Tool at the Cox Arena Night 1 (5/2/07)

No cameras per Tool policy.

My mini tour of Tool continued in San Diego on Wednesday night. The intimacy of the Pearl in Las Vegas could not be beat, but the sound at Cox arena was unbeatable as I had a seat behind the mixing board.

Kinski opened the show at close to 7:30. Kinski is on Sub Pop records and play instrumental atmospheric guitar based rock in the vein of Mogwai, Explosions in The Sky, and hints of Sigur Ros. I mentioned Sigur Ros due to the fact that one of the guitarists was using a bow on his guitar. I was intrigued about the band until I found but their cd's were priced at $20.00. Hopefully their performance on Thursday will change my mind.

Tool came on at 8:45 to the rumble riffage of "Jambi" as Maynard Keenan (Vocals) started into his cowboy dance waving his ten gallon hat around. Adam Jones (Guitars) nailed the talk box solo flawlessly. The setup for the Tool show involves six screens with various imagery throughout the night. During "Stinkfist", they played parts of the video in the background. Maynard's vocals were excellent tonight and he did not skip over lyrics like he tends to do once in awhile. The mix was excellent tonight and I could clearly hear all of Maynard's vocals. Maynard did make a comment before "Wings for Marie" about how polite it was to drink beer and holler during a song that was written about his mother who passed away. "Schism" was electric in that Adam approached the center of stage to a sped up version of the riff. "Right in Two" was a drumming clinic as Danny Carey (Drums) was phenomenal. Danny is interesting in that his Hi-Hat is positioned in the middle of his kit which enables him to use either his left or right hand to keep the rhythm. I was secretly hoping they would play "Swamp Song" but "Right In Two" was a good substitute. I am guessing they will play a similar set on Thursday but I will be happy to be in attendance.


Tool at Cox Arena Night 1 Setlist:
"Jambi"
"Stinkfist"
"46 and 2"
"Schism"
"Rosetta stoned"
"Right In Two"
"Wings For Marie"
"10,000 Days"
"Lateralus"
"Vicarious"
"Ænima"