page: 97
 title: Performance: Tool's Big Art
author: Robyn Doreian

Rod Laver Arena
July 23rd, 2001
Melbourne


From the moment the Los Angeles quartet stepped out onto 
the stage - completed by a six foot vidoeo screen behind 
vocalist Maynard James Keenan and a much larger one 
above drummer Danny Carey - it became apparent that this 
was not a gig, but a performance. As the screens illuminated 
Louis Bunel-styled surrealist images of an eye pressed 
against a keyhole, the band launched into the twisted riffs 
of "The Grudge". Keenan cut a commanding military-style, 
figure in a padded boiler suit, with his face adorned by a thick 
black painted stripe. Crouched over, he spent a great deal of 
the evening lurching and jerking in time to the muscular riffs 
of guitarist/artistic director Adam Jones, whose on-screen 
videos consisted of nudity, mutated humans, writhing larvae 
and water scenes - guaranteed to give Sigmund Freud (bless 
his sole) a field day.


Working their way through a selection of older material from 
1996's Aenima ("Stinkfist", "Fourty-six&2", "Pushit") 
plus "Prison Sex" from their 1993 debut, Undertow, the 
cerebral battering took a breather via an intermission during 
which the cinematic triumph for "Schism" was shown. 
Returning to the raised platform behind Jones, Keenan 
reappered in black, Axl Rose-styled, figure-hugging shorts. 
Proceeding with the remainder of the set -
 "Sober", "Parabola", "Aenima" and "Opiate" -  the fearsome 
foursome closed tonight's soiree with the 
chugging "Lateralus". Rather than a case of "fuck art let's 
dance", tonight was very much a case of "fuck everything, 
let's do art". At the conclusion of "Opiate", Keenan 
stated: "Art saves lives". Some two hours later, the 
combination of Tool's superior musicianship and highly 
creative visuals had just saved mine.

Posted to t.d.n: 09/10/01 08:00:38