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Rating: One of the most beautiful evenings of my life was preceded by a crappy day like I hadn't experienced in a while. First, the little trip that my travel companion and I embarked on, a solid ten hours in total; the unexpected heat that oppressed us for most of the day and the trouble of getting a damn taxi, then the nerve-wracking wait before the concert and a headache that was really uncalled for...
About half an hour of waiting in front of the gates, among a crowd that was certainly impatient but overall relaxed and happy, then finally entering literally with our hearts in our hands (it's my first live show of Tool) and finding our place chosen at random among those available. We sit down, wait, chat, "do you think they'll play this one, and that one?", asking questions like these. We exchange conversations with other fans, talk about the concert in Turin the night before, have a beer that never hurts. I admit I almost ignored the equally talented and ferocious Mastodon, the impatience was too much for the whole audience. I didn't know a single one of their songs but there and then I promised myself to fill the gap. However, there’s only relief when the Mastodon, after warming us up with their powerful shots halfway between hardcore, prog, and metal, announce via the singer's voice: "this is the last song of the evening". "It's done," I think. We patiently endure this last song and then let ourselves be dazed by the hypnotic audiovisual magic of the Tool.
The stage is submerged in a dark blue light, sound technicians in white coats roam among the instruments and ominous feedback begins to occasionally screech. The guys come on stage to an explosion of shouts and applause, Maynard grants us a fairly well-pronounced "buonasera" and right after, the band launches into "Stinkfist." I hadn't expected it in the opening, yet the power is there: beautiful as we remembered, with a more melodic chorus than usual (Maynard saving his vocal cords) and a break right before the part that says "I’ll keep digging...") that leaves the audience (including me) surprised and ecstatic. We're in seventh heaven, it doesn’t seem real to hear one of our favorite bands live but before we can catch our breath, "The Pot" kicks in, funky and compelling, live it’s absolutely perfect. By that point, the crowd is in a frenzy, the band rattles off the songs without the slightest hesitation, and the fun is through the roof. A bit of moshing in the crowd at the foot of the stage, a few burly guys with Terminator faces trying to catch unwary amateur videographers, but all in all no problem. "Forty Six & Two", "Schism" (with that supersonic interlude that's terrifying) and "Lateralus" shine in their best light, Adam doesn’t miss a note but seems in a trance and Justin goes crazy (especially in the finale of "Aenima") and Danny rules the roost behind the drums, while Maynard, wearing a gas mask (rockstar whim or what else?) indulges in surreal dances worthy of a charmed snake and sometimes seems slightly short of breath, as in "Sober" or the finale of "Vicarious".
Other highlights of the evening are the two "Wings", greeted with a deafening ovation from the crowd, hypnotic trips filled with melancholy that almost bring tears. After an instrumental keyboard piece with a strongly Pink Floyd flavor, the band starts "Vicarious", the crowd already shows they appreciate this new song, and indeed it’s one of my favorites, while with "Aenima", cleverly placed at the end, the band delivers the perfect conclusion to the evening: in the end, as the lights come on and the guys embrace on stage, a soft sense of melancholy begins to emerge in our hearts. "See you next summer," Maynard said. The group allowed themselves little, everything was a bit cold and antiseptic. But the fun was not lacking, on the contrary.
We really hope to be able to recount once again the live adventures of this band... for now, let's content ourselves with these splendid memories, until we live them again.
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