Live And In The Flesh
Tool - August 5, 2009
Tool's 2009 Summer Tour provided me my sixth opportunity to see this band live. I hadn't seen them since 2007 so I had expected that we would be in for a bit of a different setlist compared to their Hamilton show at Copps Coliseum during their 10,000 Days Tour. This time around Tool were scheduled to play the Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto, my second time seeing them at this venue. Luckily enough we were able to secure our tickets for the show. Toronto Tool shows were beginning to sell out in record time now that scalpers were recognizing the business potential with StubHub operating at full swing. We were thankful that we were able to secure our seats in the 400 section without having to resort to paying inflated ticket prices. Although our seats would end up just on the outskirts of the venue's rooftop, this wouldn't make a difference. The weather co-operated throughout the entire evening without any worry of rain, unlike our previous experience with Tool at the Amphitheatre back in the fall of 2006.
Tweak Bird was brought on to open up for Tool during this 2009 Summer Tour. A brother duo consisting of Caleb and Ashton Bird who had recently hit the studio with Melvins' Dale Crover. They were a heavier, experimental, progressive rock band from Southern Illinois. They weren't on the stage for long, as most openers typically aren't, but they were an interesting warm-up band. They had the crowd ready for more by the time they had left the stage.
Not long after Tweak Bird, Tool started to make their way out. Bassist Justin Chancellor, guitarist Adam Jones and drummer Danny Carey all made their way out to situate themselves with their respective instruments, before Maynard James Keenan graced the stage to the cheering of the audience. The band got things fired up with Jambi, the second track off of 10,000 Days before taking us back to their 1996 album Ænima with Stinkfist and Forty-Six & 2. Things were off to a pretty stellar start already! The jams were incredible and the band seemed to be working through each song effortlessly. Schism came up next and they seemed to speed up the pace quite a bit with the song, giving it a bit of an energy boost. Danny Carey's drumming was impeccable. He has been by far one of the greatest drummers I have ever seen perform live.
My favourite pairing of tracks off of 10,000 Days were the highlight of the night for me. Lost Keys (Blame Hoffmann) and Rosetta Stoned are simply amazing live. It felt like the jam had gone on for about half an hour. The band was in their zone and were loving every minute of it. Tool even reached back to their 1993 album Undertow and played Flood. Anything off of that album would be golden to see and Flood was an excellent addition to their set. The only difference between this night's set, and the 2007 Hamilton Copps Coliseum 10,000 Days Tour stop would be Ænima. They had played this at most of the shows I had been to prior to this one, so it wasn't a complete surprise. Still an incredible track to have included in their ten song setist though. Lateralus, one of the best jam songs off of the album of the same name started to wind things down before Vicarious finished everything off.
Tool had proven themselves to be one of the greats yet again, musically and visually throughout their live performance. Their entire show is always just one big jam session that continues to push boundaries each time I'm lucky enough to see them. The skill level and intensity that these musicians bring to the stage each and every night is outstanding. The Molson Amphitheatre provided an amazing venue experience being situated outside in the fresh air, as opposed to cramped up in an arena or smaller venue. This Tool show certainly landed near the top of my all-time Tool experiences. I'm looking forward to watching them attempt to top it the next time I see them, as I have no doubt that they will.