Tool at Lollapalooza 1997 Tour Reviews

Date: June 28


Review written by: Stephanie Hairston (nobody@naxs.com) Review posted on: 08/18/97 15:13:13 Lollapalooza '97 was a really great experience. I had enjoyed every band up to TooL, and have a really long review of everyone on my computer. If, for some odd reason, you want to read it, email me. Well, here's the Tool relevant section: While TOOL's equipment, video, and lights were being set up, many interesting things were played over the speakers. A lot of Bill Hicks stuff was played. A weird remix of "Third Eye" with a dance beat was played. A lounge version of "Hooker With A Penis" was played. The person who sung it sounded familiar, but I have no idea as to whom they sounded familiar to. It was time for what I had come for and been looking forward to - TOOL. I nearly screamed my head off. I was getting very paranoid and nervous that I would be kicked out of my superb stolen seat. (I'd sneaked down about 30 rows.) They'd started checking the tickets of the people that came down where I was, and checking the tickets of the people too far out into the aisle. Finally, the band came onstage. The first thing I noticed was Maynard's getup. He was wearing a kabuki face mask that made him look like a mime, fake breasts, and a fake ponytail on a bald cap. I found it so funny that I laughed out loud. Danny and Justin were painted blue. The band launched into "Hooker With A Penis." I, and the rest of the crowd, sang along. I was blown away by how incredible the band was live. Amazing. I can't describe the power in words. The band played "Stinkfist," which featured a new bridge that had a lot of feedback. It was mind-blowing. After "Stinkfist," the band played "Forty-six & 2." It was great. The whole time, the band had images going on video screens. A lot of the stuff on the screens reminded me of a computer program I have called "Cthugha." (http://www.afn.org/~cthugha/) This program is described as "an oscilloscope on acid." The images seemed to move in time with the music, and changed along with changes in the music. Some images were in black and white, while others were in psychedelic colours. After "Forty-six & 2" was over, Maynard said: "This next song is a dedication. This song is dedicated to ___." (I forget who he said it was dedicated to. It began with a P. I think it was a female name. Something like Pauline or Priscilla.) The band launched into "Swamp Song," a song I hadn't expected them to play. I really enjoyed it. A guy that had looks which reminded me of Layne Stayley was doing some awesome air drums. :) After "Swamp Song," the band started playing an intro that sounded familiar. I couldn't place it. Then, I realized, it was "Eulogy." I learned that a lot of what I had thought were guitar effects on the record were actually vocal effects. Maynard used a weird looking microphone. It looked like a black plastic box with a keypad (similar to a security box's or telephone's) on it. He created some very weird sounds with his voice and that Star-Trek-prop-lookin' microphone. It was really interesting. After "Eulogy," Maynard fixed the crowd with a glare that would have made anyone look away. The intro to "Sober" was played while Maynard stood in his fixed position, staring at nothing at all. Then, he finally started moving and stopped staring when the band burst into the main part of the song. (Note: The intro I'm referring to is the normal one from Undertow. The extended intro that I've heard the band has been playing live was dropped, probably due to time constraints.) "Sober" was awesome. The band played "Pushit" next. The song was great. Some really disgusting footage of elephants and camels mating was shown, though. It brought back bad memories of flipping past the Discovery Channel as some elephants were going for it. Yuck. After "Pushit," the band went into "Opiate." I was very surprised. I had wanted to hear this song live, but hadn't been expecting it. It was great, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I was quite surprised at the number of people who knew the words to this song. It was obvious which band had sold the tickets for Lolla '97. After a great rendition of "Opiate," Maynard said something along the lines of "You guys are going to see something that no one else has seen before." After this, there was a lot of cheering. "This is our new video. You'll probably never see it again. mTV probably won't play it." The "nema" video started, and so did the band. The song was great, and so was the video. I hope that it airs at least once on 120 Minutes. The video featured a bald fat guy with a box, and a creature that was obviously an Adam character. The creature grew a long "hose-like" appendage. It started using it to produce water, and its tank was filling up. There was a lot of water splashing, some weird, computer-generated-looking images. Very neat. After "nema" was over, Maynard said, "I really think that Lollapalooza is a good thing. It gives people a chance to see groups that they normally wouldn't get a chance to see. There's some really good groups on the bill. I think everyone should stick around for Orbital. Maybe you'll learn something." That's close to what he said, if not exact. TOOL walked offstage while The Itchy and Scratchy Show theme song was played. It was an awesome performance. Definitely an experience I'll never forget. Orbital kicked ass, I danced (even though I can't dance worth a shit). It was a great concert overall, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Review written by: Matt (eulogy4u@aol.com) Review posted on: 08/03/97 11:57:49 I seen Tool on June 28th at Lollapalooza and it was the best show I have been to in a long time. I thought the Vedeos in the back screens where realy great and Funny. Maynard was dreesed like a Women. Someone told me that Maynard was dresses like a Women becouse he was Protesting becouse ther where NO women playing at Lollapalooza. Tool sounds realy Good live and I wish I could Go and see them more. Thats all I have to say about the Lollapalooza show I went to. If you have not went yet you should go. It Rules !!

Review written by: Laura (lmsaunders1@juno.com) Review posted on: 07/24/97 19:35:29 Once again I was amazed by Tool. They were the main reason I sat through some other rather dissapointing performances at Lollapalooza. I could have spent the money for a ticket, just seen Tool, and been perfectly happy. The crowd was another matter. Someone really needed to let people know that Marilyn Manson was NOT going to be there. I saw more t-shirts of theirs and kids with make-up than t-shirts of bands who were playing. Tools music, performance, lights, and video were once again amazing. It's unusual to get the same quality of music live as you will from albums. I'd recommend seeing Tool, even at Lollapalooza, to anyone.

Review written by: Matty (no clue) Review posted on: 07/16/97 13:12:35 1. I believe that Maynard was trying to look somewhat like Madonna(from the waist up at least). 2. Danny's electronics broke during whatever song was played before Sober(I knew what song it was at the time but it has been two weeks since the show and too many drugs). 3. Before they came on they also had a techno/rave version of Third Eye on the PA. 4. Swamp Song was really good. I wasn't expecting the older songs to stand up to the new stuff, but they did. 5. To those obnoxious, inbred rednecks standing behind me that were shouting "White Zombie" before Tool came on: Fuck you. 6. I think everything else has already been said in those other reviews.

Review written by: carson (dosrac@aol.com) Review posted on: 07/09/97 00:53:26 doesn't anyone get it? need i ask. everything that tool works towards, represents, and tries to convey to people was lost to the crowd of seemingly mindless, apathetic, and downright stupid crowd at the charlotte show. being from around that area, i expected the group predominantly made of rednecks to get especially exicted when horrible acts such as snoop and the marleys played, but i had no idea that tool could be so misunderstood......the crowd was like "hey man, what the fuck do they think they are." ......i was sitting on the second row,center stage at the show and i swear to god when tool came out the guy behind me said, "i thought tool had a guy singer." for christ's sake, MAYNARD was acting the role of hooker with a penis, making fun of all those who buy his records but listen to crybaby, self-absorbed korn while having the audacity to poke the finger at eddie vedder or billy corgan. ***but as far as the show goes, they played excellent, probably topping the charlotte show on the aenima tour in the horrible acoustics of the grady cole center. the 10 song set and visual onslaught of both movie and maynard made me respect even more the band that is true emotion.

Review written by: michael williams (inferno@asheboro.com) Review posted on: 07/01/97 12:22:12 Well first I must say that there were some kick ass moments at Lollapalooza but the one that hurt the most was when Tool came on!! Adam and Justin wore blue body paint. Maynard wore white face paint, making him look like a mime, a large breasted mime th at is!!! Yes You read correctly, Maynard was wearing a womans shirt and it was stuffed full of something, even though I was only about 10-15 rows back I couldent tell what he did it with. Anyway the drummer, Danny dressed normally. It was a really good show, Tool hit every lick on the mark, making it sound like I was at home listening to the albums, and to top it all off we were the first ones to see their new video. I dont think Tool should make a friendly version of it to put on MTV. I say FUCK MTV . They wont play Tools videos but they will sure play those videos with those "gun toting hip gangster wannabes" that are smoking pot in the video, while singing about rapeing some ho they found behind the waffle house. Anyway I gave the Lollapalooza '97 show at Charlotte, NC a 9 Tool was awesome but some of the other bands sucked (snoop,that reggae stuff)I would really suggest seeing Tool live if you havent already Thank you

Review written by: Jason Ross (ross19@ibm.net) Review posted on: 07/01/97 00:40:21 Tool was absolutely the best all aonrd performance of the night! I haven't heard Tool play Hooker live, so that was a great kick-off for me personally. On the musical side the event, Tool hit every beat, chord, and notes on que with few flaws. To me that is a great feat to reproduce the same sound quality of an album to a outdoor audience. The visual effects and stage presence of the band complimented the music perfectly. As for Charllote's audience goes -- they were; let's just say, out of the whole show. I don't know if they were just mesmerized or had know idea what Tool was bringing to the stage. I can make this judgement because I also had first hand experince with Raliegh's show as well. If I had to say which show was better, all around: on all aspects of the show it was Raliegh. No matter what happened, I seriously recommend that any readers go see Tool for themselves and make their own judgements accordingly, because Tool is the best thing going!

Review written by: Greg Louer (Panther103@msn.com) Review posted on: 06/30/97 00:15:52 As night descended upon Charlotte this past Friday night, my friend Paul and I had just finished ripping on Lolapalooza on everything from the poor atmosphere to the rather terrible set of bands on the bill (excluding Snoop). We stood in anticipation of seeing Tool for about 45 minutes, and it seemed almost as if I was re-living the way I had felt the past Summer when I was waiting to see Rage Against the Machine for the first time. Then the band came on the stage, and all of the people who had come to actually see Tool went crazy. They opened with a rousing rendition of "Hooker with a penis" and absolutely rocked the house. The lights were a definate addition to the atmosphere, along with some very interesting video in the background. The band went straight into "Stinkfist" and EVERYBODY went nuts. Maynard sang powerfully and his screams were nothing short of amazing (the extra bridge towards the end of the song was an added bonus). They then went into "Eulogy" and topped everything they had all r eady done. I didn't think they could top that, but as usual I was wrong, they kept topping themselves all night long. The crowd periodically quieted down when the band went into lesser-known songs such as "Push It" and "Swamp" and then came alive again when "Sober" was played. (I found it amuzing when these two morons sitting behind me started cackling about the video of mating elephants as Tool played "Push It.") For me, the highlight of the show came in two parts...first, when the band went into "O piate" and finally when they ended with one of my favorite songs, "Aenima." The video for the song was their best yet, allthough as Maynard told the audience, I'll probably never see it again. I was a little agrevated that the band never came out for an encore, but then again it is Lollapalooza. The overall performance was amazing, including the lights, showmanship, multimedia, and everything else. Maynard tried to get everybody to stick around for ORBITAL, who was to follow Tool, but what is the point of seeing anything after seeing a performance like that. If you haven't seen Tool yet, shell out the 40 bucks and come to the venue late, 10 songs by Tool was worth the money...and then some. [Note from Kabir: trust me, Orbital kicked my ass.]

Review written by: RAVEN (RAVEN@BROKEN.NET) Review posted on: 06/29/97 19:31:02 AND THEN TOOL CAME.... LOLLAPALOOZA ALMOST SEEMED LIKE A CONTEST, WERE THERE MORE KORN T-SHIRTS OR TOOL T-SHIRTS. IN THE END IT DIDN'T MATTER BECAUSE THE PERFORMANCES SPOKE FOR THEMSELVES. IT WAS A LITTLE DISAPPOINTING TO HEAR REMARKS IN THE CROWD LIKE " THESE GUYS SURE ARE WIERD" AND "WHY DOES THAT GUY HAVE BREASTS" BUT TOOL'S SET WAS BY FAR THE BEST AT THIS YEARS LOLLAPALOOZA. IT SEEMED EVERYONE IN THE CROWD SANG ALONG TO "STINKFIST" AND "SOBER" THE TWO SONGS THAT ARE THE MOST "RADIO FREINDLY" BUT IS WA S NICE THAT SOME OF THE CROWD ALSO NEW THE WORDS TO SONGS LIKE "OPIUM" AND "SWAMP SONG." MAYNARD WAS WEARING WHAT HAS BECOME HIS TRADITIONAL ATTIRE FOR THE LOLLAPALOOZA TOUR, WHITE FACE PAINT, LEATHER PANTS, AND ANITOMOCALLY CORRECT WOMEN'S BODY SUIT. HIS VOCAL PERFORMACE WAS PERFECT. TOOL'S STAGE PROPS HELPED MAKE THE SHOW MEMORABLE, WITH THE SCREEN IN THE BACKGROUND THEY SHOWED EVERYTHING FROM STRANGE IMAGES TO ANIMALS MATING TO A PREVIEW OF THE "PROBABLEY SOON TO BE CENSORED FOR MTV" AENEMA VIDEO. THEY PLAYED ALL THE SONGS ERROR FREE EXECPT JASON BREAKING A STRING DURING THE FINAL SONG "AENEMA." OVERALL TOOL STOLE THE SHOW AND ALL OTHER ACTS SEEMED PALE IN COMPARISON. IF YOU CAN POSSIBLY CATCH A SHOW DROP EVERYTHING AND GO. YOU WON'T BE DISSAPOINTED

Review written by: Nick Huinker (huinker@antisocial.com) Review posted on: 06/29/97 18:01:40 1.Hooker With A Penis 2.Stinkfist w/extra bridge 3.46&2 4.Swamp Song 5.Eulogy 6.Pushit 7.Sober 8.Opiate 9.AEnema I think this is the setlist. Parts may be wrong. The concert was awesome. Maynard came out and shocked most of the people with his granny-from-hell costume, a woman's bodysuit complete with breasts and his face painted white. He looked like Mrs. Doubtfire after smoking a bag of crack and taking her shirt off. Their show beat all others of the day mostly because they had cameras rigged on the stage so you could see the band on the video monitors, and they also had trippy shit running in the background. They opened with "Hooker" (which was also played as a lounge music song before the band went on) and it was kind of funny to see all these jocks and trendy people singing along to this song...but I'm not here to judge. These people all loved Tool and there was no doubt about that. Next they did "Stinkfist", complete with a trippy new bridge that comes right before the "i'll keep digging" part. Pretty cool. Then on to "Forty Six And Two" and then "Swamp Song", which they dedicated to someone. Not the kind of song you want dedicated to you :) but I'm thrilled that they played it. Then "Eulogy". That was the most powerful part of the show. Really cool voice effects. Then "Pushit", which was run-of-the-mill except for the nasty footage they played on the screens, of elephants mating and then camels mating. Then it started showing all these indians. I don't think anyone else recognized the "All Indians, No Cheifs" theme of the footage. "Sober" got a huge crowd reaction, though many members of the audience were far from sober...some dumbasses behind me kept yelling "MAYNARD!" Yeah, you're cool dude, you know the singers name now SHUT THE FUCK UP and watch the show. "Opiate" was fun to see, and it was reassuring that these were real Tool fans because most of the audience still sang along to this one. They ended with Maynard saying "Youll probably never see this again...I dont know if MTV will play it..." and then they went into "AEnema" and SHOWED THE VIDEO! It was awesome... some bald guy carrying around this little skeleton guy (who kind of reminds me of Mr. Prison Sex, except the skeleton is realistic in this one) intertwined with shots of gushing water. It was an awesome experience, and the theme from The Itchy And Scratchy Show brought it to a surreal end.

Review written by: Brandon Byrd (Sferics@worldnet.att.net) Review posted on: 06/29/97 13:07:15 Tool kicked so much ass at the concert... they were flawless and had absoultely perfect performances. tool, by far, was the best band that played lollapalooza.

Review written by: Philip Roesel (plroesel@aol.com) Review posted on: 06/29/97 11:18:56 TOOL was great again. I believe that this show might have been better than they were in Atlanta. I will also go to raleigh tonight to round out a great weekend. When they came on stage, they whole crowd jumped to their feet, but there were security fences to stop any thoughts of rushing the stage unlike Atlanta. Maynard was wearing the same white painted mask with the ponytail that looked like it was connected to his head by a latex cap. He had on the breasts again, and also had black leather pants instead of the striped ones from the night before. Justin and Adam both had on the blue body paint from the waist up, and it was the first time in four shows that I have seen them painted. The set list was great as other people have mentioned. In Hooker, he paused and mentioned buying the products in the back. He then mentioned "Charlotte, NC" that was about it. Stinkfist was the slightly longer version that they have been playing for the past several months. Maynard said that Swamp Song went out to Priscilla. After Pushit, you could see Maynard looking off to see if they had more time for 1 or 2 more, which helped build to the anticipation. Opiate was played and after it Maynard said that we would get to see the Aenema video for the first time ever played, and possibly last if MTV wouldn't show it. This was wrong, because the video was played the previous night in Atlanta. The whole band turned around and watched the video screens for the start of the video. ">play

Review written by: Jody Westmoreland (Jode8u@aol.com) Review posted on: 06/29/97 01:49:12 Set List: Hooker Stinkfist 46&2 Swamp Song Eulogy Sober Pushit Opiate nima Charlotte is about 2 hours from Columbia SC (where I am), the drive was very rainy, but fortuately the rain held off once we got to the show. We arrived to the sound of the Marley folks, James was good, and then KoRn. The sound quality of their set was a bit rough. All I could really hear were the drums and the vocals. The bass and guitars we really quiet. They did play the ones I wanted to hear, so I was happy. Tricky was different, but he did what he does well. Then Snoop. Lot's of crowd par ticipation, including getting the audience to hurl "chronic" and lighters on the stage, with the intention of smoking up. He asked the crowd: "If I smoke this, and the police try to arrest me, will yall fuck them up? That was crazy. Tool was amazing. Every note, every word: Incredible. I enjoyed the new video, and MJK hinted that Mtv might not play it. That would be a damn shame, but certainly believable. All of the visual effects, fantastic. The band seemed to appear similar to previous reviews. Justin broke a string during nima, that would be one odd piece of trivia I could share. This band is so wonderful in such an inner way, the music so complex. It amazes me that they reproduce it all so well live. Certainly worth my 20 dollars. Jody