From: Jennifer Sanders (js297027@ops2.esu19.k12.ne.us)
Subject: concert review...march 6, 1997


	Unfortunately, I'd have to sum up my first Tool concert as 
"disappointing."  However, it was not a total loss.  Perhaps I went to 
this show with expaectations set far too high, which seemed to be the 
consensus among my friends who also attended.  This doesn't mean Tool 
didn't sound great, which they did; but, I can hear Tool sound great on 
C.D.  Missing was the band-crowd connection that makes a concert worth 
paying $20 to see, as far as I'm concerned.  The entire band seemed 
completely disinterested in what they were doing, with the exception of  
the last few songs.  The crowd did absolutely nothing to encourage Tool 
to play passionately.  During the entire show Tool was graced with "Fuck 
You", "Play 'Hooker with a Penis'", and of course, "Pull down your boxers 
so I can see your big, purple penis."  Along with htese comments, the 
band was also subjected to objects constantly being flung near the stage 
(at one point a shirt or a pair of shorts landed on Maynard's head which 
didn't seem to hinder what he was doing) and being flipped off throughout 
the set.  It seemed as if Maynard was having mic trouble.  His mic sent 
out incredibly shrill feedback for all of us to enjoy...He motioned "I 
don't know," shaking his mics to the side of the stage a few times before 
he finally gave up or something was fiexed.  Maynard began his little 
quip, "This is our last song..." but much to everyone's disappointment, 
he didn't go on to say, "off our last album..."  Instead he finished, 
"It's about California falling into the ocean.  It's also about tornadoes 
(being that this is the midwest the audience cheered...> and famine and 
Taco Bell and 'Star Wars' and 'The Empire Strikes Back' and 'Return of 
the Jedi' and its also about you."  <---or something similar to that...
After this song he said, "Good night.  Thank ou all for coming."  The 
band left the stage throwing out some water bottles and drum 
sticks...and that was the end of their 9 song set.

I think my friend DeLaina was right when she said, "I don't mean to sound 
'superior' to the rest of the audience, but I feel like the majority of 
the crowd ruined it for me and ruined it for Tool.  I feel as though the 
stereotype of 'Nebraska Hick Crowd' has been perpetuated.  I don't expect 
them to come back..."

With all the not-so-great particulars aside, there were still some 
highlights worth noting.  Maynard and Justin were painted blue (although 
some will disaggree on Justin's color).  Adam and Maynard both wore 
markings of reflective-type paint that appeared to glow in red light.  
Maynard's "dance" was mesmerizing...Each of his mivements seemed so 
precise and completely fluid.  A friend of mine commented that he 
appeared to move like the characters in the "Sober" video.  Perhpas one 
the neatest parts of the show was unintentional.  On the walls to either 
side of the stage were HUGE silohetted shadows of the band members and 
fan blakes spinning (it was so neat!!!!!)

Set list:

-Third Eye (uninspired)

-Stinkfist (really uninspired)

-46 & 2 (half-way passionately played, I really loved the screen images 
for this one









From: bodies (bodies@earthlink.net)
Subject: tool concert review (March 6th, Omaha Nebraska)

This was the best god damn show I have ever been to, if that says much 

Lets start with whats first, the opening band (or in this case, 
bands...ugh)

I'm pretty sure it was "Lodestar" that was the first opening band. I 
didnt know for sure, and didnt much care. And after I heard them I still 
didnt care. They completely sucked. Just about everybody thought they 
sucked. I think their was like one guy who liked them and his dumbass 
(sorry if your reading this and i offend you..but shit what the hell is 
wrong with you??? Maybe they just suck live and I should give them a 
better chance...nah) was singing along the whole time. The singer looked 
like he felt warm and fuzzy to know he had a fan and he acknowledged the 
guy singing and he felt all happy too. ooh, touching. Anyway I do not 
know if tool had allowed the band to use the whole sound system cuz it 
sure sounded like they were straining it. His voice kept getting choopped 
up and the guitar occasionly sounded like a dog barking sound. I dont 
know much about guitars, so perhaps you can figure out what the hell was 
wrong. Finally the band said thanx, walked off stage and said the melvins 
were next. Great.

I could almost swear...I dont think anyone knew he the melvins were at 
this show! Do you know why? Because I saw some dorky looking guy with a 
huge ass afro moshing while Lodestar was playing. Then when the melvins 
get on stage.....I realize that was him! That or the guy looked just like 
him! I mean shit, the melvins came on stage just before they started 
playing and we all thout it was another freaking freak roadie or 
something. Until the lights went out and people realized it was the band. 
Everybody pretended to know them while they went threw a bunch of shitty 
songs I found boring and just got me more excited about tool. The few 
intresting points about the melvins perforemence: -=The lead singer is 
one of those few blessed white men with an afro -=The bassist looked like 
some country hick and it was really funny (hell these guys LOOKED like 
melvins) ((was this some crack on nebraska? after all most people think 
that nebraska is just a bunch of farmland or something. do the melvins 
dress like this at other shows? email me...))
-=They supposedly covered some tool song but I dont think anyone 
reconized it, I didnt, everyone I asked didnt, and you couldnt understnad 
a damn word he said.

The lights went on..and everyoe prepared for TOOL! The roadies set up the 
shit, and put a few statues that looked like the guys from the 
"Stinkfist" video onstage. About 20 minutes later the lights went out.
I was upfront, like, literally front row, and the white flame (now know 
online as "the smokebox") thingie started....Screams rose up as the thing 
had colors behind it that were like uh..changing. It really was, cool. I 
felt millions of kids rush up from behind me and try to get in front of 
me. I let them go ahead, a few kids back aint gonna make a difference. 
The band came on and didnt say a word. They just started playing third 
eye (a kick ass song, a great song for openin too). They cut out the 
begginging part from bill hicks about drugs and stuff. heh. The body heat 
was unbelieveable, i was sufficating as a matter a fact. The whole crowd 
swayed back and forth, their was no room to mosh. Maynard was painted 
blue like usual, and the bassist was painted that too. The other dood was 
painted anything, which i hear, is unusual. Same with the drummer, but 
that isnt unusual heh. Maynard wore his usual boxer shorts only. He 
glowed in the dark, something I always heard about that he did (this is 
my first tool concert) but it was really freaky when i saw it. his eyes 
scared the shit out of me. 

Here is the list of songs they played, in order (i'm pretty damn sure i 
got this right) along with a few notes about the song. 

1-Third Eye-Mosh pit was most hectic now cuz it was first song and 
everybody was hyper. I nearly puked. Played perfectly..and I am pretty 
sure they didnt use any machinery for many of the effects in this song. 
It was great.

2-Stinkfist-Had added verse between "how can this mean anything to me if 
i really dont feel a thing at all" and "i'll keep digging until I feel 
something"...really cool!

3-46 & 2- Nothing different here other than the fact that it rocked 
better then it ever has

----Maynard speaks! finally
Maynard: This is our new bassist, he's from lincoln nebraska. (Our state 
capital)
crowd: YEAH! YEAH! YEAH!
me: YEAH! THAT ROOLS! wait a second...HE aint from nebraska! hehe..cruel 
joke. It struck me then that I cheered for whatever maynard said, heh. 
Sadly most of the wacky kids here didnt realize that the new bassist 
really isnt from our state..

4- 4 degrees- (i'm not too sure if I have this one in the right spot..o 
well) well played, nice to have some undertow songs thats for sure. 
Intresting..4degrees is the forth song..coincidence? i think not! 

5-Eulogy- Perhaps my favorite song by tool and maybe my fav song ever. It 
was great. Maynard played some of the weird "bow bow bow's" at the 
begging of the song threw some weird instrument he played with his mouth. 
Someone threw something at him while he was playing this, and he was 
facing backwards, and it hit him, and it looked like it scared the shit 
out of him. He jumped up, looked behind him, and just kept on playing 
even though he missed a few notes. 

6-H-nice and calming..their was a great vibe during this song...excellent 
live.

7-Prison Sex-Had extra verse, one of my personal favs 

----Band starts talking amongst each other, maynard walks up and like 
starts whispering something to each member of the band, and even though I 
was kinda pushed to the back by now and I couldnt see what was going on 
as good as I could before, I think maynard walked of the stage for a 
little while or layed down as the band started playing some wacky 10 
minute long guitar and drum stuff as it broke into sober. When sober 
began I saw maynard stand up and begin singing. I think most people were 
confused as to what the hell was going on right then, but I knew what 
they were doing cuz I had read many a review mentioning it online..heh

8-Sober-Mosth pit had the greatest vibe during this song. The whole crowd 
did cuz everyone and their moma knows the words to this song. Maynard was 
doing a really funky dance during this song. It was probaly the best song 
they played live, but certainly not their best song. 

----Maynard says to crowd "this is the last song" and I expected him to 
say "off our first cd" but you know what? he didnt. matter a fact they 
didnt even play opiate! Instead he said this: "This song is about la 
sinking into the ocean...flash floods...tornados...star wars..empire 
strikes back...return of the jedi..taco bell...AND YOU!"hehehhee. He then 
started into the "hey, hey, hey,"s of aenmia. He didnt say his usual 
"pair of trousers" joke, either.

9-Aenima-Mosh pit, in my opinion, was wildest now. They all knew it was 
the last song and moshed their hearts out. Song was played great. I dont 
even like the song that much on the cd (i mean shit its great, but tool 
has so many other good songs) but I loved it live. 

----Lights went on, Maynard said thanx, band members threw water 
bottles/drumsticks/guitar picks into the audience. 

I felt depressed that the show was over but it had to end sometime. 

Their wasnt much "chickenweaseling", i heard none of it. I think this was 
because the toolshed announced about dead just before the concert. heh.

I only have a two, minor complaints about this concert, most not the 
bands fault
-=Fucking crazy ass kids nowadayz. I personally dont like to mosh, i go 
for the music, but when someone starts shoving me I hafto back. The crowd 
surfing gets out of control too. Still, nevertheless, the show wouldnt of 
been the same if it werent for the whole violent vibe there. I just wish 
people could tone it down a little. -=No opiate! agh. I love that song. 
Oh well the songs they did play were great.

Well I cant wait till tool comes back to omaha again. I hope it is soon. 
GO SEE TOOL! GET TICKETS NOW! you wont regret it, i promise. 

-=bodies@smashing-pumpkins.com
-=(my real name is ben)











From: "cheezer cheezwheel" (JJEDTCM@msn.com)

I just got home from the concert im Omaha, Ne and I'm writing while it's 
all fresh in my mind.

I got to the show about 45 minutes early, and some band from D.C. was 
playing. At 7:30 the Melvins came on. I thought they played an alright 
set, but they werent a real crowd pleaser. They played for maybe 45 
minutes, then the anticipation began.
After about 25 minutes of seting up, the boys came out and started there 
set. They opened with third eye, which was really good. Maynard came out 
with his blue paint and red spots. The others were painted too, except 
for Danny. 
Maynard did not talk much, the only time he talked was when he introduced 
Justin as their new bass player from Lincoln, NE. I think he was a bit 
upset because some ass hole threw a shirt that landed right on his head. 
Plus there were many chants of Opiate heard, maybe why they didnt even 
play the song :-( All in all they played a great show.
I was hoping to hear Hooker..., but they skipped that one too. I got a 
set list, and heres what they played:	Third Eye (turd eye on the list)
Stinkfist
46 & 2
Prison Sex
Eulogy
4*
H.
Sober
�nema

I'm really glad I got to see this show. Cant wait to see 'em in 
Lollapolooza, if they get there.
Justin(cheezer)
JJEDTCM@msn.com










From: "Craig S. Enstad" (enst0005@maroon.tc.umn.edu)
Subject: Omaha, Mar. 6

Omaha stylee! Made a road trip to the Cornhusker state, seeing as our 
favorite band opted to bypass the Twin Cities. A few comments about 
Omaha: don't go there! The city's cold and vacuous. All the buildings in 
the downtown area are boarded up, probably because of all the hoods, who 
by the way, have a lot of attitude (as evident in the crowd). A lot of 
meatheads in the crowd who decided to come to the Sold Out show, run into 
each other to the beat of the song, buy a T-Shirt (which sold out 
quickly), and tell their friends the next day how great Tool was. 
Melvins (the perennial opening band) threw down first. Of course, the 
crowd hated them. They're not exactly a crowd-pleasing band.
And now to Tool. A few comments about their overall performance. The 
songs were very tight, exactly like they are on the albums. Although, all 
the songs were noticably slower, which seems to be common among bands. 
The effects on the backround screen flowed well with the music. They all 
looked very focused on stage, especially Maynard. He constantly stared at 
the back of the auditorium through the first song. Justin, painted all 
black, really got into the music. Adam didn't look as sombre as he 
usually does; actually cracked a couple smiles. The man, Danny, of course 
dominated the stage. He seemed like he was having a good time. Really 
slapped his drums hard. However, the crowd really pissed the band off, so 
they DID NOT play an encore. Meaning, they didn't play Opiate. You can 
only imagine how angry I am toward Omaha.
Third Eye: Great version, of course the crowd couldn't get into it. 
Maynard was fixated on the concession stand.
Stinkfist: The crowd's favorite, I'm sure. An addition before the "I'll 
keep..." section. Parts of the video were shown on the screen.
46 and 2: Beautiful. My personal fav. Danny was right on tempo during his 
little solo.
Prison Sex: Another addition before "I have found..." Justin's bass gave 
out during that part, and it took the crew a minute to fix it. Maynard 
was a little ticked. Reason #1 they didn't play an encore. Again, the 
video was displayed in the backround screen.
Eulogy: As Maynard made those noises during the intro (back to the 
audience), some mindless fuck threw a pair of boxers on his blue head. He 
quickly removed them and probably said, "No encore for these assholes." 
At the part when he says, "To ascend..." Maynard apathetically hung the 
microphone toward the crowd. Of course, no one knew the lyrics, so the 
effect was lost. They added some extra riffs/beats at the end.
H: On the screen, a tribe was bouncing up and down, spears in hand, to 
the beat. It looked like you were looking through Predator vision. Very 
stimulating. 
4 degrees: Excellent. The unsung hero.
Sober: Maynard, Adam, and Justin sat down before the man and listened 
intently to his solo. Incredible! He started off using his electronic 
drums, making strange, extraterrestrial-like sounds. Then, moved into his 
solo, slapping the toms at first, then added some cymbals. Near the end 
of the solo, Adam added some effects with his newly acquired epilady 
(only one of them), moving it back and forth in front of his guitar. 
Interesting sound. 
AEnima: Maynard said, "This is our last song." No "..off our first 
album." Kinda sad. He added that the song was about LA falling into the 
ocean. Then said it was about his dog, and Adam's car, and some other 
things I can't recall. Some nice strobe effects near the end. Great song 
to close with, but would have enjoyed Opiate. 
So, (1) don't go to Omaha, and (2) pray they'll play Lollapalooza.