Tool
RAC Arena, Perth, WA
Tuesday, December 2nd
It seems a lifetime ago that Tool last visited Australia and New Zealand, but it was only slightly less than six years, mere weeks before the world ground to a juddering halt in the wake of that global pandemic. Frontman Maynard James Keenan, in fact, apparently arrived in New Zealand with a dose of COVID after their Australian dates, just ahead of lockdown. Coincidence or not, we’re pretty sure that won’t be the case on this visit.
The Perth RAC Arena crowd are abuzz after Byron Bay metal surfers Headsend’s warm-up set. What would the bastard sons of Tool and Nirvana sound like? These guys are your answer, and it’s pretty huge: a metal/grunge melange with riffs that are fully embraced by the filling RAC Arena crowd. Their final track is all metal, though – a monolithic force of nature which leaves many keen to investigate the band further.
Tool’s drummer Danny Carey starts the percussive intro to “Fear Inoculum”, while guitarist Adam Jones and bassist Justin Chancellor concoct an atmospheric metal groove to begin the headliner’s set.
Behind the quartet a huge widescreen backdrop featuring esoteric custom-made visuals gives an effect akin to staring into a volcano, or at least an Imax film of one. The four members of Tool aren’t exactly showmen in the David Lee Roth or Angus Young vein, so these visuals provide an ever-changing focal point, without which staring at four largely immobile gentlemen might become a little dull over two hours.
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Spiky-haired Keenan’s dislike of mobile phone cameras at gigs is, by now, legendary – and many of us agree that they are nothing but a distraction. “Stay with us, stay present, stay connected with each other and with the band, and put your fucking phones down,” he demands from his position on the riser next to the drum kit, a voiceover previously having made clear that anyone filming would face eviction. “If you can’t leave your phone alone, stick it up your arse,” Keenan adds with a grin, though he may not have been joking.
Even facing potential eviction, a few wags can’t help but feed their addiction by grabbing a cheeky snap – but the absence of hundreds of people holding phones aloft to take videos they’ll probably never look at again is a breath of fresh air.
The sheer intensity of the noise from the four-piece is immense, an art/prog metal brew which washes over us in waves of rhythm, complex melodies, and brute power. It feels like it permeates our very cells, egged on by the trance-like ten-plus minute long songs (they play only 13 songs in two hours), the rising temperatures inside the sold-out room, the cranium-rattling volume, and the oft-nightmarish visions on the screen behind the band. It’s almost overwhelming at times, an intense and heady sensory experience.
The setlist is a hardcore fan’s wet dream, eschewing obvious alt-hits like “Stinkfist”, “Ænima”, and “Forty Six & 2” for deeper album cuts such as “Disposition” and “H.”, some of which haven’t been played live before this tour in more than 20 years – 27 for “Crawl Away”. If this was someone’s first time seeing them that might be a disappointment, but for long-term fans it’s a great opportunity to hear a different side to their favourite band; if only more acts would do the same instead of recycling the same tired setlists tour after tour.
Carey again starts the encore with glorified drum solo “Chocolate Chip Trip”, before the band revisit their primary contribution at July’s Ozzy/Black Sabbath tribute ‘Back to the Beginning’ concert, a gloriously faithful and evocative version of Sabbath classic “Hand of Doom”.
“Invincible” and “Vicarious” end proceedings, Keenan graciously allowing all present to take photos or film the latter to their heart’s desire, albeit referring to them as “your stupid cellphones.”
After all of that there’s a feeling not unlike shell shock as the crowd file out. Two hours of sensory pummelling – even in a good way – can be exhausting. Let’s hope there’s not a six-year wait to do it again.
Tool’s upcoming tour dates can be found here.
