Lights, No Cameras, Action: Tool Thrills in Return to Knoxville, TN
33 years into their career, prog metal giants Tool continue to pack arenas. Returning to Knoxville, TN for the first time since 2002 was no different with the show selling out in under an hour. Thompson Boling Arena located on the University of Tennessee’s campus played host to a mixture of longtime Tool fans and university students likely seeing the band for the first time.
The current tour features a giant video wall behind the stage and off to the wings. The visual aspect of the show, including clips from previous music videos as well as new graphics are the main focus of the show while the band members typically are hidden with minimal front lighting. If you’ve seen Tool before, you’re already well aware that vocalist Maynard James Keenan is barely lit towards the back of the stage creating a silhouette against the large video wall.
The intricacies and creativeness of Tool’s music is just as precise in the live setting as on the albums. Drummer Danny Carey’s complex drumming pushed through the live mix to the forefront. Particularly ‘Rosetta Stoned’ off of 2006’s 10,000 Days highlighted Carey’s drumming ability with bursts of chest pounding double bass from the subs, tricky polyrhythms, and unique fills.
The set leaned heavily on their most release album, 2019’s Fear Inoculum. The album features several longer instrumental sections which are performed seemingly flawless by Carey, guitarist Adam Jones, and bassist Justin Chancellor. A true testament of their technical and performance abilities to showcase these complex creations live.
A strict no phone recording policy might not appeal to some, but the policy creates an unobstructed view of the bands visual experience. A nice change from the constant cell phone light you see at most shows. Keenan does give the green light for fans to record the final song of the evening but is very adamant about no flash. “If the light comes on we’ll have to come down there and kick you right in the vagina”. While he didn’t follow through on the threat, he did abruptly stop the intro to the show closer, ‘Aenima’, the title track from the bands 1996 album, after seeing a flash of light. “My nine year old knows better!”, quipped Keenan before restarting the intro.
It’s very apparent that the band and touring crew take these performances very seriously. The detailed lighting, video and audio production are top notch and worthy of the price of admission itself.
Tool continues to tour through November before a new batch of 2024 dates that were just released.