Tool @ Sidney Myer Music Bowl,Melbourne (02/02/2011)

Sun 6th Feb, 2011 in Gig Reviews

“What’s the deal here? I had a good view then some guy stood in front of me and now I can’t see a thing!” complains a relatively tall patron, unwittingly echoing the sentiments of probably just about everyone in the furthest part of the general admission ‘lawn’. The storm clouds gather threateningly just prior to the beginning of the show and rabid fans scrap for position and a decent vantage point, bent almost double over pointed fences at the sides or peering, belly to the ground, beneath the merest gaps under the venues huge canopy. Lucky then that the headlining act is a multi-sensory experience, for many an extra-sensory one, and with a generous view of the stage or not, as one the crowd begins to quiver fitfully as the curtain raises on a night of prog-metal masterclass.

Pulse. An expansive purple light glows, emanating from the rear of the stage like the blinking of a gargantuan eye. Pulse. A single reverberating bass note thunders across the darkening arena as a disembodied voice begins to sound. Pulse. The audience exhales as one, relishing the sudden, voiceless euphoria that sweeps across the arena. Quiet everyone, TOOL have arrived.

That what follows in the immediate aftermath of the dramatic opening is possibly overly drawn out and slightly underwhelming to the objective observer is beside the point. By their time first genuine attempt at a song, Jambi, rolls around a few minutes later, with its familiar machinated riff echoing chillingly across the domain, there are already enough wet pants in the Sidney Myer Music Bowl to keep the city’s launderettes busy for days.

With strips of video screen above, below and behind projecting the expected obscure and demonic imagery, the band set up almost like a classic rock band of the 70’s, glued immobile to disparate stations, confident in their ability to retain musical tightness without locational intimacy. A confidence that is well placed as they navigate their notoriously difficult time signatures and macabre FX work with sickening ease. It may be the much heralded, oft muted guitar musings of Adam Jones that steal the show at the openings of dark psychedelic numbers like the brilliant Vicarious, but the real heroes of this band are bassist Justin Chancellor and drummer Danny Carey, who attain parity gloriously by virtue of the venues superior – albeit subject to the elements – acoustics. The clarity with which Carey’s Eastern/Western, subtle/intense percussive input can be heard is particularly exciting adding a sometimes overlooked element to the performance.

Not that you can second guess a band who write songs about both spiritual transcendence and anal fisting for the same album, but it’s probably fair to say the songs they deliver on the night comprise a set that few would have expected. After delivering just 2 songs from latest album 10,000 Days early on, Tool delve quite deep into their back catalogue, even plumbing 2000’s Salival for some more obscure numbers. That means no run out for fan favourites Parabola and The Pot or even commercial successes like Sober or 46 & 2, rather extended, mutating versions of Lateralus and set-closer Stinkfist; the former especially notable for the appearance of extra drummers onstage performing a good 10 minute long drumkit and floor tom solo. Not even most successful single Schism is sacred, it’s usual sober breakdown 3 quarters of the way into the song converted into a whirlwind devolution of howling metal and thrashing strings that draws a massive cheer from a reverent crowd at its conclusion.

It’s these moments that separate Tool from the chasing pack, something quite intensely breathtaking to draw the crowd out of melody induced catatonia, this ability that suddenly makes hypnotic punters stand up and pay attention. Like Aenema, a 7minute long ode to Bill Hicks and the apocalypse, which is gladly left unadulterated by the band but does win the award for least appropriately dedicated song of the year so far. “Here’s one for all the crazy shit going on” remarks talismanic frontman Maynard James Keenan doubtless with Queensland’s current plight in mind before launching into the song’s unmistakeable syncopated breathing intro. What follows is a tremendous display of powerful, progressive, melodic and brutal art-rock poetry and as the tracks vibrant sliding guitar solo peters out into an aching vocal breakdown, Anna Bligh herself might have struggled not to sing along with ‘I’m praying for the end, I’m praying for tidal waves’.