Some people are just casual fans of music. Others make music a focal point in their lives. I’ve always been the latter. I remember being about 5 years old and listening to AC/DC’s ‘Let There Be Rock’ & ‘Highway to Hell’ albums in the basement, thus forming my tastes for heavier music at a young age.
In 1993, the album Undertow by a relatively unknown band named TOOL was released and infiltrated my circle of friends. I was 17 at the time and was floored by the unconventional approach these guys took with their music; the bass & drums propelled the songs, the guitars created so much atmosphere, and the guy doing the vocals had such a unique voice. I was mesmerized by the dark sonics & visual artistry of this band.
They toured that album in ‘94 and I knew I had to go see them, but none of my buddy’s expressed any interest in catching them live. The show was in T.O. and I remember being nervous about going to the big city for a concert by myself.
I went anyway. Frank Zappa’s ‘Broken Hearts are for Assholes’ played over the P.A. along with something about gangster aliens at Varsity Arena before Failure, The Flaming Lips performed. Then TOOL hit the stage. As I watched them, it somehow seemed a random personal masterstroke that I’d gone alone to the show. That one foray out by myself to do something I wanted to do, partially set some early groundwork for future BIG solo excursions. (see the Travels)
25 years, both hemispheres and 10 TOOL shows later, they came back to Toronto for 2 gigs in November. I went to the first show with my wife (the band’s music largely enabled our first meeting 17 years ago), and for the second show I landed a FRONT ROW ticket in front of guitarist Adam Jones.
For this second show - I once again went by myself.
It’s a surreal experience being 10 feet away from your favorite guitarist & band playing at their peak; you see and feel their vibe when they’re that close. Their stage is actually a calm & orderly area as the mind-blowing visuals, killer lights & massive speakers project an over-awing audio/video experience. And because you don’t see the 10+ thousand people behind you, it actually felt like a small venue.
They’ve been a band for 30 years - a lifetime in today’s climate of here-today-gone-tomorrow, flavor-of-the-day disposable everything. And even with a 13-year wait between albums, I learned a long time ago to never count this band as done. These guys now have kids who are about my kids’ age, and perhaps for them now, full-time fatherhood may be calling louder than artistic drive. IF this is it for them touring (and truly I don’t think it will be) then hats off to the group that has had more positive effect on me than any other musical/visual artists.
What a journey it’s been, and continues to be with these guys. Still spiraling, always going.
Thanks Adam, Danny, Maynard & Justin.
BIW