old news: june - july 2001 letters on a page with no meaning anymore

old overview what the summary looked like then

"undertow" double platinum 2,000,000 copies correct track 9 spelling see jun 14 news "lateralus"

[07/30/01] - Hacked

Well, what are you going to do? Those of you who have been following the amusing saga for the last few days probably know that the site was hacked into a few nights ago, the front page of the site was modified to say basically that the site was hacked into, and the original front page was backed up by the ever-so-thoughtful hackers.

Late last night, the damage was fixed, no big deal. And then today, the machine hosting this site was re-entered, and the entire site was deleted.

So for at least a week, the site is down. While I am personally all for the wanton destruction of corporate sites, I think it sucks that all of toolshed was erased. It's Tool, people, not Windows98. It's really tempting to give up.

As far as news, most of you know that Fantomas is opening the East Coast dates for Tool. I guess any other comments you have, send 'em in.

But that probably won't work because it's gotten Sircam virus-ed to death by people who have Outlook Express and have not checked if they are infected (so if you run Outlook, please for the love of Paul D'Amour check symantec.com or something and disinfect your machine). §

[07/26/01] - Signup | Slower updates

The Official site has added a form where you can "sign up for special offers and announcements" - though they mention that this is not the "Tool Army" (see below, July 16). Thanks to Jason Kuhlman (jasontk@mac.com) for the heads-up. §

Site updates for the next ten days will be slow; I'm skipping town for a bit. Concert reviews, tabs, links, etc, should all remain post-able. Article posting is still not reactivated. Keep yourself busy in the meantime checking out the torrent of show reviews landing in the Tour section, notably a verrry long review of the July 1st show in Toronto by Michael Filice (michaelfilice@yahoo.com). §

[07/25/01] - Eugene gets Tool

A new show in Oregon has been added to the tour itinerary, according to local radio stations. Check the Tour page for more. §

[07/23/01] - Wonky no more

Fans' stabs at tabs for "Lateralus" continue to flood into the Tabs section of this site. Many of you who tried your hand at posting a tab ran into the incorrect-line-break problem, unfortunately. However, this should no longer be an issue - you can now preview your tab before committing to posting it. No more wonky formatting, hopefully. §

[07/21/01] - Aussie Reviews | Putting the 'd' in t.d.n | Site changes | New FAQ!!

Well we all know how hard it is to get Tool tickets, so there's no need to go into that today. Reviews from Australian shows have started landing in the Tour section, though, so you can whet your appetite for live Tool there. §

Things are still a little screwy following the move to the new server early this week. The major glitch was in the DNS update; the address 'toolshed.down.net' temporarily pointed to both the old machine and the new one. D'oh! This has been fixed, but it will take a few days for it to shake out across the 'net. §

Automatic posting of Articles is not reactivated yet, but you can now go and post links to Toolish pages again in the Links section. The Community section has gotten a new look, consistent with the ongoing (and neverending) redesign of this site. Tabs are flooding in for the new album; yesterday alone there were over 40 submissions. §

Thanks to Chris (self-thinker@mindspring.com) for pointing out that among the excitement about new tabs, I forgot to mention that there is a new updated FAQ! Now you'll really never go outside. §

[07/18/01] - Tabs!

The new Tab section has opened, though it's only partially complete. The important news is that you can now post / view / vote on tabs off "Lateralus" - the only other album available currently is "Opiate." The rest of them should be available soon. It may still be a little buggy in there, so if you find a problem, send in a bug report about it. But go forth and post your tabs for all to see. §

[07/17/01] - Edgefest?

If you went to the July 1st Edgefest show in Canada and want to post a review of that show to the Tour section, now's your chance; concert review posting is now working again. §

[07/16/01] - Knocked down, we come back runnin' | Ticketbastard again | All you can be

Whee - The Tool Page is back in its shiny goodness after sixteen days of downtime! There are bound to be a few glitches here and there as we transition to our new server, so if you find something that doesn't seem to be working right, send in a bug report and it will get fixed ASAP. Speaking of our new server, hats off to Sagi Brody and webair.com, who stepped in to take on the monstrous task of keeping this virtual behemoth alive. Thanks also to the fifty-some people who wrote in with genuine hosting offers. It's cool to see that music still breeds community. §

So what did you miss in the last few days? A number of the Western USA shows went on sale, and sold out lickety-split, just as the set of American shows in May did. My sister was in town, and pulled fifth in line at a local TicketMaster, and we all know that if you weren't at least second, you were in for trouble buying LA tickets. So make sure to keep your eyes open for any ticket opportunities which come your way - the band that hadn't released a record in five years is now the hardest band to get tickets for. Also, an extra Sydney show was added while this site was down, and an official announcement came that there will be an "Arena Tour" this fall in the US. §

The official site continues to mention the forthcoming "Tool Army", which will likely be a fanclub of sorts which will probably accept donations in exchange for merchandise and ticket advantages. Some of the US shows which already went on sale had a presale online, whereby one could type in the magic password and ticketmaster.com would give you tickets. This password was apparenly only given to a certain few folks, though the intent Tool fan certainly could have found it here and there. The so-called "Tool Army" will be offering up such presale passwords whenever it goes live. §

[07/14/01] - toolshed.is.down.net III

The site ought to be back up in the next few days. Of course, meanwhile Tool shows all along the West Coast are selling out like mad. For example, both L.A. shows sold out nearly instantaneously this morning.
Deja-vu much? §

[07/07/01] - toolshed.is.down.net II

The site is still down. And yes, it is coming back. §

[07/01/01] - toolshed.is.down.net

Well kids, the server that has been hosting The Tool Page since late 1998 is no longer able to handle the traffic this site generates. We seem to be allowed to have a little front page up for now, though. A few offers have come along for new hosting. With any luck, toolshed will be running off one of those machines before you notice it goes down. Of course, it may take a few days.

Have a server and wanna host the site? There is no money involved. This has been and will remain a free endeavor. Serious offers only to kabir@toolshed.down.net.

Seen a recent show? Concert reviews for shows after June 30 are not postable, because of the move.
Write down your thoughts elsewhere, then post them here as soon as the site is up again!y. §

[06/29/01] - Plateralus

"Lateralus" was actually certified gold AND platinum a few days ago, making it official - a million copies have made their way out into the country. §

[06/26/01] - More dates and reviews | Trust

The next wave of US tour dates has been released, featuring nine shows in six West Coast cities with opening act King Crimson. Check out the list, as well as the over-500 concert reviews posted to the Tour section. §

And tabs are really coming soon. Really. §

[06/21/01] - Titannica | 1,000,000

A few days ago, word came that Maynard has recorded a song with a fake band called Titannica, due to appear in the upcoming film "Run, Ronnie, Run." The song, called "Ass Kickin' Fat Kid," features Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian and ex-Hole / Motley Crue drummer Samantha Maloney, and is now said to NOT be appearning on the soundtrack. You can just hear the MP3 machine cranking up. §

Various music sites are reporting that "Lateralus" has crossed the 1,000,000 copies sold mark this week (its fifth week out). The Billboard 200 chart shows the record at #9 (so far, it has gone #1 - #2 - #4 - #8 - #9), and notes that it has already earned the platinum certification, though the RIAA's online list does not show it yet. One way or another, it looks as though "Lateralus" has gotten to platinum very quickly, and hopefully will keep going strong. §

[06/16/01] - To everything, tour, tour, tour

Word has come from the tour promoter in Australia (check www.coppel.com.au) confirming some of the tentative dates there. Also, Metal Hammer Magazine's site reports that Tool will return to the UK for an "arena-sized" tour as early as September. For details on the touring game, check the Tour section of this site. §

[06/14/01] - Tentative dates | U, not I | I know the pieces stream

Another chunk of tour dates has broken loose from the iceberg of secrecy, though this batch is unconfirmed and subject to extreme change. You'll find this new list of tentative dates in the Tour section. §

Just in case some of you out there didn't trust the info here: the Official site has posted confirmation that track 9 on the new record is in fact spelled "Lateralus", and that only the first printing - estimated at two million copies - have the typo. (Also check original post below from May 16th. Who's yer daddy.) §

A streaming version of the "Schism" video has shown up in the new-look Video section, alongside links to a higher quality MPEG. §

[06/13/01] - Run Maynard Run | NZ dates | Read much?

You've all heard about Maynard making appearances on the HBO sketch comedy series Mr. Show. Well, now they have a movie coming out (edited by a friend of mine so you should all go see it) called "Run, Ronnie, Run." The movie's site doesn't say when it will be out exactly, but does mention that the soundtrack features tracks from Ween, former Hole / Smashing Pumpkins bassist Melissa Auf der Mer, and a fake band from the show called Titannica - with guest vocalist Maynard. No word on a soundtrack release date either as of now. Thanks to Jon Friskics (jf56832@pegasus.cc.ucf.edu) among others for the info. §

The tour machine is finally making its way Down Under. Mike (lappyman@hotmail.com) was the first to write in with two concert dates for the southern hemisphere, now being reported as "confirmed" on local radio stations. Check them out in the Tour section. §

48 new articles are now available from the Articles section. There goes the rest of your day. §

[06/10/01] - Interview tonight

Apparently there will be an interview with the band on UK radio tonight, as well as streaming across the internet. Hopefully one of you will manage to save it / transcribe it for those of us who won't be able to catch it. This info comes thanks to Andy King (chartvoter@aol.com). He writes:

"I am just finishing a 90 minute Radio programme which is the result of an hour long interview I had with the band the day before their UK Ozzfest appearance a couple of weeks ago. It features all four band members in very talkative mood and covers all sorts of stuff ranging from their formation and early days, to their thoughts and feelings about lawyers and the music industry, spirituality, the internet and all sorts of other things. This can be heard sometime between 9pm and midnight [he must mean London time - I have no idea] tonight June 10 at www.totalrock.com, OR (if you live in the UK or Irish Republic and subscribe to Sky Digital satellite) Channel 885 OR (if you live in London) 87.7 FM." §

[06/07/01] - Metal medals | Save your pennies II

Thanks to Jack (jack_shiznit@hotmail.com) for writing in that "Undertow" officially went double-platinum in the US on May 14, finally certified as selling two million copies the day before its sibling "Lateralus" was released. "Ænima" reached the two million mark back in August of 1999, while "Opiate" is so far only certified as gold - selling over 500,000 copies. Check out all the details from the info link above. §

Wow, talk about a major omission. In the news for May 31 there was a warning against buying an unauthorized Tool bio video - and somehow I managed to leave out its title until just now: "Toology." Big thanks to Orion (crow20@houston.rr.com) for noticing the goof and helping y'all save your pennies. §

[06/06/01] - Coming soon | Basketeralus

Apparently a "Schism" DVD package is in the works; no doubt it will include the video, but no word yet on what this single-of-sorts will be, or will cost. The next round of tour dates should also be released soon, covering Australia and North America this time. The Opinion and Tabs sections of this site are nearing completion, and should be up and running awfully soon. As for an updated FAQ, well, you'll just have to be patient. Keep reminding yourself of that. §

A whole slew of you wrote in throughout the NBA East Finals to say that bits of "Schism" and "Lateralus" were used in the opening graphics to last week's basketball games. Most likely this is just because someone who works there is a Tool fan, and the network was also able to clear the song for use. No big conspiracy here. §