Tool Redeems Itself in Monday Night Concert at AAC

The last time Tool came through the American Airlines Center, our reviewer was not impressed. The band’s most recent album, Fear Inoculum, had only come out a few months prior, and COVID-19 was still a distant threat.

The album divided fans and critics alike. Some praised it as Tool’s most precise collection of music in its 30-year history. Others viewed it as an overwrought production of stale progressive metal tropes.

Just over two years after the first leg of the Fear Inoculum tour, Tool returned to the AAC Monday night, this time to show just how dynamic its music and its most recent album still are.
The night began with a thrilling performance by an unlikely band. Tool singer Maynard James Keenan explained in an Instagram post recently that he chose NYC alt-rock band Blonde Redhead to open for the band for its "Incredible melodies, complex & subtle rhythms, and non-traditional arrangements,” which he explained were elements the band shares with Tool while being nothing like Tool. It was a bold choice made in the spirit of musical diversity, expanding one's horizons and sticking a middle finger up to an industry that would prefer to choose opening bands based on stats and algorithms.

And the choice paid off.

Though muted by the massive arena’s black background, Blonde Redhead captivated the audience with its bright sounds and dark melodies while stragglers walked in.

A Tool audience is an unexpected and diverse one and not what you’d expect for the audience of a decades-old prog-metal act. But there they were: doctors, lawyers, business executives and families all die-hard fans. Tool’s reach is truly stunning.

Hearing a deep Southern accent hoping to hear “Hooker With A Penis” was quite charming.

At 8:30 p.m. strands of thread came down, shadowing Tool’s stage in a veil of mystery and anticipation.

At 8:45 p.m., the show started with artwork from Lateralus illuminating the threads.

Drummer Danny Carrey took the stage first, playing sparse rhythms until joined by Justin Chancellor on bass and Adam Jones’ guitars.
The stage remained sparse in anticipation of Keenan’s entrance.

There he was, emerging out of the shadows singing the show opener, “Litanie contre la Peur” from Fear Inoculum. French for "Litany Against Fear,” the slow-building song got the audience on its feet, waiting for what was next.

Acting as a shield to getting a good look at the band, the threading around the stage encapsulated the band in simple visuals of flames.

It was stripped down. Nothing like the crazy shows you hear about from Tool’s past, with strange characters, backup singers, multi-instrumentalists and so forth. This was a great band showing what a great band could do with a bunch of amps and a big performance space.
The opening chords to “Sober” were a call to attention. The lyrics a call to sing along. The audience was in darkness as the band was illuminated while the video for the song played in the background.

It was not unlike a house show with a band playing with any old visual behind them. At this point in Tool’s career, they don’t have to prove that they’re a great live band. They just are one.

“The Pot” started in silence, the a cappella intro immediately inviting the audience to join in with the celebrated singer. The lights came up on Chancellor, showcasing the bass player’s prominent role in the song.

When the band went into “Pushit” from the classic album Ænima, the energy in the crowd came to a simmer, building back up with Carey’s precision drumming highlighted by the stage lights. In a moment, the mood shifted into a hazy, den-like atmosphere as Keenan’s voice was an instrument all its own, weaving in and out of the beat.

At the song’s conclusion, the threads that had been blocking the audience’s clear view disappeared as the audience roared. Then everything went black, and then purple and blue with a liquid background.

The lights came up on Jones and Carey, and then the roar of the audience as the opening chords were brought in by the now solely illuminated Chancellor — though never on Keenan — as the band began “Pneuma.” In the song’s breakdown, the entire band was engulfed in a projected neon hell.
One could go on and on about the intricate interplay of audio and video, the intentional spotlighting of the few musicians who make Tool’s sound and the ever-enigmatic apparition of the band’s frontman, but why? That’s what you’ve come to expect from Tool, so why question it when you can so easily rock out to it?

There’s something about watching Tool perform in front of a triangular backdrop with lasers shooting out of it that can’t help but bring to mind another classic band that preferred to let the music speak for itself. Tool may not be our generation’s Pink Floyd, but its shows are going to be just as memorable in the minds of those who experienced them.

They didn’t play any other hits, but they did play “Hooker With a Penis.” Much to the joy of one man with the thick, Southern drawl.

Afterward, they took an intermission, leaving with a countdown on the backdrop. 10+ minutes later, Tool returned with three songs from their latest album. The die-hands stuck around, and the casual fans slowly filed out.
Keenan made a rare appearance at the front of the stage in Tool’s penultimate song, sitting next to his bandmates for a surprisingly intimate performance of “Culling Voices” as confetti rained over the crowd. Keenan returned into the shadows for the remainder of the encore, making his appearance in the light brief but memorable.
Keenan’s only words the whole night were in the show’s final minutes, commenting on how late it was, how he wanted soup and how it was now permissible to record with a smartphone.

Closing with “Invincible,” again from its latest album, Tool showed that its music didn’t need to overwhelm in order to impress.

Tool isn’t a band that has to try hard to impress you. They are a great band no matter the theatrics, the venue size or the stage production. There is no way to walk away from a Tool show unmoved.