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Rating: I arrived at the Casalecchio sports arena after 7 PM. The audience, not very numerous at first, would increase as the evening went on, but there would not be a sold-out show. I notice there are several people in their forties like me and even those over forty, some families with kids in tow, and many young people as expected.
On stage, behind the equipment, there are video screens, interspersed with towers of lights.
A few minutes after 9 PM, the concert begins: the stage lights turn on, a menacing shadow appears in the screens, are the Tool reading Evangelisti or Lovecraft?! :-) The sound of Jones' feedback guitar is searing and introduces Rosetta Stoned. With a nice scenic effect, the shadow (Maynard) appears at intervals on various screens. The sound is chaotic, especially the voice is very muffled, indecipherable, even the guitar suffers from a magmatic sound, the drums are a bit recessed, the bass is better. In the 2001 concert at the Faenza sports arena, the bass was at a very high level, overwhelming the other instruments and too boomy. The audience sings along with Maynard, the effect is beautiful. Maynard, Mohican crest, bare torso, finally appears on stage, he is set back compared to the other musicians, almost in line with the drums, and has a console nearby. He is facing the videos, with his back to the audience, and moves as if performing an arcane ritual. Jones wields a Gibson Les Paul, from the finish I would say it's one of the new Goddess. In 2001 Jones played with an ESP, likely a Horizon.
After the first few tracks, the sound improves a little, the voice becomes more defined but will suffer throughout the concert from a muffled and unclear timbre. The tracks from the latest 10,000 Days take up a prominent space in the concert setlist. Chancellor and Jones trigger feedback and replace Lustmord's atmospheric loops with their instruments, not to introduce the CD's title track, pity, but for the stunning Sober, granite and engaging. Beautiful also Right in Two, truly evocative and with an enchanting melody. Carey's percussion is excellent. At times, thanks to the lights and the graphic animations on the screens, the hypnotic grooves, the massive sound, the volume that clobbers the ears, the ghost of the most psychedelic Floyd and the more metallic Crimson materializes on stage. Jones produces very long sounds, with a full and infinite sustain, not using an e-bow, sustainer or sustaniac, or other gimmicks, but a skillful combination of humb., amp, and pedals, following the advice of Robert Fripp (King Crimson) and his personal sound technician. Break, Maynard lies down on the stage. The other 3 musicians sit on the drum platform and greet the audience.
In the moments of silence, the audience cheers the band with a deep, guttural shout amplified by the arena's acoustics: "TOOL! TOOL!" and the impression of witnessing some dark Cthulhu ritual is compelling. :-)
It resumes. Among the tracks dredged up from old CDs, there is Stinkfist from AEnima, unfortunately, the usual problems with voice amplification do not allow for varying the singing as in the studio, with suave and very melodic moments alternating with more intense and harder moments. Unmissable and beautiful Schism and Lateralis from Lateralus. Near the end, a very hard and sped-up version of... AEnema (???), I confess I did not recognize it, I couldn't distinguish the lyrics, and even now as I listen to the CD the doubts remain, however, the friends who were with me and the nearby guys swore it was a distorted arrangement of AEnema.
The concert ends around 10:30 PM, no encore as per the band's custom, almost an hour and thirty of intense music but I believe everyone has something to complain about regarding the duration, too many songs were excluded like H, Prison Sex, The Pot, Parabol/Parabol(a) etc.
One last reflection, I heard several people complain about Mr. Keenan's disapproving attitude, not very accommodating towards the audience, I recall that even on the occasion of the other Italian tour there were controversies in this regard. I guess I must be strange, I go to a Tool, Negazione or Metallica concert with the same attitude as I would to a Stokhausen concert, I go to listen to music, the scenic and visual aspect is secondary, I demand respect for my ears, if there are no special effects or if the musician does not shake hands, as Fantozzi would say, and calls me brother I am fine just the same, provided I have clearly witnessed a great concert. I am not shocked if a band plays behind a curtain or with their backs to the audience or if the frontman sings sitting on a chair or something else, I firmly believe that spectators should not go to concerts like a teenage party, with the only concern being that there is beer and smoke, but should strongly demand adequate venues, adequate sound systems, care for the sound, care for the musical performance, the rock concert too often offers cheap excuses for the chronic inadequacy of the spaces and for makeshift organizations, as what matters is to "party". If the audience is more interested in makeup or hairstyle, there are always boybands and can also go see the Festivalbar or a disco. ;-)
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