Review written by: DF (email removed)
Review posted on: 08/20/97 05:14:52

The only reason I went to this certain concert was to be able to see Korn
and of course Tool. I was quite dissapointed that Korn was not going to be
able to play, but knowing that Tool was going to be there, I knew it was
going to be worth the trip. It took me and my friends more that 4 hours to
drive to George, and we arrived when Tricky was on stage.  Tricky was Ok,
Snoop got me going, but when Tool came onto stage, I knew that the trip
was well worth it.  They started off with Hooker with a Penis and MJK came
out with a red-hedded womans wig on with a bra on.  I knew from right then
that this was going to be the best concert I've ever seen.  The whole
concert kicked ass, and from my perception, many of the people that went,
really only went to see Tool.  After the concert, two of my friends were
not able to talk because they said MJK looked right in their eyes.  It was
an amazing concert and I believe that you've never experianced a concert
experiance utill you see Tool in concert. 







Review written by: Jeff (jeff@arizonabay.com)
Review posted on: 08/16/97 02:48:34

  Well, I think the whole thing has finally hit me.  After over a 
twelve hour drive that took us through two provinces and three 
states, we finally hit a little town called George, ready to see what 
we had come so far for -- Tool.

  The Gorge has got to be one of the most beautiful places on earth, 
and the stage is in the absolute best possible spot.  It is setup 
overlooking a valley that the Columbia river runs through, and the 
sunset was nothing short of spectacular.  The weather was perfect, 
right around the 100 degrees range, and NOBODY was wearing a shirt.  
  As one guy that I talked to said, "There's a bunch of warm up 
bands, then Tool, then a chill-down band".  That pretty much sums up 
Lollapalooza in my mind at least.  We missed Failure, but 
unfortunately saw Bob Marley's kids, Damen and whoever.  The guy is 
playing the I got the famous dad card far too much.  He looks exactly 
like him, and played Marley covers.  Give me a break.
  
  Anyways, after the Marley kids comes Tricky.  This is a band that I 
had honestly never heard of until I found out they were playing 
Lollapalooza.  I have got to tell you that considering they were held 
up in traffic (the I-90 was bumper to bumper from Seattle) and 
probably had no time to get their shit together, it was a really good 
set.  I think that they represent the future of `alternative' rock.
  
  Next came Snoop.  Snoop has been given a lot of flack in these 
reviews for, well, being Snoop.  The one thing I have to say, though, 
is that Snoop is the only rapper alive (that I know of) that can get 
almost 20,000 white skids jumping.  He did bring the crowd alive, 
that's for sure.  His dope smoking stunt was quite comical, and I 
liked the touch at the end where he took off in a private jet.

  So Snoop ended, and the stage was cleared for Tool.  You could 
almost feel the ground move as everyone it seemed surged forward 
towards the stage.  The funny thing is that Tool did not come out 
until they were good and ready.  They taunted the crowd with a Bill 
Hicks soundbite, and the techs this chick that was doing a sound 
check set the crowd alive.  Every time there was a bass rift or a 
cord heard, cheers erupted.  They sure played the anticipation thing 
out to its maximum, that's for sure.

  Anyways, Tool comes out, and you can feel the energy in the air.  
The sun has just set, and it is quite bright.  For a variety 
of reasons, probably cause it was still bright and probably 
cause they were already behind schedule, the screens that have 
become a part of Tool's Lollapalooza show were not brought 
out.  Oh well.  The view is excellent.  Maynard is dressed in drag, 
and makes the most amazing feminine movements.  His movements are so 
sensual that you would swear he was a woman.  As for the music, I 
would have to say that it was nothing short of magical.  The band was 
so together and so tight that it was incredible.  They led the crowd 
upon an immense journey that seemed unending.  I think the highlight 
of the show was when they played Opiate.  One thing that surprised me 
a great deal was the amount of people who were actually there FOR 
TOOL.  Coming from Calgary, I had no appreciation of their fan base. 
 Everyone that I could see was singing along at the top of their 
lungs.  It was definately an experience.  One particularily obsessed 
fan actually climbed up the side of the stage up to the top.. atleast 
100+ feet above the ground and made an insane jump down the ladder.. 
bounced after landing, bowed to Maynard and then made a slick exit 
stage diving into the crowd.  Maynard didn't even blink.

  All in all, it was an amazing show, and I feel fortunate for being 
there.  The one thing that kinda let me down was Maynard's somewhat 
pathetic plea for everyone to stick around and catch The Orb cause 
`we're out here in the middle of nowhere anyways, and what's an extra 
 hour?'.. I think that was kinda egotistical.  Anyways, the orb was a 
great was to mellow out, and was a perfect ending to the show.

  After the show we proceeded to the campground, and partied until 
7am when we left for Canada..  insane  

Anyways, anyone who wants to talk about Tool can send me a line, the 
e-mail address is accurate.  






Review written by: Chris S
Review posted on: 08/15/97 23:57:23

Well, what can I say that hasn't already been said by the other 
reviewers?  The show kicked ass so fucking hard it took me until 
today, three days later to come off the high of the whole 
experience!!!  

The whole thing started on Sunday when my friend Jay said something 
about going to Lolla, I asked who was playing, it's been a long year 
and I haven't kept up with much so pardon me for not knowing that 
Tool was there. Well, needless to say when he said Tool and Korn, I 
was hooked, first thing I did was hit ticketmaster on line and get my 
ticket.  Next thing was to get the beer.  Man was there a lot of 
beer, three huge coolers full and only three of us in the party, that 
was until we got to the Gorge, good God there were people everywhere! 
 I have never seen that many people at one time and not have some 
something fuck it up.  I was surprised that there were no fight s of 
note or anything else that was stupid enoug to screw up the event. 
So, by about 3am on Tuesday after getting there at about 11 on monday 
night the beer was gone and so were we!!  We hit the hay for much 
needed rest, and got up sometime around 8am, We decided to chil and 
let the alcohol run its course and well with that much beer it took a 
while.  Two oclock rolls around and some more friends show up with 
more beer!!! YES!!! well we did the drinking thing again and finally 
got into the arena at around 6, we only came to see TOOL so we didn't 
really miss anything,  Well at that time Tricky came out and did a 
fairly good job considering they showed up late and had their set cut 
short.  Then out comes Snoop, now I kinda like him and so I decided 
to give him a chance.  He was pretty good, but his damn back up 
rappers need to back the fuck up off the stage, they ruined his whole 
set.  I still love it when he asked the crowd to throw up some U Dub 
shit, meaning weed.  THen asks that if the cops come up on stage and 
arrest him if he smokes it who's gonna come up and fuck them up?  
That was classic!!

Ok, on to the main reason I am writing this TOOL!!  I had to give the 
whole story, because as much as Tool moved me, the entire event was 
just so...well, I don't know you had to be there, It was just cosmic 
or something like that.  Ok....Tool was awsome, there haven't been 
words written that can describe how utterly amazing tool is, they 
have this way of both scaring the hell out of you and making you 
think all at the same time, I had no idea what the point of a lot of 
there songs, I was under the impression that 3rd eye had to do with 
abortion, what with the video and all the stuff about flush it all 
away, well after hearing it live and talking with some real Tool fans 
I got the gist of the song and find it quite funny that I could think 
what I did. Oh well, thats the point of tools music at least to me, 
to make you thing, to take your own meaning from something and not 
let what other people think or say change that, and this show really 
sank into me.  Thanks for the best show of the year and possibly the 
decade, at least for me!!!






Review written by: badass (badbadman@aol.com)
Review posted on: 08/15/97 18:33:12

okay, so this review is a few days too late... i am still recovering. 
 my first tool show, and after wading through the other bullshit of 
the day (save marleys, snoop, and lost boyz)  the real was ready to 
go down just as the sun was.  i agree with the other reviewers on the 
status of mosh pits these days;  i had THE prime spot against the 
rail up front, but after the first two songs i couldnt take the 12 
year olds anymore, so i was forced to retreat to the back.  what is 
cool about the gorge setup, is that maybe 40 feet from the first 
rail, separating stage from fans (with security between)  is the 
second railed area where you can chill up against and get as good as 
an experience as you might up front, without so much ass kicking in 
between.  anyway, everything that has been said about tool was true. 
 they were so incredibly in tune (not musically, well okay, 
musicially, but just as well mentally) with each other that my mind 
was truly blown.  third eye kicked my ass.  maynard said "how many 
people are tripping?"  a large majority cheered.  maynard replies, 
"thats not enough.  share."  badass.  i knew about the drag outfit in 
advance, but you dont know what youre getting into until you see the 
fake tits.  damn those really do look real.  and the wig.  wow.  i 
had heard rumours of a blonde ponytail, but as one reviewer put it, 
the "peg bundy" hair really did it.  i am still in awe.  the next day 
i put in my aenima cd and it had new meaning.  you know what i mean 
if you were there.  was really hoping for H.  but you know shit 
happens and they only had 1:15 to play.  prison sex was my other one 
i wanted badly.  but oh well, i am not complaining!!!  sorry this is 
so incredibly long, but it really was that intense to go on for as 
long as i did.  as i said - you know what i mean if you were there.  
lastly, if anyone booted the show, email me.  i am interested at all 
costs.  

j dogg






Review written by: Scout Clark (treppy@nwlink.com)
Review posted on: 08/15/97 15:13:14

 Although we didn't get the pat-down search (see at the bottom of the 
screen), after all is said and done, it was worth the 400 mile 
round-trip to go see Tool.  Most of the day I spent sitting out on 
the grass, soaking up the tatoos, guys in dresses, etc.  Nothing to 
write home about, with the exception of Snoop's "...what's your 
favorite drink?" (fishin' for 'Gin & juice') some guy said, "Tang".  
Classic. 

Well, the others covered the concert pretty well (it was my first 
Tool concert, but I still don't agree with the guy who said that 
"they weren't into it"  Can someone say: energy?).   And the area of 
the floor I was located did have some cool people (no elbows in the 
jaw, thank you).  I loved Maynard's expressive dance, Hips and Tits 
indeed.  I watched Danny's drumming and I've never seen anything like 
it.  Most drummers are flailing around and getting very little 
sound-wise.   But there he was: centered, almost inwardly calm, 
solid.  Amazing.  

Okay, time for an opinion, I've read many of the reviews over the 
course of Lolla and disagree with people saying Tool should play more 
songs off their previous albums.  Figure this out--1992 to 1996--that 
is maybe two or three years of touring with one EP and one album of 
material.  If I was Tool, laugh here now, I would play mostly new 
songs too.  I don't see the playing of old songs as a "reward" (as 
someone said).  The new songs should be the thing we go to see.  
(Hell, I wanted to hear "Crawl Away" myself)  But the new album must 
be very exciting to them, something that hasn't been re-hashed over 
and over with years of tours.  

Well, as I *stumble* off of my soap-box, I had a great time and can't 
wait for them to come to Seattle and see a complete show.  I saw 
Lolla as my 'starter-kit' into the world of Tool shows.  So...should 
I start standing in line now?....








Review written by: A. J. Kulic (szlappy@sprynet.com)
Review posted on: 08/14/97 09:43:42

     My 10 day road trip through the west coast of the old U.S. of AK 
47 culminated in me arriving at the Gorge in George about 26 hrs ago. 
 The fact that I had been away from home for 10 days made me somewhat 
less psyched for the show than had I not been; or say, had it been my 
1st time seeing TOOL, or had I a vested interest in any of the other 
bands on the bill.  I'm sure you get the picture.  Nonetheless, it 
was TOOL after all, and I was certain that after the show I'd be 
appalled that I had entertained the notion of skipping it. I was 
right.

     The Gorge is a spectacle in itself, and it seems to rub off on 
the artists that play there.  The natural surroundings add an air of 
peace and melancholy, which one may not entirely equate to a TOOL 
show.  I read in a previous review of the show (these post in reverse 
order btw) that the band didn't seem "into it".  I disagree.  To me 
they seemed very much "into it"; more so than the last couple of 
times I have seen them.

     The set list was correct in the previous review, so check it out 
there if you'd like (nothing out of the ordinary).  Maynard was doing 
the drag-thing; Justin was blue; Adam wasn't; and Danny was, well, 
Danny.  It was quite possibly the tightest I've seen them (for those 
of you who haven't seen them before, TOOL are about as tight as they 
come).  I also had what was, for me, the typical live TOOL 
experience.  This entails going from thinking I have the best place 
to stand on the entire floor, to getting pissed off at moshers and 
crowd surfers, then finally, to actually forgetting there are other 
people there besides me and the band.  Noteables of the show were 
Maynard's introduction of someone that he called, "...the guy 
from the 'Stinkfist' video that was jumping around.  It's his 
birthday in 2 days.  This song is dedicated to him.  It's about 
making wise real estate investments.",  and they proceeded with 
AEnima.  There were no real low points, and "Third Eye" was 
phenomenal.  Nothing short of religious I'd say.






Review written by: Master Reviewer (lews@u.washington.edu)
Review posted on: 08/14/97 01:31:47

I won't waste time with boring shit.  This was my second show.  I'd seen
tool once before, on the '93 Lollapalooza show, even at that time, I was
astounded by the amount of drunk, sweaty, half-nude, muscle-bound,
obnoxious boys that decided the best way to celebrate the moody and
intense music was to beat the shit out of myself and others.  As far as
the stage show, I really liked the progression Maynard has made from 93
til now.  It shows a lot of maturity to me, and I appreciate that more
than anything else the band could have done.  Maynard's stage presence has
increased, the posing while singing added a lot to what the lyrics were
saying.  Those are the specifics, I do want to comment on a couple of
things I noticed in the crowd.  Mainly, that moron who jumped from the
scaffolding to bow to Maynard.  Stupidity is just something that I've
never been able to deal with too well, and I don't like needless displays
of it.  I do want to apologize if I'm coming off sounding like a
pretentious fuck, but stupidity is stupidity.  One last comment about the
crowd:  There's something so entertaining about really sweaty frat boys
singing the lines "I am just an imbecile." and seeing musclebound men
striding around beating on people while singing "belligerent fucker."  I
don't know, the irony is just too much to take. 







Review written by: Master Reviewer (rooster@u.washington.edu)
Review posted on: 08/14/97 01:19:27


o.k.  as it says further down the screen this was my first tool show.  i
was impressed with some aspects and disappointed with others.  first of
all, i really liked lollapalooza this year. I've only been to two
others--the first one and i ran a booth at last years. 

tricky and the orb are the shit--tricky is more intense than all those
stonetempleofthepearlgarden rip-off bands that MTV seems to love so much.
i was quite pissed when their set was cut short. the orb was also
incredible as well. one of the most disappoi nting of the whole evening
were the people who left after tool.  electronic music is not heresy.  it
was a great ending for the night. snoop however was a little
disappointing. i've seen quite a few hip-hop acts and alot of them can't
really cut it live.  snoop is a great rapper and his DJ really can mix but
those other two rappers were horrible.  i don't know, it's kind of hard to
support someone who's on probation for gun and rape charges. 

ON TO TOOL- my first tool show and from the beginning i loved it. i was
alot more intense than i thought it would be.  maynard was great with the
costume and cross-dressing outfit. i thought it was great watching all
these hairy-backed tattooed men sing along with th e tattoo line in
hooker.  tool was great, but ya know, i don't know if i'll ever go to
another show of theirs.  the reason you ask? i hated the crowd with a
passion.  i couldn't stand the assholes in the pit who jump in there just
to take someone out with their fists, elbows, body odor, etc...i stayed
away from the pit because it seems as though something has been lost in
concerts within the last few years.....i don't know if someone is going to
pick me up if i fall down anymore.  but tool still was incre
dible....except i couldn't hear it alot of the time because every person
was singing the lyrics at the top of their lungs. no, actually is was
coming from the three guys standing next to me, all with tool shirts tied
to their belts. 

maybe it was cause it was a lollapalloza show that i found the crowd
obnoxious, but i don't know...are their solo shows different or are the
assholes to be expected? 

third eye was amazing-sober was great and aenima was scary (should have
been dedicated to snoop)

BEST PART OF THE NIGHT AWARD:
  that crazy fool who climbed up the scalfolding and jumped at least 50
feat from the ground, grabbed a hanging laddder, swung down, ran to
maynard, bowed down to him and stage dove in the crowd.

                                                  rooster






Review written by: Luke Duke (eye3rd@hotmail.com)
Review posted on: 08/13/97 20:42:20

Ok,

You've read the songlist and what everybody was wearing(except for 
the fishbone shirt that Danny was sportin) but the fact is i've been 
a tool fan for the longest time and last night was the first time 
i've ever seen them live. I knew what to expect, i knew they were 
gonna rip shit up but it was so beyond that and i wasn't even on 
anything.... No gimmicks, no upsetting shit, no viral meningishit, 
just a sweet fucking Tool performance.... i couldn't ask for anything 
more. Maynard didn't even make a big deal about the sweet rack he had 
or anything else on the stage.... just wanted to please the fans.... 
they played that killer version of hooker with a penis before the 
band came on which ripped shit up and there wasn't one word i never 
sang the whole set.... 3rdeye was the best live song ever. i was 
hoping for them to play "No Quarter" but it seems that they didn't. 
Besides making my dream come true last night by seeing Tool live i 
would like to say those security guys were fuckin assholes for not 
giving us water and mocking the crowd and on 2nd Stage Demolition 
dollrods or something like that i would like to thank the chick for 
giving me her titty cups.






Review written by: D-fi (D-fi@ix.netcom.com)
Review posted on: 08/13/97 18:00:35

   I've been waiting a long time to post my review of the lolla show,
after tracking the whole tour, so I'm gonna start at the beginning. 
My group of 12 people left seattle the day before the show. It's 
about a 2 hour drive to the gorge. That night there was the most 
amazing meteor shower going on all night. The campground was fucking 
raging till about 5:00am a good 10,000 people I estimate. So after a 
harty 2 hours sleep the sun came up and the gorge got up to about 95 
degrees. For those of you who have never been, the gorge is on the 
Columbia river and is by far the most beautiful venue I have ever 
seen.
    We went into the amphitheater at about 2:00pm. Orbit was on the 
2nd stage and Failure was on the main. Orbit is your typical 
commercial la la bullshit, and Failure, though they are really cool 
guys, I've seen them 6 times now and there's just not much to them. 
Next up were the Marleys. It's about time reggae got on the lolla 
bill. They were perfect for a beautiful summer day, much respect! 
Then came James. I wasn't into them so I took the time to trip around 
the circus. VERY DISSAPOINTING!!! The boothes and food were lacking 
big time, it just keeps getting smaller every year. Then back for 
Tricky. When they finally did get on stage(traffic my ass!) Tricky 
Kid went nuts! Incredible performance cut short! Almost as crazy as 
Tool! Then Snoop. All I can say is that if he would have just shut 
the fuck up and play I would have been down. He just expected to much 
energy from us without giving any back. Na Na Na NAA hey hey hey 
EGO!!! Finally Tool. The lounge Hooker was bad ass Bill hicks yada 
yada yada. Setlist in order:
~hooker
~stinkfist(extended extended bridge)
~46 & 2
~Swamp Song
~Eulogy
~Pushit
~Third Eye
~Sober
~Opiate 
~AEnima

   Mynard came out in black tights red bra and red Peg Bundy hair 
with the white mime face paint. Justin was blue, Danny and Adam were 
normal. They did the usual t shirts for sale break during Hooker and 
the highlight was the extension to the already extended bridge of 
Stinkfist. I have to be honest and say that overall I was slightly 
dissapointed. This was my 8th Tool show, they just didn't seem to be 
into it last night. They were much more theatrical then previous 
shows, and that played well for the festival, but maynard was pretty 
quiet and I REALLY wanted to hear No Quarter!!! 
   Then came The Orb. Fucking perfect! the sounds they put out blew 
my mind. The Orb's music is the closest explanation of a nitros hit I 
could describe. About 90 percent of the crowd left after Tool so I 
was able to lay back in the grass, watch the stars and trip away. 
Very relaxing, exactly what I needed at that point. 
    In all Lolla 97 was a blast and we all must thank Perry for 
bringing it back to its eclectic roots! And to all who just went to 
see Tool, You also got to hear some reggae, trip-hop, ambient, 
hip-hop, and all sorts of things you never would have heard 
otherwise, hopefully you learned somthing. Thats what Lollapalooza is 
all about !


 






Review written by: Rex (postr@aurora.cwu.edu)
Review posted on: 08/13/97 15:38:33

Yesterday I saw Tool at the gorge in George, Wa and I have to say 
that it was the best show I've ever seen. Just fucking incredible!
I've seen a lot of good shows, most of them lasting twice as long
as Tool's 55 min. set. But none of them could compare to the 
intensity of Tool's show last night. I've never really been into
the song 3rd eye until they played it last night and now I'm 
convinced it's the best song ever written. NO, wait, it's 46&2, no, 
it's Eulegy, no, it's - well you get the picture. Bye






Review written by: Mark Taylor (mark462@ior.com)
Review posted on: 08/13/97 14:32:15

Well, it was my 7th Lollapalooza & 4th Tool show.  Lollapalooza is 
great to walk around, enjoy some culture (something Spokane DOESN'T 
have), meet people, great food & some new information about the world 
we live in.  

O.K., so there wasn't anything on the main stage worth really getting 
into before Tool took stage (especially Doggy Dog), but the weather 
was great & the Gorge has to be the best place on the planet to see a 
concert.

Before the band came on, they played a snippit of Bill Hicks on 
artists who do commercials.  "You do a commercial, you're off the 
artistic roll call..."  there's another bit where he mentions that, 
"Except for Willie Nelson..."  Anyway, I like how they still remember 
Bill.

By the time Tool took the stage, I weaseled myself up to the first 
two rows & was ready to go.  I love the fact that they don't do a lot 
of useless banter (unlike Snoop), they just let the wave of music 
envelop you & take you away.  The set list went something like this:

Hooker With A Penis (appropriately, Maynard dressed as a chick, nice 
hogans, by the way)
Stinkfist
Forty Six & 2
Swamp Song
Eulogy
Pushit
Sober
Third Eye
Opiate
Aenema

I'm not too good at remembering the order of the songs, but they 
played all the above songs.  I was half hoping for "No Quarter", but 
I haven't seen them perform "Third Eye" before, so I'm glad.  I knew 
it would be either song according to previous reviews.

By the time they started "Forty Six & 2), I was in the front & on my 
way for one hell of a ride.  I liked Maynard's comment on how this 
year's Lollapalooza is as close as "Alternative" as the tour has been 
since the beginning.  

The amount of energy these guys put out is amazing.  They don't do 
the "Put your hands together" crap.  They're up there to share their 
music with the people & let them decide what they want to do with it. 
 Me, I caught the wave they sent out.  It's like cleansing your mind. 
 When the show's over, I felt drained, yet replenished at the same 
time.  I could go on, but all who saw them, probably know what I'm 
talking about & you can come to your own conclusions on how you felt 
about the show.  

All I can say is that they are the most incredible "Tool" on the 
planet.  My Third Eye is squeegeed quite cleanly...







Review written by: Bryan Leighty (earthlng@ior.com)
Review posted on: 08/13/97 13:05:27

after the last note of anema (too lazy to do the a-e thingy) you knew 
who was the soul of this years lollapalooza...the crowd cleared and 
it basically was all over...snoop tried his dogg gone best to get 
things a pumping but failed miserably and tricky was late and 
ultimately cut short!....but the moment before maynard(ette) and co. 
stepped up was the pinacle of the day....the set was great...no huge 
surprise except for the lack of visual (no videos at all ...) but the 
inclusion of third eye was beautiful...set was something like (in not 
the exact order im sure...) 
hooker..stink...46&2...swampsong...euolgy...pushit...sober...third 
eye...anema...

or at least something like that....

i was enthralled with pushit...a beautiful version i might add...i 
was there in salem oregon for the world premiere of the stinkfist 
video and right before anema maynard dedicated it to the gentelman 
that plays the "guy thats walking around in the stinkfist video"...so 
some sort of cosmic coincidence occured or at least i felt it....







Review written by: Scout Clark (treppy@nwlink.com)
Review posted on: 08/11/97 14:16:55

"Ten Reasons to go to Lollapalooza and see Tool at the Gorge in
     George, Washington"

10. DID build up that tolerance to viral meningitis.

9. Add to your collection of over-priced (& too small) T-shirts 
     (where's Zack when ya need him?).

8. Find out if any of them can tan (especially Brit-Boy).

7. Might have a Kabir sighting.

[In Washington?  Ya never know, I guess... -- Kabir]

6. Gettin' tickled at the pat-down search.

5. "Pre-op" Maynard-isms.

4. They might play "disgustipated" (hey, one can dream, right?).

3. Male bonding on a mass scale.

2. One word: boobs.

1. Convinced that Maynard is the Missing Link.  

 (Btw, this e-mail address is not my own--I'm not a gal of the '90s 
yet--so if ya feel the need to drop me a line, mention Tool and Scout 
in the subject heading.  Hope you guys enjoyed!)