Publication: The Seattle Times
Date: November, 2001
Transcribed by
Shawn L. (uplassy@hotmail.com)
Shawn L. (uplassy@hotmail.com)
page: title: Tool hammers out quality metal author: Patrick MacDonald Concert Preview Tool hammers out quality metal By Patrick MacDonald Seattle Times music critic Tool has the best of both worlds: It's a shadowy cult band with a huge following most mainstream bands would envy. Even some of Tool's biggest fans wouldn't recognize the group on the street, because the band members' likenesses aren't anywhere to be found on its four albums, and the musicians don't appear in the videos. The band's press-kit photo is 10 years old, and all the band members look different now. Even in concert, the group remains shrouded. The stage is darkened and attention is focused on video screens behind the group, which show amorphous, unfocused, unsettling films of blood and guts and maggots and other nightmarish things. Lead singer Maynard James Keenan, defying rock-star convention, doesn't stand in front of the band but behind it, on a platform near the drummer. He not only is never spotlighted, he spends much of the time facing the video screens rather than the audience. He's a big, imposing man, looking even more menacing now because he has shaved his head and painted a wide black stripe across his forehead. (Keenan, whose voice is a powerful instrument, also is lead singer for A Perfect Circle, a more conventional band, known for the rock-radio hit "Judith.") Tool's music is dark and troubling, but delivered with such intensity and musicianship that it's easy to get caught up in its whirlwind of guitar, bass, drums and vocals. The band seems to take up where Led Zeppelin left off, crafting quality metal with alternative-rock influences. The often-opaque lyrics have an apocalyptic feel, leavened with the possibility of redemption via love and music. Keenan is one of few rock figures to speak out against the bombing of Afghanistan, and he says Tool's concerts — he calls them "gatherings" — are sacred ceremonies that offer emotional release in a troubled time. The band — including guitarist Adam Jones, bassist John Chancellor and drummer Danny Carey — is joined in concert by several dancers who, inspired by Asian traditions including butoh, hang from ropes or move on all fours. This tour focuses on the band's two most recent albums, "Lateralus" and "Salival," expanding the already long songs (Tool's album cuts usually run six minutes or longer) into even longer jams. Opening is Tricky, who sings and raps and toasts, Jamaican style, backed by a band.
Posted to t.d.n: 02/04/02 02:24:54