Tool at OzzFest 1998 Tour Reviews

Date: 0705


Review written by: Mcgrath (mcgrath@ultranet.com) Review posted on: 07/11/98 23:09:51 Not to repeat everyone else but Tool was great and the sound system sucked. Assigned seats ruin a concert like this. Limp Bizkit called every one down front and that's when the concert got interesting. I stayed down there for the rest of the show inclu ding Tool, as did a lot of people since there were quite a few empty seats before Ozzy came out. I know every show can't be GA but Ozzy could have tried. The second stage was cool though.

Review written by: richard taster (hooha@aol.com) Review posted on: 07/11/98 12:34:56 in regards to the knock knock joke..... you is and are the answer.

Review written by: Jean (To0lchic@aol.com) Review posted on: 07/10/98 02:53:31 first off, i must disagree with some of the other reviewer's comments. i consider myself a "diehard" TOOL fan, and i must say that i was quite pleased with the setlist. us "diehards" love all of TOOL's songs...and don't really care what songs we hear...as long as we get to hear TOOL live...i would want them to play all of their songs....but we all know that is not possible...so we are happy with what we get! i don't know about any of you, but i would certainly have a difficult time trying to pick out my "favorite" songs that i would want to hear...its not possible...there are no "best" TOOL songs...they are all great. ok...now that i got that out of the way... here is the set list: sweat stinkfist(with extended bridge near the end) prison sex (with extra verse!!!) jimmy sober third eye opiate flood wow. i don't know where to begin, but once again i was blown away by the amazing sounds of TOOL. they get better and better everytime i see them, and just when you think they can't get any better, they outdo themselves. as you can see the setlist is completely different from friday's show, which i was really happy about! so maynard walks out on stage in all his grace and glory in a tan suit. he had on a grey-haired wig, and was carrying a book... probably a bible. and he said something along the lines of "can you feel it?" and something about him looking good and be a slave to fashion. i was so excited to hear them open up with sweat. once again it was as though no one knew that song. so next they played stinkfist. this is really a great song, and it sounds great live. now all the "radio" fans emerged... prison sex was absolutely amazing...i was hoping to heat the extra verse live..and i did!! i could not believe that they played jimmy...this was like definately one of the last songs that i expected them to play. it was great! sober is another great song. it was amazing live, as it always is. another song in which the "radio" TOOL fans emerged...but thats ok cuz its great to hear the crowd singing along. i cant even describe third eye. it is one of the most amazing songs.. and to hear it live was amazing. they did such an amazing job... it seemes to go on forever..it was great! and last but certainly not least!!! they ended with their opiate flood combo. i was waiting to hear opiate, and i was certainly not expecting to hear flood, which was a pleasant surprise!!! so the show was great! At one point maynard took his suit off...he was down to his boxers!!! it was really cute how he was dancing around during sweat. well i don't know what else to say...but i disagree with some of the reviews of this show. i was glad to hear all of the songs that they played. us "diehards" were glad to hear songs that they did't think we would hear. TOOL put on an amazing show..they always do. i have never seen a show that comes close to the show that TOOL puts on. they are so into their music...especially Maynard...the way he moves with the music...it like puts you in a trance. it is such an uplifting experience to witness TOOL live, there is nothing like it. there are no words to describe it, and not many people who understand it... i can't even decribe what TOOL's music does to me... just check it out for yourselves....

Review written by: Rob T (indole@juno.com) Review posted on: 07/09/98 19:07:07 holy shit holy shit i've been to quite a few concerts before, and nothing has ever compared to watching Tool play their hour long set at Ozzfest. the other bands at ozzfest were good, limp bizkit definately brought the place into a riot, ozzy was a living legend, etc. but TOOL TOOL!!! when i was stand in my chair, rocking back and forth and singing at the top of my lungs, it wasnt EVEN a concert, it was an experience i will never forget. it may sound trite, or whatever, i dont know im not trying to convey the experience i had, im only trying to explain how incredible it was to me. you see, about 3 hours before tool came on i dropped 2 hits of "UFO" ecstasy. wowwie zowwie thats some shit maynard brought me to another level with his undulations, his voice, his PASSION it was incredible the screen above was also unbelievable, i'm not sure how many of you out there have ever tried special k (ketamine hcl - an incredible drug for the willing psychonaut, and undoubtedly an influence of tool) but the screen was showing these computer generated, geometric patterns that were scrolling and dancing, it looked like a dancing ,geometrical representation of dna (thats how i interpreted it) well anyway, on that screen you saw the closest visual representation to the ketamine experience i have ever seen imagin not just your visual field obscured by that view, but your entire consciousness, your sense of "I", what little is left, sprawled across this infinite geometrical grid. it's the universe its you its me its everything its wave-particle duality its the seemless whole that everything is its incredible im not here to describe the ketamine experience (that would take way longer than i have now) but tool is definately aware one of the most interesting things about this band to me is the fact that they are in the know they know something that i dont, that we dont, thats the feeling i get from their music and the more i search, the closer i become, and the more i learn from them i wish i could continue forever about them, i have so much to say, but i cannot see tool if EVER you get the opportunity to see them, go i know now i must and i will indole

Review written by: Brian (heratic396@aol.com) Review posted on: 07/08/98 17:03:44 This was my second time seeing TOOL and even though it was a short set they were amazing as usual. As soon as they came on stage i knew they were going to be amazing i couldnt help but laugh when i saw maynard in that evangelists outfit holding the bible , no one around me knew who it was which was even funnier.I was amazed that they opened with sweat. than Mayanard said a bunch of stuff which other people have already quoted. The sound could have been better but they were still intense.I thought the rest of the day was ok but i was there only for them,and as usual i left the show with a smile . ps the video screen was sick i loved henry rollins's speach and face on the screen during third eye and the added verse to prison sex was great i wanted them to play i love that part bye see you auntie... brian

Review written by: Ryan (RPUndertow@AOL.Com) Review posted on: 07/08/98 10:28:25 I'm going to make this as brief and to the point as possible, but i just want to start off by saying that Tool stole the fuckin show, and i also think the majority of the people there would also have to agree with me on that note. It was only my 2nd time seeing Tool and i must say i was not at all dissapointed in their performance or set. I'm sure many other people already posted their song set but i'll do it anyway, just to piss ya'll off, hehe. 1. Sweat 2. Stinkfist 3. Prison Sex 4. Jimmy 5. Sober 6. 3rd Eye 7. Opiate 8. Flood i think it was a powerful set all in all, thought it was real cool how they closed with Flood. As Usual Maynard threw out his usual sarcastic jokes in between songs to keep us entertained. CAlled himself a Slave to Fashion which i found rather hum erous. I'd also like to show some respect to bands on the 2nd stage like Ultraspank, System Of A Down, and Incubus, you guys kicked ass!!!!!! Coal Chamber put on a great show on 1st stage, Ozzy rocked (obviously), other than that i wasnt too keen on anyo ne else's performance. Limp Bizkit were their normal self centered , ignorant selves. NOthing against their music, i totally respect it and even listen to it but they got a serious Ego problem. Anyhow, they walked off stage with 15mins left in their set, i'm still unaware of why. Well that's gonna just about do it for me. Just want to say again that Tool fuckin kicked ass!! Anyone have any kinda problem or question with my review feel free to email me. I hope atleast 1 person contradicts me, then atleast i'll know i got so meone pissed off, haha

Review written by: Ron (rbd2@psu.edu) Review posted on: 07/07/98 17:00:23 I was really excited to make Ozzfest this year, because there were a number of bands I was interested in, but had never heard. Overall, the day was a bit of a let down. The sound was really poor for the early bands, especially Monster Voodoo Machine. Most of the other early bands were half-assed Korn ripoffs. I'm a Korn fan, so I guess I can understand the influence, but for Christ's sake, do something different with it. Coal Chamber fell very much into this catagory, although they were also plagued by a drummer with no sense of timing. The guy was completely arhythmic. Unless that's how he's supposed to sound, it was really embarressing. Sevendust was also a child of the Korn, although they at least added a little of the old school metal into the mix. The crowd was really lame. I couldn't believe the number of people who were falling down drunk off of $6 beers. The attitude of the crowd was really amazing. Half of them were drunk frat boys, and the other half were drunk old guys reliving their high school days. For example, during Snot's set (who was also rather uninteresting), the singer said, "All right, New Jersey, let's fuck shit up." The drunk fuck attempting to stand next to me leaned over and said, "That's what I say every Friday night about 1 am." That pretty much summed up the crowd. And the vibe from the Ozzfest crew was not much better. The guy spinning songs between bands kept screaming about how "not enough chicks were showing their tits". Another guy was wandering around with a camcorder trying to get women to get naked. Come on fools, grow up. The tide began to turn with Soulfly. Before and after their set, they had guys out front doing Brazilian martial arts, which was kinda neat. They turned in a heavy, crunching set. If you like Sepultura, you ought to check these guys out. Limp Bizkit came on next, and they were kind of fun. They had a big toilet on stage the spewed smoke. The singer popped out of it, and tried to rock out, altough poor sound killed a lot of the energy. I couldn't hear their DJ, which is what makes them stand out for me, so I was a little disappointed. They covered "Thieves" by Ministry, and did "Jump Around" by House of Pain (DJ Lethal used to be in HOP). At the end, they had some woman chained to the toilet and were spanking her. It was kind of disturbing because I couldn't hear what he was rapping about, so I couldn't tell if it had a point or they were doing it simply because they were rock stars and could. I think their set got cut short, because after announcing that they had 2 songs left, they played one then stormed off while their bass player smashed his bass. Again, due to the shitty sound, I couldn't tell what was up. Megadeth was cool. I'm an old school fan, I listened to these guys when it was cool to do so, so it was nice to hear them. Nothing they do is too subtle, but it was still entertaining. The crowd was really into them. It was kind of funny, like stepping back 10 years. Alright, now for the reason I went: Tool. They made the trip worthwhile. Maynard stepped out dressed like an evangelist, in a suit and tie and gripping a bible. They launched into "Sweat" which was fabulous. I cannot remember the exact order of things, see other reviews for that. Several moments stood out. "Stinkfist" included an extra part in the middle, as did "Prison Sex". At one point, Maynard said, "Let's light some emotional candles. On the count of three, everyone say Yes." 1, 2, 3, YES and then they launched into "Opiate". I found that very amusing. During a blistering "3rd Eye", I could hear the concept flying far above the drunken crowd's collective head. Tool live is such a mezmorizing thing, it's meditative, it's thoughtful, but I just question whether anyone got that. Even if 20% did, that still left 40,000 people wanted to get drunk and fuck shit up. Whether it's Jane's Addiction on Lollapalooza and their 1%, or Tool on Ozzfest and their 1%, people just don't seem to get it. Sad. Perhaps it is better to flush it all away. We didn't stay to see Ozzy, since we had a 5 hour drive home and had to move in the morning. I can only assume that he had thousands of drunk people with the fists in the air screaming for "Suicide Solution" and more tits. I question why Tool is on this tour...

Review written by: Mike C (medman1215@aol.com) Review posted on: 07/07/98 00:01:05 I don't know about everybody else who was there, but the show that I saw on July 5th should have been called "ToolFest," it was my first time seeing Tool, and they were fucking phenomenal. I've seen a lot of bands in about a 16 year period, and I can saf ely say Tool buried them all. Everyone in my group complained that the show was much too short, but that's to be expected when a band is that great. I'm definitely hooked, and will see Tool every time they come near me.

Review written by: Nick (acidroom@epix.net) Review posted on: 07/06/98 15:08:19 I apoligize in advance for posting two separate message's however I did not read the reviews before my first post. I wanted to say to the guy who was ripping on Limp Bizkit calling Fred and "asshole" and such, now that makes you as bad as you disbelieves from what I see. Limp Bizkit Played a sorta bad set on Sunday because the Crowd on sunday, frankly they sucked. They didnt get into anything but tool megadeth and ozzy, its a wonder why they even came so early. Now Back to Bizkit for a second, and I already know this reveiw will be taken off pretty soon. But Limp Bizkit is all about venting your anger at a show (there show), not being afraid to show your emotions (especially at there show), its a hell of alot better then if your pissed off you got shoot someone, rather just go to a bizkit show and vent. Just because he rips gays, doesnt mean he isnt one of the biggest Tool fans out there,the only reason They even played the tour is because of Tool. Now thats my vent. If you would have seen the show on Friday you would now why he was tryin to get a riot goin. I thought of a complaint about Maynard to, on Friday he said we had to come back on sunday to get the punchline of his joke and he simply said "fuck". However on sunday he never did finish his notion. I still love the guy I just wonder why he didnt mention it. Maybe the fact that he said nothing is the joke I dont know. my Very short reveiws of the bands I saw sunday. Melvins-These guys were pretty bad, Didnt fit in at all. Monster Voodoo Machine-They werent to impressive. Kilgor-they were alright, I like the singer's attitude. Coal Chamber-I love these guys,but the crowd just werent buyin it so early in the day I guess. I"ve seen these guys 5 times and there performance was tip top, just to hot and early to make a huge impact. System Of a Down-These guys were amazing, They were by far the best 2nd stage act I saw all weekend. Incubus was 2nd. There was total chaos for there set, the hay was flying and everything. if you havnet seen these guys check em out, Nice guys to, I meet them and got there autographs as well. Sevendust-They were good as well. I've seen them before, there show was average. Soulfly-Average, there sound is really grainy live, they had a cool set list though. Limp Bizkit-They were Very energetic not as good as friday, there sound sucked the sound men didnt do there job to well, the bass got out of tune, the mic went out at the very beginning. Thats one reason they left so soon, that and the crowd was weak on sunday. Life Of Agony-They were cool, I really dig these guys. Megadeth-there ok live but there such hypocrytes I cant stand em. and Dave is mr ego to. No disrespect if you like them, I just cant stand em. TOOL-Amazing the Set of the weekend. THis was a great set list. Opening again with "cold and Ugly" and playing such great songs as "stinkfist","sober","third-Eye", and Closing with "flood". with the video screens goin, they should (I think) play a bit later when its a bit darker. But the way they did it was just great. Best acts:Tool,Limp Bizkit,System of a Down.

Review written by: Nick (acidroom@epix.net) Review posted on: 07/06/98 14:44:32 I was at Both Holmel shows and I'm goin to the Camden show on the 11th as well. Tool Defanatly stole the show. Friday I'd say them and Limp Bizkit were the best as fights broke out for both bands. Tool Changed there setlist around alot to, they only played like 2 or 3 songs both dayz that was great I thought. I cant wait to see em next saturday. Tool is really hard to get into live though for me, there so damn mesmorizing i cant to anything but stare. At Maynard in his little white painted face and his suit (until as he put it "got a little more casual" and took off the suit). He did mention and I quote "Jesus Christ, this suit is hot". but he is "a slave to fashion". Tool rules thats all there is to it.

Review written by: Brian (BPOBRIAN@aol.com) Review posted on: 07/06/98 13:57:18 I finally got to see Tool live after months of waiting and I was not dissappointed. The band sounded great to me but im definitely partial and it would not have mattered to me what they did or didnt do. This was my first time seeing them. SWEAT rocked and I never sat down. Me and my friends were there for Tool. They did a lot of there popular songs at this show. PRISON SEX, SOBER, STINKFIST, but they also busted out THIRD EYE, JIMMY, and an OPIATE/FLOOD ending. I wanted more. I need to see a compl ete Tool headlining show and definitely want to go to Maine. I dont think that will happen though. Maynard is an amazing singer. Hopefiully next year there will be a TOOLFEST with just Tool playing for hours.

Review written by: Joe (MBOY1219@aol.com) Review posted on: 07/06/98 12:21:08 I've been reading all the complaints about the set list and I think it's unfair. I was only able to make the Sunday show, though I read the reviews of Friday on Saturday. I was surprised by the different set but not disappointed. The people who were lucky enough to see both shows got to see two very different performances. Anyway, I was too busy singing at the top of my lungs to remember set lists or any of that. I went to see Tool and it was everything I hope d it would be. Joe

Review written by: Marc H. Strother (me.strother@ibm.net) Review posted on: 07/06/98 11:13:52 Please just let me vent a little first. It's a sad thing when people don't respond to bands like Coal Chamber and Soul Fly and then go wild when Megadeth steps in. I was sitting in left terrace and had to get out as fast as possible when Megadeth played. It ripped through my ears and immediately gave me a headache. I don't think any chord was under 20Khz (my god). Thanks for listening. Now for tool. I could not have asked for more. Third Eye, Flood, Sober, Prison Sex, Optiate...I was in heaven!!! The place went nuts, everyone was singing as loud as they could to most of the songs. Third Eye, my personal favorite, was not known to a lot of people because the place kind of went a little quiet at that point. Little do they know what an awesome song that is. Maynard had the leisure suit on and as he said in the minitour "I'm not gonna take it off because I'm a slave to fashion", or something to that effect. He soon took it off though and was left with nothing but these little shorts on. I was so happy that they didn't do the 9 minute intro to Sober because that left so much more time, which is probably why they were able to play Third Eye. To try and gain a non-biased perspective, I spoke to people who weren't really familiar/followers of tool and they were very very impressed. One of those non-biased perspectives includes my wife, who for the longest time couldn't get into tool. She has seen the light!!! :) For all that are fortunate enough to be holding Ozzfest tickets, enjoy, take it all in and hold onto it...it's a great priviledge!

Review written by: Christo (kriztufer@hotmail.com) Review posted on: 07/06/98 08:48:45 Very quickly..... Friday, great show. Sunday, uhhhhh, still, ummmm recovering, un believable.

Review written by: RaKib (MadsoulsX@aol.com) Review posted on: 07/06/98 01:54:50 Great performance, but dissapointing set list. It was great to see them start off with sweat which helped separate the posers and real fans right away. Sadly many of these kids wearing Tool shirts had not a clue about these songs(opiate being the other one). They just stood there until they went crazy with songs like stinkfist and sober. I dont think playing Third Eye for 15 minutes out of their 55 minutes(they played 5 minutes under their alloted time) was the greatest thing they could have done, but it is still damn good song live. I could have done without Jimmy and put in Aenima, or almost any other song from undertow including undertow itself which i guess was played at the first show. Ending with Flood left a bad taste in my mouth, but just see ing Tool live is a great experience so I went home happy. And i have to say i was impressed with many bands at Ozzfest which made the day just an unforgettable experience.

Review written by: Biz (bza98@aol.com) Review posted on: 07/06/98 01:02:20 Well the last night until God knows when with these guys. Maynard came out with a beige suit on with a brown tie and a bible in hand and a white wig. Preacher Maynard let out a "Can ya feel it!" and went rightinto Sweat. I had to say i was real dissapointed with the setlist.Not that Tool would care anyway. Thats what makes them unique.They dont give a fuck about the fans. They don t rarely do interviews.All the shit mainstream garbage out there, and they refuse to getthere name out. They are the most unbelevable band. Thats why I was pissed. They have an hour to play and they play Third Eye for 15 minutes. Maynard did not share his pearls of wisdom with the audience at all tonight. He did that whole slave to fashion routine that I saw in L.A. Im just upset that they were in town for 2 nights and I went home hookerless. Instead they played flood? Prison Sex was the best song of the night. Adam is so amazing on that one. I am so glad that I got to see them this summer, but there diehards had to be dissapointed with the setlist and the lack of interaction. Maynard is the fuckin man and he didnt even tell us the punchline to Friday. Either way there the shit. I just wish they would show there appreciation to us a little more. The few diehards they have deserved a better set list than that.

Review written by: Sam (Svpervixen@aol.com) Review posted on: 07/06/98 00:58:07 Jesus Christo! Best show i've ever been to..Thats about all I have to say...They guy that wrote the review before me said it all...Although i missed the punchline to the joke (and the joke itself, i didnt go on friday.). I was expecting them to play the same set as my friends told me from friday, i flipped when it was different...ahh, so good....

Review written by: Will (nuclebomb@hotmail.com) Review posted on: 07/05/98 23:13:10 First off, Maynard never gave us the punchline to the joke he told on Friday...(not like we didn't already know the punchline). Well, anyway, Maynard came out wearing a tan suit with a red shirt and tie and a gray wig on that made him look like an evangelist. He said the same line he says on one of the MP3's..."I'm a slave to fashion and I look damn good." So their setlist was...Sweat, Stinkfist, Prison Sex, Jimmy, Sober, Third Eye, Opiate and Flood. I would say that they put on a better show today, but I liked Friday's set list better. I'm sure everyone else will be filling in all the stuff I left out. But, I just gotta say that Tool pissed all over every other band there. I saw the singer for Biohazard and Limp Bizkit and they should take some friggin' notes. There is an art to writing songs, and it's not all about what everyone else thinks about it. Tool took everyone to school. Most of the musicians there should consider packing it in and retiring after seeing a REAL rock band. Enough said.