12\17\11 More Dates

Several more shows have been announced, and are now posted to the Tour page. There are some rumblings that a Coachella appearance may be in the works, but so far, that’s just a rumor… §

[ Posted in Tool News by Kabir | Post comment ]

12\13\11 On The Road Again

And with this fine December week comes word of several new shows that Tool is suddenly reported to play. It’s been eighteen months since they’ve played shows in North America, and all of a sudden, it looks like there will be at least seven shows in early 2012. Check the Tour page for the list, but read on for more info.

We’ve seen sometimes in the past that shows will appear out of the blue, only to later be debunked as fakes, but in this case, Ticketmaster is listing it, LiveNation is emailing about it, Songkick is reporting it, and a few other sources seem to confirm that these shows look legit. Toolshed reader Vincent T. writes to remind us that Puscifer is on tour in December and again in February, so these dates may fit nicely into their hiatus. Thanks also to Daniel M. for writing in with mention of two possible Canadian dates as well.

The Tour page has been updated with the new list of shows, which are scheduled to go on sale later this week. Maybe we’ll hear the debut of some new material? As always, send any new info via the Feedback page or to @thetoolpage on Twitter. §

[ Posted in Tool News by Kabir | Post comment ]

10\29\11 Danny and Paul • Maynard Speaks

This is an interesting reunion – for the first time in fifteen years, Danny will perform on a track with former bassist Paul D’Amour, on the first album by Paul’s band Feersum Ennjin. Loudwire has the full story. §

Also, a quote from Maynard about the next Tool album appears in a recent interview, and has been making the rounds lately: “When it’s done everyone will know.” Obviously people are a little excited about this, but read it again — it doesn’t tell us anything new. Even though it has now been five and a half years since the release of “10,000 Days”, it sounds like it will still be a bit of a wait. §

[ Posted in Tool News by Kabir | Post comment ]

08\28\11 Old News is Still Valid

Turns out that sixteen years ago today, I posted the following to the News page:

On touring: nothing has been said about there being a tour anytime soon. Just keep your fingers crossed.”

Funny how some things apparently never change. Although, I just looked at the Old News from 1995, and it doesn’t seem that much else is still that topical today. §

[ Posted in Toolshed News by Kabir | Post comment ]

08\17\11 Sixteenth Birthday • The Jones Spangled Banner

Sixteen years ago today, the very first news post was made to this site, in an era before blogging or websites with time-stamped updates. Happy birthday, toolshed, and congratulations on being old enough to drive. Can’t believe it’s been online longer than some of you have been alive. §

And to celebrate, here’s video of Adam Jones’ rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner”, as played at WWE’s Summerslam event a few days ago. Warning – the camerawork is pretty shoddy. (Thanks to Dan Maor for finding the video for us.)

[ Posted in Tool News, Toolshed News by Kabir | Post comment ]

07\28\11 Tonight – APC in LA + Tickets…

This is a quick note for LA readers – I’ve wound up with two extra tickets to tonight’s A Perfect Circle show in Los Angeles. Anyone want them? Shoot me an email at kabir@toolshed.down.net. Maybe I’ll see some of y’all at the show.

Update: Ruben wound up taking both tickets off my hands; thanks to all who responded both here and on Twitter! §

[ Posted in A Perfect Circle by Kabir | Post comment ]

06\23\11 No Release Date

As expected, the Official Site has admitted that the “release date” for the next album that was posted recently was actually not a real one. Meanwhile, we must be patient. §

[ Posted in Tool News by Kabir | Post comment ]

06\08\11 Antiquiet’s Tool Madness Interview

Rock music website Antiquiet has written an article on Tool Madness, which was our recently-completed contest/tournament/search for the Greatest song the band has written. The article features an interview with yours truly, and some tricky questions by author Kevin “Skwerl” Cogill. So head on over and read the article on Antiquiet! §

[ Posted in Tool Madness by Kabir | Post comment ]

05\31\11 Tool Madness Results!

Here it is: the winning song in Tool Madness 2011, the song that has been voted “the Greatest Tool song” by you, is … “Lateralus”!

“Lateralus” beat out runner-up “Third Eye” convincingly, collecting nearly twice as many votes as the older song. Looking at the picks that you filled out back when this all started, it turns out that 509 of the 1621 ballots had picked “Lateralus” to win it all, while only 141 thought “Third Eye” would. And there was a last-minute upset: “10,000 Days” beat “Sober” for the third-place trophy, showing that the band did not peak back in the early 1990s.

And speaking of your picks, of the 1621 people who submitted valid picks for the Final 4, the official overall winner is … Josh Abbott. Josh wins some fleeting notoriety and a mention of his Twitter feed; send him a congratulatory note at @LiverFluke. Complete results are on the Tool Madness page; more data will be posted later this week for you data-lovers.

A grand total of 93,557 votes were cast in the tournament. I heard from many of you that you had fun playing along. It seemed like a fun way to pass some time while waiting for there to be any actual Tool news. Glad you all enjoyed the Madness! §

[ Posted in Tool Madness by Kabir | Post comment ]

05\26\11 Release Date?? • Last Chance Voting

Our old pal Blair over at the Official Site posts today that Tool’s next album will be released on May 15 or 22 of 2012. It’s a long long way from now for such a precise bit of prognostication, but it’s a starting point for Tool-starved fans. §

And we’re down to the last hours of Tool Madness; don’t miss your chance to vote for the Greatest song by the band! §

[ Posted in Tool Madness, Tool News by Kabir | Post comment ]

05\25\11 The Final Finalist

“Lateralus” has sent “10,000 Days” packing, and now moves on to face “Third Eye” in the final Tool Madness showdown, pitting your pick for the band’s Greatest song from the 1990s against your pick for the Greatest song of the 2000s.

Meanwhile, “10,000 Days” goes up against “Sober” in a matchup for third place. You can vote on both of these now on the main Tool Madness page.

Also, the updated Leaderboard shows that of the 23 people who were in first place, all 23 picked “Lateralus” to make it to the finals. Looks like it’s going to come down to a tiebreaker. §

And here’s a friendly reminder that you can now subscribe to t.d.n’s RSS feed; just click on this orange guy:

[ Posted in Tool Madness, Toolshed News by Kabir | Post comment ]

05\24\11 Tool Madness: First Finalist • Beta Test

Well well. “Sober” was finally eliminated, so those of you who were worried the venerable single would win it all can rest easy. It lost in a blowout to “Third Eye”, which now advances to the finals to face the winner of “Lateralus” vs “10,000 Days.”

There are still 23 perfect picks on the Leaderboard. Check out the Madness to vote for the last semifinal matchup! §

Also, it would be helpful if you would try posting a comment on this here post. Trying to get the new system working smoothly, and would appreciate your help with this.

[ Posted in Tool Madness, Toolshed News by Kabir | Post comment ]

05\22\11 Reaching Up and Reaching Out

Hi folks. After many (many) years of coding the site entirely by hand, the site is finally switching over to WordPress!

The main differences that you’ll notice will be (a) you can finally comment on news posts, and (b) you can finally subscribe to this site’s RSS feed using Google Reader (or whichever reader you use). Many (many) of you have asked for this over the years; at least this got finished before Tool’s next album.

It’s a little silly that it’s taken so long to make this change; then again, when the site first started, it was essentially formatted like a blog, and pre-dated the word “blog” by many years.

And back then, there was a clear winner for which Tool song was the favorite: check out the survey we ran back in 1997 to see how much Tool fans’ opinions have changed since fourteen years before Tool Madness. §

[ Posted in Toolshed News by Kabir | Post comment ]

05\21\11 Tool Madness Wrapup: Elite Eight Round

With the fourth round of Tool Madness now over, there are only the Final 4 songs remaining. Sure looks like popularity has not been the key to being great; the four songs were ranked #1, #3, #9, and #10 in their brackets.

Only a few matchups remain; we should have a winner this week. And not just a winning song; back when this all started, 1621 of you filled out your picks for the Final 4 and the championship rounds. We’re posting results of those ballots to the leaderboard page, which will be updated daily throughout this final week. Of all the submissions, 35 people picked the Final 4 correctly.

Of the four winning songs last week, three received fifty-something percent of the vote. “Lateralus”, on the other hand, defeated “The Grudge” with over 78% of your votes. Will be interesting to see how this all ends.

A total of 82,965 votes have been cast in Tool Madness so far. Onwards! §

[ Posted in Tool Madness by Kabir | Post comment ]