From: "Aaron E." (aaron@opium.reno.nv.us)
Subject: Review of the 3-16 Tool show.

Hey Kabir,

My girlfriend and I went to see the Tool show in San Diego at Rimac Arena
on
March 16, 1997. This was the last U.S. date on their current tour and they
did quite a different setlist. Here that is first of all:

(-)ions
Third Eye
Stinkfist
Prison Sex
Forty Six & 2
4 Degrees
Eulogy
H.
PuShit
Drum solo/Intro
Sober
Opiate
�nema

As usual, Maynard was painted all blue and wearing only a pair of boxers. 
He had white dots on his chest and some on his arms I think. Justin was
shirtless and painted a dark purple or black. Danny was only wearing a
pair of shorts and Adam was dressed normal. The Melvins opened right at
8pm, and even though I knew they sucked, I went anyway to hear their cover
of the Floyd's "Interstellar Overdrive", which was pretty good. The rest
of their show was awful. Then it was about 20 minutes after they left that
the lights went out and the smokebox was on the video screens. The whole
gym/arena was rumbling from the bass in (-)ions. Then Tool came out and
just blew us all away. The biggest crowd reponse was to Stinkfist. The
whole of Sober, including the intro, came to about 17 minutes and was
awesome. The video was a nice touch. I did find it hard to look away from
the stage because of Maynard's presence. He was twisting and squirming and
convulsing to the music. Just one great show. The only song I really
missed hearing was Crawl Away. But oh well. I'll have to wait until next
time. Maynard seemed quite talkative this show. Some things he said, but
these aren't exact quotes: 

Before Prison Sex:
'This next song is about anal sex.'
Before Eulogy (I think):
'This next song, like many of our other songs, is about anal sex.'
Before PuShit:
'This next song is not about anal sex, unlike most of our other songs.
This one is about buttfucking'
Before Opiate:

Talked about how these people got together and developed a theology in
which we all were one and shared energy and all that good stuff. Then
these people got agents and they fucked everything up. 'This songs is for
those people.  The agents I mean.'

Before �nema:
'Wanna hear a joke? Ok, there are these 2 record executives walking down
the street and see this hot girl. One says "God, I'd like to fuck her" and
the other says "I'd like to"' - something like that. I didn't get it
'Okay, this next joke isn't about our last song. What's this (breath,
breath)?
A pair of pants'

He also introduced Justin as 'our new bass player from Riverside, a suburb
of London.' and talked about how the Pope says it is wrong for people to
have premarital sex and all, but not wrong to smoke. Maynard hopes to die
while fucking and thinks that is how we should all go out.

That is all for now. If anybody else at that show agrees/disagrees with me
about any of this, especially the setlist, let me know please. Thanks,
Aaron

aaron@opium.reno.nv.us









From: QRYCHE3@aol.com
Subject: concert review: 3-16-97 San Diego

Most everything was great about this show (the exception being the 
Melvins--they were terrible). The screens were up as usual, with the 
smoke box as the first image. Adam was the first to hit the stage, 
followed by Justin and Danny. Nard came out last, and immediately walked 
to the opposite side of the stage, raising his hands straight up in the 
air as if to say "worship me, rock god". The action was directed at two 
women standing on the side of the stage. Very funny. They opened with 
Turd Brie, as usual. Here is the setlist in no particular order:
Third Eye
Stinkfist
Eulogy
4�
Prison Sex
Long (at least 10 minutes) intro to...
Sober
H.
Forty Six & 2
Pushit
Opiate
�nema

It was a great show. They were all in top form. There were a few changes. 
For example, at the end of Turd Brie, the Nard considerably shortened the 
"prying open my turd brie" chant. He only did it four times instead of 
the usual ten. He changed a few of the lyrics in Smoke-It, and if I 
remember correctly Eulomilch was slightly different toward the end. Here 
are a few amusing statements, jokes, etc. that came from Nard: 

1.When introducing Stinkbrie: "This song, like all our songs tonight, is 
about anal sex."
2.When introducing Eulomilch: "This song is about anal sex." 3.When 
introducing Prison Meat: "This is a song about buttfucking." 4."You know, 
it seems recently that everyone's afraid to have sex, but I see 
everyone's smoking. That kills you too. The way I see it, if you're gonna 
die, why not die fucking?"
5. "This is Justin. He hails from Riverside, California, a suburb of 
London." 6. "Ok, so two Record Executives are walking down the street 
when a really hot looking chick walks by. One exec says "Damn, I'd love 
to fuck her". And the other exec says "Out of what?".
7. He went into his speech about agents ("Then they get an agent and fuck 
it all up.") when introducing Opiate.
8. "What is this.....aye aye aye..?.......A pair of pants." 

That is all. Oh, I'd like to extend my thanks to Tatums Rack. Thank you. 


Qryche3








From: Poot5150@aol.com
Subject: March 16th Review....San Diego


I arrived at the concert full of energy and excited to see Tool live for 
the first time. After 45 minutes of "noise" courtesy of the Melvins, 
followed by another 30 minutes of Tool building up the suspense with 
eerie music, the band finally took the stage. Standing in the far back, I 
could barely make out the orange dots that covered Maynard's blue body. 
As the band opened with Third Eye, the crowd went crazy. Unsatisfied with 
my view of the show, I pushed my way throught the crowd till I was 
directly in front of Justin. The second song was Stinkfist and never had 
I felt so much energy from the crowd. The crowd swayed along to the 
music, hundreds of sweaty bodies pressing together. We all stared in awe 
at Maynard as he danced on stage. The band went through their lineup 
(46&2, H, Eulogy, Pushit, Sober w/ 10 min. intro, Opiate, and finally 
AEnema). Several times during the show I had to escape the mob of people 
but I always went back for more. 
Maynard did the usual throughout the show by introducing Justin, doing 
the last song bit, and pretending the show was over just to come back 
with AEnema. This was an awesome and unforgettable show. Tool rules.


Lauren Carr











From: "Brian Mafi" (Brian_Mafi@smtpgate.Mitchell.Com)
Subject: Tool Review-3-16


Kabir,

Attended last nights' Tool show (3-16; San Diego), thought I'd throw in 
my 2 cents' worth.

The boys took the stage with the "smoke boxes" fuming and a "-Ion" like 
intro rumbling the fillings out of everyones' teeth... 

Set:	Third Eye
Stinkfist- scattered "chickenweasels"...cool extra section
4 Degrees- had an additional section
46 & 2
Prison Sex
Eulogy- extended riff at end- CRUSHING!
H
Pushit- cool 2 minute intro, kinda like "The End" (Doors) Sober- with 12 
minute intro-"the aliens have landed!" Opiate
Aenima

They played about 1 hr, 45 min. Maynard was blue, Justin was gray, all 
were one with Tool. Maynard was almost jocular. Virtually every song was 
introduced as "being about anal sex", much to the amusement of the crowd. 
He did tell a GREAT joke before doing the "pair of pants" bit before 
Aenima:" these 2 record company execs are walking down the street when 
this beautiful girl walks by. One guy turns to the other and says, boy 
I'd like to fuck her. The other guys says, outta what?" HA HA!! Most 
people didn't seem to get it; not enough musicians in the crowd...

All in all, a great show. Can't believe they can recreate the 
arrangements from "Aenima" so precisely. My first Tool show, and it was 
definitely worth the wait. They have certainly upped the ante for bands 
that THINK they're playing their asses off. 

Peace, Love, Chickenweasel,

Brian Mafi









From: Shift619@aol.com

I need to write this down real fast before I forget anything about it. 
I'll just give you my account of the evening, just in case anyone out 
there really cares. It might be lengthy, but it should result in a pretty 
accurate description of a TOOL show, and don't you think that they 
deserve the time? 

March 16, 1997

Although the concert started at 8, we got there at 5:30 to try to hook up 
with some friends of ours. We finally found them at about 7 and were let 
inside soon thereafter. RIMAC Arena was pretty big; a good place to hold 
a concert. We all sat around talking for about 45 minutes before all the 
lights shut off and everyone got up and rushed the stage. It was the 
Melvins. They were an alright band, but everyone there just wanted to see 
TOOL. Plus the fact that any band would sound like crap next to TOOL. The 
singer came out and said "I would just like to introduce myself: my name 
is Tool and we're very grateful for being so nice to ourselves on this 
tour." 
The singer had really cool hair. It looked like some kind of explosion 
occurred on his head. The bass player looked like a down-home country boy 
and the drummer made some really retarded faces while they played. People 
kept throwing shit at the band. Someone threw a shirt up there and the 
singer picked it up, wiped his ass with it and threw it back into the 
crowd. 
He also got pegged in the head by something later on in the show. After a 
while they left the stage. (I could see Adam hiding behind one of the 
speakers watching the show.) Then the lights all went on and we sat 
around talking about TOOL while they set up. Danny's got a huge kit. They 
had these weird gray statues everywhere that looked like the characters 
from the "Stinkfist" video. They were playing some weird electronic music 
over the PA. Then the lights went off and everyone once again rushed 
forward. A huge curtain in back of the stage dropped, revealing two huge 
screens. The smokebox showed on both of them. It was mesmerizing to say 
the least. The background color changed from black to green and back 
again while smoke drifted from the white center. This went on for about 
five minutes before the band came out to play. Then they all come out and 
start into an arresting version of "Third Eye." Great opener. Maynard was 
wearing boxer shorts and boots, painted completely blue with red dots 
down the middle of his chest, arms and legs and also on his head. Justin 
was painted black. 
Adam had a few dots painted on his face and his hair braided. At the end 
of the song while Maynard was screaming "Prying open my third eye!" he 
jerked with every hit of music as if some great force was trying to knock 
him down. 
After that they played "Stinkfist," during which I got pushed way back 
into the pit, where I didn't want to be. "Stinkfist" had some extra music 
in it, but I almost didn't notice it since I was just trying to get out 
of the pit. 
On the video screen they just had some shots from the video. And yes, I 
think it's safe to say that the "chickenweasel" era is definitely over. 
After that, Maynard says, "This song is about anal sex." Can you guess 
which one it is? "Four Degrees." He also dedicated it to some guy, who's 
name I can't remember. Well, I'm still in the pit at this point and I 
can't seem to push my way forward, so I decide to go to my right and get 
out. On my way out some guy rushed into me and headbutts me in the mouth. 
Bloody lip. Finally I find my way out of the pit. After the song is over, 
Maynard introduces Justin as their new bass player, informing us that 
he's from Riverside, California. "London," he said, "a nice little 
suburb." They then played "Forty-six & 2." During this song some guy in 
front of me goes crowd-surfing (which there was a lot of) and on his way 
up kicks me in the jaw. Bloody lip. On the video screens were what looked 
like gears turning into each others, like in a clock. Don't ask. After 
that they played "Prison Sex," including the extra verse. On the video 
screens they played some shots from the video. After the song Maynard 
says, "Speaking of anal sex." They then went into "Eulogy." It was damn 
cool. During the chorus they played a video of the evolution from ape to 
man (I think that would have fit "Forty-six & 2" better) and during the 
rest of the song they played the same thing, only showing the skeleton 
evolving. He held the mic toward the crowd during the "to ascend you must 
die" part and brought it back for the impressingly long "Goodbye." 
Everything was perfect. They kept playing the last four notes over and 
over again. And in case any of you don't know yet, the clicking in the 
intro is Adam and what sounds like the weird distorted guitar is Maynard 
through a megaphone. The rest is bass and drums. Maynard says "This song, 
unlike our other songs, is about buttfucking." They start into "H.," 
adding in a little alternate beginning. They play everything so perfect. 
Maynard kept singing "I don't mind" over and over again before bringing 
it up into a scream, at which point the instruments reentered. 
After "H." Maynard says something like, "You know, since the Catholic 
church removed everything that's feminine and emotional sex has really 
become a bad thing. And, well, I think sex is the most positive energy 
that two people can generate. And so now people are afraid to have sex, 
but you still smoke. 
I mean, you know that kills you. So I figure that if you're gonna die, 
you might as well die fucking." Preach on, Reverend Maynard. Then they 
played "Pushit," adding a new intro. Behind them on two giant video 
screens were videos of elephants and camels fucking and a bunch of naked 
tribal men jumping around. When the song is over Maynard says, "The quiet 
one." After that they played a lot of feedback. Adam was down by his amp 
making weird noises and Justin was down by his scraping his pick along 
the strings. 
Maynard repeated "Thank God, thank God" over and over again. Danny eased 
into a drum solo and Justin stood up and started to play with him. It 
sounded oddly like the slow part of "Bottom." Maynard sat down in the 
front looking down with a distant look in his face, never moving. 
Meditating? 
Possibly. I don't even think he so much as blinked the whole time. He 
really scares me. There was so much bass and I was so close to the 
speakers that I seriously thought I was going to hurl on the people in 
front of me. 
Feedback...feedback...feedback..."Sober." On the video screens was the 
character from "Sober" featured in some new animation along with some 
from the video. After "Sober" Maynard says, "This is our last song...off 
our first album." He then went on to say something about these people who 
prophecized that we're all one being. Unity. "And then they get an agent 
to go and fuck it all up," he says. "This song is about the agents and 
not the people who told the story." "Opiate" kicked ass and the crowd 
went crazy for it. Maynard said, "Thank you, goodnight." Then they all 
huddled up and talked. After that Maynard told a couple jokes. "So a 
couple record company guys are walking down the street in Hollywood and 
see this really hot girl and one record company guy says 'Damn, I'd like 
to fuck her,' and the other record company guys says, 'Outta what?'" 
Nobody laughed. Then Maynard says "Ok, this is an English joke, so some 
of you guys might not get it; and this has nothing to do with the next 
song. Ok, what is this? 'Hey, hey.' A pair of pants." Nobody laughed at 
this one either. Maynard gave the crowd a disappointed look. People are 
stupid. Then Maynard started whispering "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey..." into 
the mic and "AEnema" was upon us. They pulled this song off very well. 
Maynard sang "Fuck retro anything..." before singing "Fuck L. Ron 
Hubbard..." And while he was singing "Learn to swim..." he crouched down 
and swung his arms around him and turned a circle before standing back up 
to sing. After the song was over they threw some water and drum sticks 
into the crowd and left the stage. I then regrouped with my friends, got 
ripped off by buying a hat for $23 (not that TOOL isn't worth it, though, 
right?) and left the concert. It's definitely an experience to remember, 
as was the last concert I saw here in October. I definitely recommend to 
everyone to go see TOOL at any opportunity you get. 

Set list for March 16, 1997:

Third Eye
Stinkfist
Four Degrees
Forty-six & 2
Prison Sex
Eulogy
H.
Pushit
Sober
Opiate
AEnema

Thanks for your time. Later.

Any questions/comments are welcome.

Jeremy
Shift619@aol.com







From: Jeff Fielding (fielding@mail.sdsu.edu)
Subject: review for UCSD show, March 16,1997 Status: U

The Melvins. They were really shitty. Some good ideas at times, but they 
never took them anywhere. So fuck talking about them. 
Tool. As they took the stage Maynard was painted blue with orange dots on 
his head and chest, it looked very cool when he danced. His dancing as 
always was amazing to watch. He can move his spine like a snake. This was 
my fifth time seeing them, and his best vocal performance yet, the 
highlights being Pushit and Aenima. "this next on is about anal sex," he 
said grinning before every song, and before Pushit he said jokingly, 
"this next song, unlike our others is about buttfucking." He even cracked 
a few jokes. 
Danny Carey delivered a flawless performance. Seeing him play live makes 
one realize just how powerful and precise he really is. I was amazed by 
his playing of everything you hear on the albums, and this was best 
displayed on Eulogy. He simultaneously plays all the drums parts during 
the beginning and verse, which includes many difficult patterns together. 
Danney makes every part that he plays very easy looking, which if you are 
a drummer know that the latter is not true. 
This is the first time that I have seen Justin Chancellor with the band, 
and I was impressed. His playing gives the band a much thicker bottom 
end. Danney and him seemed to lock in very well, and the two of them 
together produce such a powerful sound. His bass lines, as compared to 
Paul's, seem to be much more musical and independent of Adam's parts at 
times. I do believe that the change was very beneficial to the band.
Adam Jones proves to us again that he may not be the most technical or 
best solo guitarist, but he is awesome. His parts, as well as everyone 
elses, compliment the music. His in choice of notes and chords is so well 
thought out as evident by the way that plays the songs the same way as 
the albums, which in some cases can be boring, but not with Tool.
This was my fifth time seeing Tool and their improvement is very 
noticeable. As individuals they are amazing to watch, as a whole they are 
mezmorizing. Once again I left very satisfied. I hopr they can continue 
on there present path to producing the music that they do.










From: dougcox@IMAP3.ASU.EDU
Subject: rimac gym san diego show

After viewing the best concert in my life in November 1996 at the 
Mesa 
Amphitheater, I thought it would be difficult for any band to top that 
outstanding Tool show.  However, after a kick ass road trip to San Diego 

with 5 of my buddies, I did see a better show.  Tool outdid themselves at 

the Rimac gym in San Diego to make me rank that performance the best I've 

ever seen by any band.  Yes, Maynard was all blue again blacklite 
sensitive and everything, and this show was much longer than the Nov 1996 

show here in Arizona. Here is a list of the songs in order if I remember 

straight:

Third Eye, Stinkfist, Four Degrees, 46 & 2, Prison Sex, Eulogy, H, 
Pushit, Sober (with breath taking intro), Opiate, Aneima

Maynard was very talkative and amusing at this show, as he told a few 
jokes and kept referring to the songs as being about butt-fucking.
Surprise guest Melvins actually were better than the crowd might have 
indicated.  They opened up with Pink Floyd's Interstellar Overdrive and 
played through all the hostility, excitement and anticipation of Tool's 
appearance.  Tool rocked the house and I even saw a couple of fucked up 
chicks crying tears of happiness because of all the excitement. 
I am wide awake and heading home...

Doug Cox, Arizona State University