Tool, the progressive heavy-metal band led by Maynard James Keenan, rocked KeyArena Saturday night (July 10) with “Jambi,” “Vicarious,” “Intolerance” and other epic, head-banging songs suitable for an apocalypse.
The show had sold out quickly in a city where fans have rallied around the L.A. quartet since the release of “10,000 Days” in the late 2000s. The band also has plenty of fans from the early ‘90s, when Keenan and company recorded the hit album “Undertow.” The quick sellout is testimony to the band’s continuing popularity in the absence of a new album.
Tool took the stage after an opening set by Rajas and a recorded, introductory message from the late Timothy Leary about thinking for yourself and questioning authority.
Keenan, joined by band mates Adam Jones (guitar), Justin Chancellor (bass) and Danny Carey (drums), performed against a backdrop of trippy, psychedelic images displayed on a number of video screens.
The evening’s closing song, the classic “AEnema,” made great theater with its gloom-and-doom images of a mindless, decadent Los Angeles makes one wonder why the band doesn’t just pick up and leave.
The photos accompanying this post were taken by Seattle photographer Kam Martin. Here’s a link to her Web site.
Visit Tool’s official Web site to learn more about the band.
Here’s the set list, as recorded at Setlist.fm:
“Third Eye,” “Jambi,” “(-) Ions,” “Stinkfest,” “Vicarious,” “Eon Blue Apocalypse,” “The Patient,” “Intolerance,” “Schism” and “Forty Six & 2”; encore: “Lateralus” and AEnema.”