[live review] Tool + Yob @ the Garden
Photo by Tim Bugbee. Click for more photos.
All
reported eccentricities regarding TOOL's live show -- and Maynard James
Keenan's general distaste with having people look at him -- were largely
confirmed for myself about the midway point of Saturday's sold-out TD
Garden affair.
Amidst a barrage of lasers and fuck-all end-of-days
imagery, I pulled out my trusty Flip Cam, hoping to capture some
audio/video accompaniment for the sake of your blog reading enjoyment.
Barely a minute into my recording, I was accosted by a gentleman in a
pink polo shirt with a flashlight who pulled me out into the hallway and
made me delete the clip while he watched. He then told me that if he
caught me taping again, he'd give me the boot, as if being in an arena
amongst 20,000 rambunctiously charged metalheads wasn't already enough
to put me on edge. (Videos included here aren't mine, so don't sue the
messenger.)
Having
never had the chance to catch them live, I'd only heard about the
frontman's aversion to the spotlight through second hand accounts. And
while I don't think we received the brunt of his indifferent wrath -- he
faced the audience for most of the show -- his bizarreness was
palpable, perhaps best exemplified by the nightstick and megaphone with
which he reeled around the back of the stage with for much of the show's
duration. Those accessories, in addition to the lockdown taping policy
and the spotlights highlighting the non-Maynard members of the group,
lent an ominous police-state vibe to the evening's proceedings.
Also contributing to the intensity was the tightness of the band. With their followup to 2006's 10,000 Days
only reported to be in the early writing stages, their current tour
seemingly exists for no other reason than to make a quick buck. Yet they
moved through a selection of 10 tracks that drew evenly from their two
decade existence with the precision of a band that has been relentlessly
grinding -- when in reality they've only played a sparse handful of
shows together since that ‘06 release and Keenan is fresh off a fall
tour with Puscifier, a/k/a his side project that isn't A Perfect
Circle.
While
it would probably be appropriate to lavish each member with individual
praise for their outing on Saturday, I'll reserve my primary heaps for
Justin Chancellor, who has seemingly perfected the balance of letting
his bass cut above the rest of the band when noodling during extended
intros or lock into a groove alongside Danny Carey and Adam Jones whilst
building toward their near-crippling peaks.
And
while on the topic of near-crippling peaks, Portland-bred doom trio YOB
opened the bill. Playing to a near-empty room, they were proficient in
their beat-down, but my mind couldn't help envision them playing in a
more suitable venue, like say the Middle East, where engaging the crowd
wouldn't have been as arduous of a task. Yet, their pummeling undertones
served as an ideal table-setter for the eventual fatality delivered by
way of Tool. The same show makes its way to Mohegan Sun tomorrow
evening, and while it's similarly sold-out-as-fuck, I'd suggest ponying
up the loot and making the hike down if you're interested in the least.
Just leave your cameras at home.