Heavy music isn’t for everyone, but for the genre’s most ardent fans, allegiance to the discipline seems to know no bounds. What else could explain the devotion of Tool fans? Attendees at the first of the band’s two shows at Hard Rock Live last week—unusually intimate performances for a group primarily accustomed to selling out arenas and headlining large-scale rock festivals—seemed to have come from far and wide for a chance to see the quartet up close and personal. A kind gentleman sitting to my right excitedly showed me the gig poster he purchased, breathlessly mentioning that the regular version was sold out by the time he got to the front of the line, but he didn’t mind paying $350 for the signed foil version. He didn’t need the $500 signed CD box set, because he’d already picked one up at an earlier stop on the tour. The announcement of these two shows in Hollywood came as a surprise, considering it was less than two years removed from Tool’s last visit to South Florida, yet the ravenous appetite of the band’s fans didn’t seem to have waned a bit in the interim.
After beginning promptly at 9 p.m., the set got off to a relatively innocuous start: Nearly every one of the band’s gigs since 2019, including this one, has begun with the title track from their most recent LP Fear Innoculum, a record that the group is ostensibly still promoting with this current tour. Thankfully, deeper cuts came quickly to invigorate the already-humming crowd, with a handful of tracks from 2006’s 10,000 Days and a rare performance of “Sweat” from the group’s 1992 debut EP Opiate highlighting the first portion of the night.
The evening’s visuals, while slightly pared back in relation to the group’s visually stunning last show in South Florida, still ramped up as the set progressed, retaining the signature unsettling and psychedelic style the group has honed over the past three decades. Added effects like a striking laser display mid-show and an unexpected confetti drop during encore cut “Culling Voices” added to the spectacle, reinforcing the unspoken idea that the performance brought with it a unique grandeur. A strict no-phones policy, announced pre-show via the venue’s overhead screens, made for a refreshingly immersive experience, with nary a screen or camera light to be spotted during the 2-plus hours the group was on stage.
Yet the still-unmatched musicianship of the band’s four members was, as it should be, the focus of the show. Frontman Maynard James Keenan’s iconoclastic style, guitarist Adam Jones’ dynamic and mighty tone, and bassist Justin Chancellor’s robust rhythmic foundation held true across the night’s extended jams and unorthodox time signatures—I don’t think I caught a single missed note or slip-up, even during stretches with rhythms so complex that fans gave up on nodding along. But even the aforementioned musicians take a backseat to drummer Danny Carey, for whom every show seems to be a Herculean effort. Frequently mentioned among the ranks of the all-time greats in his role, Carey still manages to live up to that reputation every time he takes the stage. When the encore began with “Chocolate Chip Trip,” a track that essentially acts as an extended drum solo showcasing every facet of his abilities, it seemed to be just another victory lap.
Throughout its history, Tool has been a group that’s difficult to pin down. Exceedingly long layoffs between studio albums, scattershot touring, and even a reluctance to show their own faces onstage have defined the group while its influence and adoration has only continued to grow. Having seen them live twice now, it’s clear why this is the case: Nobody else does what these four musicians can do together, and the genre—and its fans—are better off when they’re doing it.
SET LIST:
Fear Inoculum
Jambi
Rosetta Stoned (“Lost Keys” Intro)
Pneuma
Sweat
Descending
The Grudge
ENCORE:
Chocolate Chip Trip
Culling Voices
Invincible
Stinkfist
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