Tool live

Tool
Auditorium Theatre, Chicago
Saturday, May 13, 2006

Tool are in a precarious position. It’s entirely possible, though just as likely not, they’re aware of it. It’s also remarkably more likely they don’t care even just a little bit. The Los Angeles-based outfit wields a rabidly loyal, insanely passionate fanbase. A fanbase who will trek behind the band through 12-minute jams, no matter how aimless or lacking in destination they might be. Which brings us to Tool’s precarious positioning. The band could easily take years between records, and each time release an awe-inspiring opus with many songs blending together into half-hour journeys. And they would still have their audience. The group seem to prefer this route, and fans are still buying tickets, T-shirts and records – enough so to make their newest effort number one its first week out. So, if no one has a problem with this, is there any reason not to take the long road and crawl it, extended noodling and aimless jamming all while on it? Is there really even a problem at all?

Only time will tell, ultimately. But it was a question that was at least hinted during the band’s 90-minute set Saturday at the Auditorium Theatre.

The group are out in support of their latest offering 10,000 Days, which essentially picks up where 2001’s Lateralus left off, in terms of extended song length and structure. But between road-testing new material the band also trotted out older favorites, though they eschewed any surprising deep cuts for safe bets (“Schism”) and what could be considered hits, if you want to argue “Stinkfist” is a hit. Yet for a few years off the road, the band played in fine form, despite frontman Maynard James Keenan being sick. The band displayed a power and presence not often seen onstage with many newer acts.

Tool’s best moments came during older material from their 1996 effort Ænima, most notably during the record’s titular track. Melodic, venomous, and about as direct and concise as Tool come, “Ænima” perfectly captured everything only Tool can pull off. A powerful tirade against consumer evils while at the same time a plea for the apocalypse, “Ænima” holds up in no small part due to not overstaying its welcome. (That, and the song is an effing juggernaut.)

Which is more than can be said for some of Tool’s more expansive efforts. On Lateralus and 10,000 Days, the group have stretched their feet out and then some, with songs leading into songs bleeding into songs, with minimal room to breathe between assaults. 10,000 Days especially comes off like one epic, massive 80-minute Tool track. Which brings us back to the crux here, that more might not always necessarily be more. Two of the night’s 10,000 tracks, “Right In Two” and “Jambi,” came off as as vague and impenetrable. The latter crept along until a climactic, if not entirely unexpected, breaking point, which would have been more impressive if every new Tool song didn’t essentially pull the same trick.

Not that Tool’s more epic compositions never have a payoff. The nine-minute “Lateralus” should be the standard newer Tool is compared to, as it’s obviously the model. Against a backdrop of TV-screen snow and other screensavers on acid, the band built to a serious moment of chaos, restrained tension rising a massive, jarring come down; a spiraling freefall down a broken rollercoaster. A clear-cut beginning, middle, and end, not to mention a lack of excessive and aimless jamming, made all the difference, and it was arguably the night’s most powerful moment. Especially coming after breakthrough single “Sober,” a throwback to the “120 Minutes” era. Compared to the progfest Tool have morphed into, the song seemed it could have been written by a different band.

In the current climate of rock radio, Tool have been applauded by music elitists for going the extra mile. And Saturday’s show did demonstrate why Tool, especially with the backing of thunder-god Danny Carey behind the kit, remains one of rock’s most impressive and essential acts. Yet the divide was loud, long, and clear. Five minutes versus 12. Had Tool not felt the need to churn out another dozen epics this go-round, Saturday night could’ve been a 16-song concert instead of 11. Or at the very least, provided more definition between ventures. Ultimately, just because they could, didn’t always mean they should.

— Jaime de’Medici

Category: Live Reviews, Weekly