From: Justin (st95v436@dunx1.ocs.drexel.edu)
Subject: Concert review for Philadelphia

Hey Kabir,
It's Justin. I'm sorry I missed meeting you at the show, but I was being 
very selfish and I ran up to the front as soon as I got into the Electric 
Factory so that I wouldn't have to fight my way up to the front when Tool 
actually came on. I was the one person in there yelling, "und keine eier" 
from Die Eier von Satan. I really wanted to see MJK and atleast try to 
make eye contact with him once. I ended up getting pretty close during 
Eulogy, but I had to deal with the Philly assholes so I was unable to get 
as close for the whole thing. Was Eulogy not the most perfect sound 
you've heard in a while. That intro gave me the motivation to get up 
front. Well, read my concert review and put it on your page if you feel 
it to be worthy. Thanks for all the free info on an amazing page. I'm 
sure I'll write you again later.

Justin


Concert review for Philadelphia, PA, November 23rd, 1996: 

I arrived at the Electric Factory at approximately 8:30 which is when the 
show was scheduled to start. My friend Jasin and I entered soon after 
only to find the place already filled to what seemed to be capacity. 
Psychotica was already on stage playing they're songs of lust and death. 
I was unimpressed by the music, but the lead singer did do a song in the 
crowd, so he obviously didn't care about the Philadelphia crowd tendency 
to kill the entertainers. Believe me, the crowd lived up to that at the 
show. 
After Psychotica played, I psyched up for Tool. Here's where the 
negatives come in for the show: the crowd. I'm sorry for whoever is 
reading this that is from Philadelphia, but Philly crowds are stupid. I 
waited patiently for Tool to set up, but the rest of the crowd was not so 
patient. People started pushing before they even came on. The whole show, 
pits were everywhere, and people weren't even dancing. They were just 
jumping around and pushing people. Never to the rythm of the song. How 
can people enjoy a show without atleast watching a little bit of it? I 
couldn't even stand still without getting pushed. I was so pissed off, 
that I missed some amazing things on stage I'm sure. 
Well, here's how the show began. The lights dimmed and two screens were 
opened behind the stage. Projections covered the new backdrop with the 
moving cover of Aenima with the moving white square and the eyes. The 
band came out and MJK was wearing a pair of boxers and had the left side 
of his body painted blue. Whoever does his body painting is good, because 
the line down his body was so straight it made me think of looking at a 
mirror with a blue tint. He was that symmetric. But, I didn't go to see 
body painting. I went to hear the music and I was rewarded graciously. 
Here is the set list as me and Jasin remember it: 

*Third Eye
*Stinkfist
*Forty-six and 2
*Eulogy
*Prison Sex
*Pushit
*Sober
*h
*Opiate
*Aenima

Third Eye was a powerful opening. The crowd went nuts to finally hear 
Tool, and the pits were just plain crazy. People were getting hurt like 
crazy and when the song was over, people were getting out of the front 
dazed and broken. Jasin told me that he saw MJK using two different mikes 
for Third Eye, but I can't confirm this because I was getting beat up by 
a bunch of drunks who probably haven't even heard more than the big three 
from Undertow. Anyway,
Stinkfist was good. MJK (the only reason that I keep writing about 
Maynard is because I really couldn't see anybody on stage clearly except 
for him) was keeping his back to the audience for much of the song as 
well as much of the set. He was writhing and squirming like he had been 
shot and he was singing at a pitch atleast an octave higher than I've 
heard him sing. Forty-six and 2 was superb. He sounded like he was trying 
to pull his heart out and show it to us. He is a beautiful person. Eulogy 
was the song though. The intro kicked in, and people were simply going 
crazy. I've never heard a cleaner sound that loud in concert before. 
Their sound crew does a wonderful job in projecting the sound in the way 
in which it was meant to be heard, especially the low midrange and bass 
sounds. If you don't have a good stereo that has a decent subwoofer or 
good low midrange speakers, you are missing a lot on the new album. 
The only things that were different that I can recollect was this long 
lead up to Sober. It was about ten minutes long and it was just the 
drummer and the guitarist jamming this weird slow heavy sound. Then, they 
went into Sober. MJK said something before H about old Warner Bros. 
cartoons and the whole Devil and Angel on each shoulder giving you advice 
on what to do with your life. His moral was make your own decisions. Then 
they played H. He counted on his fingers so that the crowd could see and 
counted down how many times to say "I don't mind" and on the last one, he 
assaulted the mike and sang his heart out. Aenima was the encore, and I 
was a little dishearted. I wanted to hear more from Opiate, but beggars 
can't be choosers. He did change up Aenima. Instead of LA, he said New 
York and instead of Arizona Bay, he said Pennsylvania Bay. You make the 
call on what it was all about. All I know is that the show was amazing, 
the sound was near perfect and MJK is one of the most talented 
singer/lyricists out there right now. It's about time somebody played a 
show and it actually meant something to them. That's what I felt.

Justin
st95v436@dunx1.ocs.drexel.edu