concert reviews firsthand, immediate, from the heart
05/23/2002



Review written by: DJ bacozza (FILIPPO.FABBRI9@TIN.IT)
Review posted on: 05/16/02 22:39:29 ET

ANGUILLE ICONA DOLCE E NOVELLA DI AMPOLLA, CORRI , POI FUGGI D'UN CANTO SOAVE CHE CON UNGHIE FELINE VEDO SCALFIRE LE VERNICE DEL MIO MASCHIO; RICORDO. ORA RICORDO PER SFUGGIRE AL LAMENTO, L'AURORA NEL TUO VOLTO CHE FULGIDO BRILLA, POI CELA MESTIZIA. E' ARDUO COMBATTERE I RUSCELLI DI NOTE DI UN FLAUTO CHE ALTRO NON SUONA SE NON LA POCHEZZA DELLA VITA FUNESTA, E POI A TERRA STRAMAZZA. ASCOLTATE IL MIO TACITURNO CANTO, O ANGUILLE, NON SI CORICA MAI; MISERRIMO ME, SCHIAVO DEL CANTO! E OSCILLA, E ONDEGGIA, E RISTAGNA SALMASTRO E POI, PLUMBEO COME IL PIU' AMABILE DEGLI AUGELLI, AVVOLGE LA VITA IN UN VORTICE FITTIZIO DI SOSPIRI, TRASUDANDO TEPORE ED AMOR PERFETTO....IL GIUSTO SAPORE DELLA VITA, O ANGUILLE.

Review written by: DK (snot@klud.dk) Review posted on: 05/17/02 20:58:57 ET

This was this reviewer's 0th Tool show

Naturligvis. Hvor har du ret. Jeg er helt og aldeles enig! ...ville bare ønske, jeg forstod sproget...

Review written by: Davy (smashtheclock@hotmail.com) Review posted on: 05/23/02 18:44:21 ET

This was this reviewer's 3rd Tool show

It was great, again. the grudge stinkfist (ext.) parabola schism (est.) (merkaba) sober disposition reflection triad (with John from System of a Down) lateralus Will post ful review later... need sleep now

Review written by: Davy (smashtheclock@hotmail.com) Review posted on: 05/23/02 19:10:51 ET

This was this reviewer's 3rd Tool show

I already posted the setlist above. Not sure about the order though. The Ozzfest in Antwerp brought us TOOL. And although I'd like to have seen/heard TOOL in a headline show, it made me very happy. TOOL played an hour and twenty minutes, they did'nt have the evening for themselves, so there was not much interaction. Maynard addressed the crowd twice; the first time (after stinkfist – I think) to wish us a good evening and to introduce the band (“we are TOOL”); and the second time before Lateralus (“hopefully the experience you had today will help your heal”, and he told us to “enjoy Ozzy”). The overall sound, the mix (or whatever) was not good – this concert hall has a bad rep, so we knew beforehand not to expect a great sound. The drums were LOUD however (which I loved, you could *feel* Danny play); but it was a shame that in some songs Adam could barely be heard (especially in Reflection) being completely drowned out; the bass sounded very muddy and distorted throughout. But performancewise the show, although it was relatively short, was perfect! The band seemed to be much in to it, and they gave me a great feeling about them, and about myself. Especially Triad was monstrous, with John from SOD stepping in. At the end, during Lateralus, the overall sound was much better. The rest of the band joined together at Danny’s kit to start the song off, with Maynard kind of airdrumming the drum-intro. After the song the band hugged, which gave me a warm feeling. And a funny thought: Maynard really is much smaller than Danny! TOOL blew us all away with their music and with their thought provoking show (it really was odd seeing Ozzy afterwards). TOOL though, was magic. Now I can go work on my thesis again.

Review written by: Adrian (Friis) Review posted on: 05/23/02 20:03:46 ET

This was this reviewer's 1st? Tool show

just came back from my first Tool-concert (admittedly not "clean" since they toured with Ozzy), but i REALLY looked forward too it.. (perhaps too much). I'll start by saying i was very disappointed, but it was largely the fault of the venue :(. here's the setlist as i remember it: low hum grudge short piece of -ions Stinkfist (extended improvisation towards the end) Parabola Schism Sober (VERY surprisingly for me.. nice surprise) Disposition Reflection Triad (YES! i was jumping as i heard the start of it) Lateralus We (my dad, my friend and I) came a little late and came in just as System Of A Down had started... the accoustic took us all by surprise...it was truly awful...it was just a mix of noise they produced and u could only hear what they played when they played rather soft (which isnt often the case with SoaD!). So unimpressed we saw them leave the stage for Tool (took 20 mins to set up). The low hum was expected since i read reviews in here, and i was expecting The Grudge..it came.. but I could honestly not recognize it. Drums were much too loud (even though Danny was fantastic throughout) u could hardly hear Adam at all throughout the song (and the concert for that matter) and as usual Maynard could hardly be heard either forcing him to sing what sounded like an octave higher than the rest of the band!!... Sadly this took all the pleasure away until i heard Sober. I was surprised at the inclusion of it as i had read several people complaining/frustrated that no songs from Opiate or Undertow were played.. well here i was... listening to Sober... under awful conditions... I could've cried. Disposition gave me some hope again, but Adam for some reason completely vanished during Reflection and ESPECIALLY Triad... it was as if Danny was solo'ing for 15 mins with a lot of background noise coming from Justin and seemingly also Adam who pounced on his guitar, but was undone by Danny's hugely impressive, powerful and extremely loud pounding. (Also Maynard played the guitar from Schism (i think) up to Triad, taking a break at Sober. He was as usual in front of a small screen doing a lot of impressive movements but u only saw his silhouette all throughout.) I felt sorry for the band, for myself and for the other fans... it was simply disgraceful. The videos were uninspiring to say the least... they weren't videos or indeed the music clips they did for Parabola, Sober, Schism or Stinkfist as I had anticipated but very short moving pics "bouncing" to the rhythm. After seeing the same short piece "bouncing" for 2 minutes u decided to turn ur head elsewhere. Disappointing. Thankfully it stopped after Lateralus and Ozzy could take the scene. Somehow he could get a sound out of his band-mates' guitars while turning down the drums... If u ask me, I think Tool's sound mixer was partly to blame for the awful sound as well (probably 20% of the blame ... venue the rest obviously). But I don't know what Adam was thinking or doing... he hardly made a sound which ruined it all I think. Credit to Danny ... he was breathtaking and was great to watch. Maynard quiet as usual with his only "speech-words" early on being "goodevening... we are....... ..... Tool" ... later he thanked the audience for sharing the moment with them and he hoped Tool had inspired them for something different. Finally the trademark group hug and no extra's whatsoever. Final verdict: Very Disappointed, but I haven't given up seeing a cracking concert with them. Wonderful band they still amaze me each time i hear them. Too bad they didnt today.

Review written by: Patrick (pwinsheimer@aol.com) Review posted on: 05/23/02 20:47:09 ET

This was this reviewer's 21st Tool show

Hi, as the Sportpalais in Antwerpen is the bigget venue in which i have seen Tool play on this tour and i had a seet just on the opposite site of the stage, i was very far away from the band. What total contrast to how i could live through the Berlin show! It took me a long time to know absolutely for sure that Maynard was painted purple again. The setlist was the shortist one for this tour so far. The introduction of the additional drummer for Triad was serious this time. On this Ozzfest there were much more people than on the german one, and so much more people were into Tool. Now there won´t be any more Tool shows for me until the Ozzfest in Nimwegen, and i´m already looking forward to that one. CU Patrick

Review written by: ief (iefdd@hotmail.com) Review posted on: 05/24/02 05:52:41 ET

This was this reviewer's 3th Tool show

Setlist The grudge Stinkfist (extended, cool version) Parabola Sober Schism Reflection Disposition Triad (w/ System Of A Down drummer) Lateralus And that's all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Not sure about the correct order) Heard a little Eon Blue Apocalypse and Ions here and there. Fuck, I expected not much after all I had read but crappy setlist!!! No Aenema, Prison Sex, H or Ticks & Leeches. Bummer! The System Of A Down drummer seemed to have problems when he joined Danny. Who can drum along with Danny?? Maynard was painted in blue. Cool visuals but the same as last year - I think (?) The band hug ??? Cool show, sound was good but didn't like the setlist! And Ozzy rules big time!

Review written by: [wallie] (wallie_inc@hotmail.com) Review posted on: 05/24/02 06:33:28 ET

This was this reviewer's 11 Tool show

Antwerp - Sportpaleis. Visited/worked at this venue several times, never had a decent sound in this concreet punchbowl with roof. However, that should or could stop someone from seeing another TOOLshow! It's 7 PM. SOAD battles his way into Antwerp. Strong, fast set, smaching one song after another. Sound is not good at all, but nevertheless not that horrible to listen to. Quite some animo among the audience. This band is popular in Belgium, that's for shure. Best moment, best song: 'Aerials'. Nice warm-up for TOOL. Half an hour changeover. The midsquare is getting the more and more crowded. The Humm starts. The Grudge kicks in... The sound is a bit messy: base too loud, drums a bit 'wobling'. But I knew i had picked the right spot once again.Within 5 minutes sound became clear, not perfect, but a nice decent live-sound (judging the other reviews, i was a lucky bastard indeed). Stinkfist came in an extended version. Parabola missed parabol, but had some new graphics. Adam turned around, judging his own work. It was indeed beautiful to see his experiments with these colored spiral fractions, especially on the double screen. Schism had some new 'flame'shots added. Sober came once again with the b/w tentacle video and i hope Adam never decides to change it... i kinda like this creepy art. My personal favorite of the evening kicked in: Disposition - Reflection. These always make me freak out and i couldn't believe what i was hearing: the band went into Triad (assisted by John (SOAD) - who had some problems keeping up :-)) ). Never heard it live before and it was memorable. A moment burnt in my devolved DNA forever... By the time Lateralus ended i was exhausted... great finale once again... Remarkable: no ænima-songs, a pity, but it couldn't spoil the fun for me. And euh... yes, i was the funny little guy going 'bazooo' at the right side of the PA ;-) Duty now for the future, [wallie] btw: 'the pope of rock' sucked bigtime, but it was great fun to see him "hose" the frontrows constantly.

Review written by: ZenLord (zenlord@gmx.net) Review posted on: 05/24/02 08:26:17 ET

This was this reviewer's 2nd Tool show

Setlist: 1. The Grudge 2. Stinkfist (a little extended, not much) 3. Parabola 4. Schism 5. Sober 6. Disposition 7. Reflection 8. Triad 9. Lateralus Just before I headed over to the Tool show, I read some reviews of the past shows, including the first Ozzfest-gig in germany. Basically my remarks are the same: the group played quite sterile -maybe they're looking forward to some vacation? Although the venue is not really apt for high quality sound, Tool was the only performer who was able to sound good (not terrific though: they started with way to much bass, and during the performance there were times when high tones echoed in the venue - SOAD sounded terrible and Ozzy, well Ozzy should 've sticked to his hits and Sabbath stuff, maybe then we could have forgooten how bad he relly sounded... (The Lord Of Darkness himself was singing 'mama, I'm coming home' and inbetween he tried to get the audience to clap their hands, in a way he seemed to be excercising :) So, apart from the anticlimax, I was very glad I was there: no matter how sterile they play their music, in some way it gets to me like no other music can! Oh, and I hope someone recorded it: security was not tight at all, but since bass was really too much for my mic without a bass-roll-off, it wouldn't have been a good-enough recording. Contact me if you want to trade. Zl.

Review written by: ief (iefdd@hotmail.com) Review posted on: 05/24/02 14:14:40 ET

This was this reviewer's 3th Tool show

Hi Me again, I forgot sth important I think you might be interested in this. A friend of mine had an interview with Maynard himself last week in Luxemburg!!!! And you can find it (audio recording) on http://www.mine.be/nl/main.cfm? c=toolint&r=2002/020515/view# I typed the whole address for all of you "non dutch speaking folks" who want to hear Maynard speak. Pictures of the show are available there too! There's a cool picture of Justin. I managed to do an interview with the band myself but they didn't let me. Bummer again 'cause I'm writing a final on Tool...next time maybe. greetz ief

Review written by: unkle (earthtone7@hotmail.com) Review posted on: 05/24/02 14:56:33 ET

This was this reviewer's 1st Tool show

Tool played after SOAD and took their time setting up (mainly the visual aspect of the show, which by the way was brilliant, we have Adam to thank for that if im not mistaken). I'd name highlights but without trying to sound cheesy, the whole show was. But if I have to name a moment for argument's sake i'd say the 3-part epic disposition/reflection/triad was most memorable. Admitted, it was my first show, but i had no complaints about the sound. In my opinion they played louder then SOAD and Ozzy put together. Not loud as in "this is bad for my ears, but loud as in "this is stellar". Maynard's mini-speech came before the last song "lateralus", he thanked everybody for sharing the moment with them and hoped that the performers of the night were in some way inspirational or healing. (ofcourse) All in all, it left me wanting for more, which in my case is sort of a shame, seeing how they dont visit this small country all that often. But it goes without saying that im looking forward to the next opportunity. All that to not say that the experience is indescribable. You haven't lived untill you've seen/heard Tool live. Thank you for reading. see you auntie.

Review written by: Adrian (guruboy99@hotmail.com) Review posted on: 05/25/02 13:55:19 ET

This was this reviewer's 1st? Tool show

im really having a hard time believing u ppl out there that uactually thought the sound was good! I mean i refuse to believe that u could hear Adam anywhere in that hall... sure enough Danny was impressive but in Reflection it was as if he played alone for 4 mins!... u could hear a screech here and there from Adam or Justin but that was all really. Either u were stoned as hell or u didn't really pay attention to what they actually played (which in this case wouldve been a bonus)... I praise Tool for their music and their lyrics, but this time i can't defend them though i still argue that the venue was at fault neither of the 3 bands were.

Review written by: Adrian (guruboy99@hotmail.com) Review posted on: 05/25/02 14:38:30 ET

This was this reviewer's 1st? Tool show

im really having a hard time believing u ppl out there that uactually thought the sound was good! I mean i refuse to believe that u could hear Adam anywhere in that hall... sure enough Danny was impressive but in Reflection it was as if he played alone for 4 mins!... u could hear a screech here and there from Adam or Justin but that was all really. Either u were stoned as hell or u didn't really pay attention to what they actually played (which in this case wouldve been a bonus)... I praise Tool for their music and their lyrics, but this time i can't defend them though i still argue that the venue was at fault neither of the 3 bands were.

Review written by: Brecht (brecht_moerenhout@hotmail.com) Review posted on: 05/26/02 06:38:44 ET

This was this reviewer's 2nd Tool show

I went to see System of a down, Tool and Ozzy Osbourne at the Sportpaleis in Antwerpen this Thursday, although it was a school day. I was looking forward to seeing System of a down, but the band I really wanted to see was Tool. I had been living to the concert weeks before and I was getting ready to be blown away by their amazing music for the second time in my life. About half an hour after me and my friends got at the concert hall, System of a down started. They surprised me in a positive way. They played a nice variety of songs off of their both albums. For anyone who's interested, they played (not in the right order and there may be a couple of mistakes) Jet pilot, Know, Needles, Deer dance, Chop suey, Bounce, Toxicity, Psycho, Aerials, Suite-pee, Suggestions, Ddevil, War? (this was the highlight of their show for me) and they ended with Sugar. They really got the crowd going, a great warm-up for Tool. About half an hour after System of a down got off the stage, the lights went out again, the circle of flaming eyes were projected onto the screens and a deep hum filled the venue. I immediately recognised it as the intro of The Grudge, which also was the song they started with at Werchter. I was about 2 meters away from Justin, a bit to the rightside of the stage. I really enjoyed the music, while people were giving me weird looks because of my 'awkward' dancing style. (I was the small, thin kid in the white shirt.) I was very impressed with Danny's drumming. Justin was really into it too, shaking his head to the rhythm and looking at the crowd. In the beginning, Maynard was behind a white screen where his silhouette was projected on. He was only wearing undies, was painted purple with fluorescent pink dots and was doing his infamous dance. He played guitar in some of the songs. The crowd was really into Tool, there wasn't much air to breathe nor was there much space to move. There was a better atmosphere than at the Werchter show last year, due to the facts that Werchter is an open air festival and that they played pretty early during the day. Tool played a somewhat similar setlist to the Werchter one. I liked the Werchter setlist better though (because they played 46&2 and Ænema then). This time, they only played 1 song off of Undertow and 1 song off of Ænima, the rest of the songs were all Lateralus songs. The setlist was: * The grudge * Stinkfist (extended version) * Parabola * Schism (extended version) * Sober * Disposition * Reflection * Triad (with System of a Down drummer) * Lateralus The song trio off of Lateralus - being Disposition, Reflection and Triad - was very soothing and was very nice to witness Tool play them. Just like last time, they ended with Lateralus. I also think they may have played a bit of (-)ions and Merkaba. Just before Schism started, Danny played a part similar to the Eulogy intro and for a moment, I thought they were gonna play that one, which would have been fantastic since Eulogy is one of my favourtie songs off of Ænima. After each song, the crowd roared approvingly and I gave them 2 thumbs up. Maynard didn't say much during the entire show, he said "Good evening" and "We are .... Tool". I thought he was gonna say "We are .... N'sync", like he did in Australia. He also had his little speech before they played Lateralus, thanking the crowd for sharing the moment. After Maynard's speech, Tool group hugged. At the end of the concert, he told us to enjoy Ozzy. Danny threw a couple of drum sticks in the crowd, but not that many. Some people were shouting for more drumsticks, but Danny put up his shoulders and smiled. A couple of small things kind of irked me though. There were a couple of people who really moshed to each and every song, including Disposition, and were constantly pushing and shoving (isn't that a lyric in Pushit?) others. The sound wasn't too good either, Maynard's voice was pretty quiet and you could barely hear Adam's guitar, especially during Reflection. I was very pleased to hear Disposition, Reflection and Triad, but the setlist wasn't all that good. I would have loved hearing something off of Opiate and a little more off of Undertow and Ænima, but that is no complaint however. I have no reason to complain about the show. All in all, it was near perfection. I didn't let a couple of annoying things ruin the astonishing show for me. I hope to see Tool playing their own show one day, instead of playing a festival, but I guess I'll have to wait a while for my 3rd Tool experience. After 1 hour and some, they left the stage, leaving the crowd amazed at what they just witnessed. They gave me a positive feeling that I still have now.

Review written by: Master Reviewer (jeffrey.jonk@msn.nl) Review posted on: 05/26/02 07:22:18 ET

Hi, The setlist was 1.Flood?Grudge 2.

Review written by: Master Reviewer (jeffrey.jonk@msn.nl) Review posted on: 05/26/02 07:24:46 ET

Hi, The setlist was 1.Flood?Grudge 2.Ticks & Leeches 3.Stinkfist (Extended) 4.Merkaba/Sober 5.Schism 6.Forty Six & 2 7.Parabol/a 8.Eulogy 9.Dispostion 10.Reflection 11.Triad 12.The Patient 13.Push-It 14.Jimmy 15.Aenema 16.Opiate 17.Lateralus

Review written by: Bart (dewaelebart@hotmail.com) Review posted on: 05/29/02 06:24:46 ET

This was this reviewer's 10th Tool show

Hi, I just want to say that it doesn't really matter what people say about a Tool concert. We all have experienced the same and yet such a different show. We are all individuals! (Do I hear somebody shout: 'I'm not!'?) Ok, the sound in Antwerp was not always that good but that's not the fault of the band. By the way, in front the sound was much better! And a big 'point that finger up your ass!' to all the stupid 'diving' and 'pushing' people who were troubling the real Tool fans to listen and to enjoy the show. They (Tool) have given everything again and I could feel that. They've even played my favourite song ever: Sober! The only thing I've missed was the real Tool feeling which I've experienced in Vienna and especially in the much smaller venues of the Vooruit (Ghent) a few years ago. Therefor I hope that Tool will come again to Europe to headline some more shows. These guys put everything what's in them in their music and what they give us is a true reflection of life. Sometimes you can feel the beauty and sometimes you experience the anger that comes from way down. Just to name two of the feelings ... I'm looking forward to see Tool again in Nijmegen!