Never, in all my time, have I seen this – mid-gig, the four members of alternative art-metal group Tool gather together at the front of the stage, and sit down. Bassist Justin Chancellor raises his lighter into the air, and the crowd responds accordingly. What a waste: all those Government awareness campaigns, still so many smokers.

As bizarre as this mid-set ‘rest’ is, it’s certainly well deserved – when it comes to giving their all, Tool leave nothing behind. Frontman Maynard James Keenan announces it at the beginning of the night: ‘There is one word, and it is HOLYFUCKINGSHIT’. Indeed. Tool are an amazing sight; while they attract the metal hordes, with thousands upon thousands of black-clad head-bangers in attendance, there’s something transcendental about the band as they power through a two-hour set heavy on variety – everything from across their career is sampled, although Ænima is certainly favoured alongside the band’s 2006 release 10,000 Days.

As such, the band power through Stinkfist and Forty-Six and Two as openers, before the first number from 10,000 Days appears, and the stage back-drop improves magnificently – while the four video screens for each band member show interesting images, they show the same thing with no particular ‘wow’ factor. It’s when the backdrop behind them drops and the amazing visual of a succession of eyes appear for all to see that the stage really comes alight, which changes about half way through the show too.

That’s the thing about Tool – they’re about more than just the music. It’s the full package – the sound is incredible, the lights dazzling, and the visual superb. Maynard is cryptic throughout; he barely interacts with the audience, but when he does it’s with a coy sense of humour and an appreciative nod to the devotion of the assembled hordes. For a band that only release an album every five years these days, many fans weren’t even born when the band’s debut EP appeared in 1992, yet they have gorged themselves on all of the Los Angeles group’s music to such a point that they know every bizarre time change, every obtuse lyric, every blistering guitar break from maestro Adam Jones creates, every incredible drum fill from the powerhouse Danny Carey.

Tool are nothing short of breathtaking. Their sound is taut yet supple, fierce but tender, and powerful with a distinct fragility to it. It’s in the live arena that the band are at their absolute best, where their mid-album meanderings are eschewed in favour of a direct approach that makes for an amazing two hours of glorious sound and sights.