener. Never listened to them before. They were alright, but to be fair, I could give a fuck who was on the stage at that point.
Finally the time arrives. The lights dim, and a heart beat echos across the arena. Soon you hear the familiar voice of Timothy Leary. Fuck yes, we're getting “Third Eye”. I can barely contain my excitement. I stand by my opinion, “Third Eye” is the ultimate opener for a Tool show. As Maynard stomped the ground while screaming “PRYING OPEN MY THIRD EYE!”, I knew I was exactly where I was supposed to be at that moment in time. No where else could have compared. I have no shame in admitting I had tears down my face at several points during that song. The level of emotion in my body then couldn't be contained, the music was in me, I could feel it. Even as I write this now, thinking back on it, gets me a little misty. I'm sure the security guy in front of me thought I was absolutely crazy.
Tool proceeded to rip through an amazing set:
Third Eye Vicarious Schism Pushit Intention Lateralus ---Intermission--- Danny's Drum Solo Jambi 46 & 2 Aenima Stinkfist
At two points during the set Maynard dedicated the show to Oderus Urungus, founder of GWAR, saying to live every day as if it's your last.
The high points of the show for me were “Third Eye” and “Lateralus”. “Lateralus” is probably my favorite Tool song of all time, and seeing it live is on another level. “Lateralus” should be in every Tool setlist for the existence of the band in my opinion. This was also the climax for the show, visually. There were floor to ceiling LED screens projecting the classic Tool/Alex Grey imagery that we all know and love. During “Lateralus”, the lasers were introduced into the show. I'm a self admitted laser-whore. You have lasers in your show? Chances are you just bumped up a step in my book. They had literally a rainbow of lasers, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple. They also put a large bank of lasers and lights back by the sound board to project from a different angle all across the arena. It was really cool to look back and see the whole venue lit up in psychedelic jubilation.
The whole crowd was really into it. The guy behind me ingested a bit too much of something though. Any time I looked back, he was sitting down, head in his hands down by his knees. I get it though, I've been there before! My very first Tool show was accompanied by a little fungus. Intense doesn't even begin to describe it. Sometimes all you can do is close your eyes and melt away.
Danny Carey is without a doubt, my favorite drummer. That guy is absolutely astounding. In the talk Adam gave us, he said Danny never stops drumming. He walks in on him practicing anything from basic skills to the most complex rhythms you can imagine. He's just always drumming, improving. Watching him really is a treat. In one previous show I'd seen, I had side stage seats, elevated just enough to get a top down view on Danny. That was a great show to appreciate him (San Antonio, 2006).
I always forget how big on an influence Justin is on their music too. Adam called him a “riff writing machine”. Over the years, I've come realize a lot of the sounds I initially thought were coming from Adam were really Justin on the bass. The guy really gets into it too. During parts, he'd have a very intense look on his face, you'd just see the sweat pour off him as he pummeled us with his bass.
Maynard was good as usual. My only complaint of the show is Maynard's vocals were hard to hear the first half of the set. Perhaps part of the problem was our seat? I've read a few other reviews of the show saying Maynard sounded great. He'd break through at times, but he was buried pretty low most of it. Things definitely improved after the intermission. You could tell he was holding back at times, but he hit Pushit perfectly.
As the show ended, all I could do was try and capture that moment in time, that entire day in fact, into my memory. That's partially the function of writing such a lengthy “review” (maybe an essay at this point?). I want to be able to look back years from now and conjure up some of the memories from that day. Wait...does that mean you're reading my diary right now?
As I look back on my experience of that day, all I can do is smile and laugh. It really was a once in a liftime thing for me, and am glad to have experienced it.
I know probably one person read the entire thing, but hopefully someone out there enjoyed reading it. As I sit here I realize I've spent a few hours writing this. Time to go get something to eat.
tl;dr Tool is fucking awesome. If you're a huge fan, and they do VIP again, do it, you won't regret it. Adam Jones is one of the nicest guys I've ever met, he truly appreciates the fans.
I hate you. By that I mean I am so unreal jealous of you. Sounds like the most amazing thing one could ever experience. Being a TOOL fan since hearing "Schism" as an 8th grader or whatever it was.
Great write up man. Sounds like something you will never ever ever forget.
Was cool to read about the song writing process. I had never known until a few months or maybe a yearish ago that those 3 basically write the songs and Maynard comes in and puts vocals on after.
^Thanks man. It really is something I'll never forget. Listening to Adam talk was incredible. Like I said, it lasted for nearly 2 hours so I've only skimmed the surface of what he covered.
I forgot to add, after the show ended Maynard said thank you and left the stage fairly quickly. The other 3 came out to thank crowd, soak in the energy. Danny has a handful of drumsticks to throw out. He throws one and it lands just behind my girlfriend. I quickly dive for it, but my hand hit it just after someone else. Not wanting to be a dick, I let him have it. He was a tiny dude, could have easily wrestled it from him. But he had his hand on it first, fair and square. No need to ruin the energy of the night over something as silly as a drumstick.
Just before Danny walks off the stage, he throws another drumstick my direction. It's coming right at me. I go to catch it, but my coordination is off. My hands close a split second too late, the drumstick hits me in the forehead and bounces into the hands of the person behind me. The drumstick literally bounced off my third eye and into another fan's awaiting hands. Two drumsticks in my grasps, both gone. C'est la vie. Would have liked to have a drumstick, but I can't complain. Just thought it was funny one hit me in the forehead
^Thanks man. It really is something I'll never forget. Listening to Adam talk was incredible. Like I said, it lasted for nearly 2 hours so I've only skimmed the surface of what he covered.
I forgot to add, after the show ended Maynard said thank you and left the stage fairly quickly. The other 3 came out to thank crowd, soak in the energy. Danny has a handful of drumsticks to throw out. He throws one and it lands just behind my girlfriend. I quickly dive for it, but my hand hit it just after someone else. Not wanting to be a dick, I let him have it. He was a tiny dude, could have easily wrestled it from him. But he had his hand on it first, fair and square. No need to ruin the energy of the night over something as silly as a drumstick.
Just before Danny walks off the stage, he throws another drumstick my direction. It's coming right at me. I go to catch it, but my coordination is off. My hands close a split second too late, the drumstick hits me in the forehead and bounces into the hands of the person behind me. The drumstick literally bounced off my third eye and into another fan's awaiting hands. Two drumsticks in my grasps, both gone. C'est la vie. Would have liked to have a drumstick, but I can't complain. Just thought it was funny one hit me in the forehead
Gotta watch out with that third eye man. I had the same experience at Slipknot one time, drumstick hits hand and deflects further back. Oh well, I will never forget being front row for Slipknot
Nice right up, Rothric! Awesome you got to experience that. I was sitting Row A of Sec 121, so about 15 ft behind the the last row of floor people. I liked my seat because it felt like I was on the floor, just elevated by about one foot which was a perfect view of everything, with no hands or heads to obstruct my view.
Anywho, saw Deltron 3030 last nite...incredible show! Musically and energetically, Deltron brought it. The crowd was really getting into it. Only difference between this show and when I saw them at MOEMS was all the wackiness that went on at MOEMS, and no orchestra here in SA. It was the same thing I thought comparing the NIN show at MOEMS vs seeing them in SA...just missing that fest vibe. Although there was one chick at last nites show that had some "blinkies", so I guess that kind of makes up for it. Anyways, it was a great show, and I picked up two new vinyl...Deltron 3030's Event 2 and Kid Koala's 12 Bit Blues!
I completely forgot about Del doing "Clint Eastwood", so that was a great way to end the show!!!
Edit: I still can't figure out how to "tag" someone on here...damn technology!
Nice right up, Rothric! Awesome you got to experience that. I was sitting Row A of Sec 121, so about 15 ft behind the the last row of floor people. I liked my seat because it felt like I was on the floor, just elevated by about one foot which was a perfect view of everything, with no hands or heads to obstruct my view.
Anywho, saw Deltron 3030 last nite...incredible show! Musically and energetically, Deltron brought it. The crowd was really getting into it. Only difference between this show and when I saw them at MOEMS was all the wackiness that went on at MOEMS, and no orchestra here in SA. It was the same thing I thought comparing the NIN show at MOEMS vs seeing them in SA...just missing that fest vibe. Although there was one chick at last nites show that had some "blinkies", so I guess that kind of makes up for it. Anyways, it was a great show, and I picked up two new vinyl...Deltron 3030's Event 2 and Kid Koala's 12 Bit Blues!
I completely forgot about Del doing "Clint Eastwood", so that was a great way to end the show!!!
Edit: I still can't figure out how to "tag" someone on here...damn technology!
to tag someone do "@" then their username, but it has to be their original user name. so like to tag me you'd do "@*glowbaby" but without the asterisk.
Post by Daddy's Mad on Mar 30, 2014 22:39:03 GMT -5
So I just saw Neutral Milk Hotel Saturday in Omaha, and wow i knew they would be good, but that show was amazing. Jeff Mangum sounds great (I almost cried when he played Oh Comely). They played with so many different instruments that all sounded spectacular. The horns were great and the saw blade, violin bow combination ting that Julian plays is so cool. Great setlist also. Mostly In The Aeroplane Over the Sea. The venue was pretty cool place. At one point after a song Julian stopped and asked "does anyone know if we played in the basement here in 98? We've been arguing whether or not this is it."
So if there aren't any complications in the schedule for Roo I'll for sure be seeing them again. I can only expect even better of a show on the farm with a way bigger crowd. DONT MISS THIS SHOW!!!
Post by umphlovecincy on Apr 5, 2014 7:08:16 GMT -5
Going to go see Dopapod tonight here near Cincinnati. Just found out about these guys a few weeks ago and I've been really digging it. Can't wait to dance my ass off tonight!
Post by TacticalTurtleneck on Apr 7, 2014 15:59:20 GMT -5
Make the trek down to Louisville last night for my first experience in the KFC Yum! Center. Now, I'm a die-hard Bearcat fan, so I'm not big on giving that university much love, but DAMN that's a nice venue. Yeah, it's super corporate, but I bet it's a real great spot for some basketball.
Anyway, I managed to get my hands on some 2nd row center floor seats for Billy Joel. I was pretty excited.
Gaven DeGraw opened for him (I'd argue that Billy Joel does not require an opener, but that's me), and I was SHOCKED by 1. How many of his songs I knew and 2. By how better than average his live show is. Don't get me wrong, it's pretty forgettable in a "I've heard this song on like five commercials this year" way, but he wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting.
Billy himself played a solid two hour set consisting of some rare gems that he hasn't played in some time before transitioning into the hits. I was a little weary about how great of a show he'd be able to put on, what with all his health issues in recent years, but he's still got it. During his encore performance of "Uptown Girl," he was up and dancing around the stage better than his opener that was 30 years his junior.
Another cool aspect that I wasn't expecting: his engagement with the crowd. I kind of expected him to come out, talk every once in a while, and stick to the music. However, he went off on a few tangents telling the crowd stories about his time on the road and generally reflecting on his career. It was pretty special.
Somehow, his voice sounds just a great today and it did in the 70's, and I have no problems in saying that the man still puts on one of the best shows around. His backing band all got their highlights, and Billy was never one to really hog the spotlight, which was nice. His band is just insanely talented.
Setlist:
Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway) Pressure Call to the Post -- Kentucky Derby reference, because of course My Old Kentucky Home Evil Ways -- First minute or so of the Santana song, which followed a story about seeing the band at Woodstock The Entertainer The Theme from Magnificent Seven -- He just started talking about the film and started the song. Band caught on quick. The Ballad of Billy the Kid Vienna Zanzibar In the Midnight Hour -- First minute or so, dedicated to Wilson Pickett, who was from Louisville Call to the Post (Reprise?) -- the trumpet player was having a fun night. Movin' Out (Anthony's Song) Blonde Over Blue And So It Goes Allentown New York State of Mind -- gave me chills that I can't seem to get rid of Root Beer Rag She's Always a Woman Highway to Hell -- Billy on guitar, random roadie on vocals. It killed. Don't Ask Me Why The River of Dreams/When the Saints Go Marching In Scenes From An Italian Restaurant Piano Man ------- Uptown Girl It's Still Rock and Roll to Me Big Shot You May Be Right Only the Good Die Young
St. Vincent was awesome. I wish she would vary her setlist more on her tour. She covered Nirvana's "Lithium" and videos for that are on Pitchfork and CoS but it bummed me out that the most energy and crowd involvement was for that and not all the amazing material she has. Also, if I'm blocking your view, please ask me to move instead of talking shit about me and then trying to dump a beer on my shoes because you thought I couldn't hear you and your friend planning it out. Great show, terrible crowd.
Rattlesnake Digital Witness Cruel Birth in Reverse Regret Laughing with a Mouth of Blood I Prefer Your Love Pieta Every Tear Disappears Surgeon Cheerleader Prince Johnny Year of the Tiger Marrow Huey Newton Bring Me Your Loves Northern Lights Krokodil
Strange Mercy Lithium- Nirvana Cover Your Lips Are Red
I hate it when crowds get more excited for covers than the actual artist's songs. I'm seeing Annie tomorrow night in Cincinnati. Expectations are pretty high, as I'm fully in love with the new album.
Went to The xx show in Memphis this weekend. On the current tour, they're playing smaller venues than usual and in cities they've never played before. They played three new songs yet to be recorded. The show was great. I love this band more and more after each time I see them. This was show #4 for me.
Saw St. Vincent in Cincinnati last night. Was just as good (and the same setlist) as everyone else has said. Lithium is now stuck in my head.
I've got no complaints since I had tickets for Bruce Springsteen, on the floor for the first time since my very first Bruce show at Vote For Change in 2004. The show was of course amazing but I was bummed about it conflicting with St. Vincent and in the same city no less. I may go to Columbus' make up show in September (tour was supposed to be there tonight originally) although I'm hoping when she comes back around there might be other shows added too, hopefully one a little closer to Lexington.
There's a good write up of the Springsteen show here if anyone is interested: backstreets.com/news.html