heeheehee...

TK told me this a while back so i was excited then, but seeing this has me excited now.

i figured out the other day that when it comes to music, the music that i like is generally linked to one song. that one song opens my eyes to them and from that point on, i'm a fan. (and as i'm sure M would attest, it's all downhill from there.) but for me, what blew my mind for The Residents, was High Horses. 20 minutes of carousel music that when listened to thru headphones is just mindblowing (for me at least). only it isn't always the cheerful happy music, only twisted as only the mighty eyeballed ones can. fucking beautiful.

so, some insight to my musical tastes and why.

Led Zeppelin - White Summer -> Kashmir (Cleveland 4/27/77)
the first time i heard this transition from a calm, beautiful, relaxing moment into the chaos that erupts when everyone crashes into the opening chords of Kashmir, i had chills run up my spine. i can count the number of times on my hand, that this transition didn't send chills up my spine. they started doing this in 1977, and did it in 1979 and 1980 and each time, chills. from there, it was all downhill.

Tool - Hooker With A Penis
when i bought Ænima, it was after seeing A Perfect Circle open for Nine Inch Nails. i hadn't realized just how much Tool i had heard on the radio (Stinkfist, Eulogy, Sober, Prison Sex, Opiate) because i had always liked what i heard. but listening to Ænima, i realized it was good and then came Hooker. 4 1/2 minutes of venom, bile, hatred, and mocking. i loved it. Undertow and Opiate followed and i discovered what i had been missing. random trivia: when i bought my current vee-hick-le, Ænima was the first cd i listened to in it. while on the test drive.

Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb (Delicate Sound of Thunder)
back in the day when MTV actually showed videos (or at least more than they do currently, i suppose it was a semi-tranisitional period for them), they showed the video for Comfy Numb off Delicate Sound of Thunder and something about it drew me in. i've since heard umpteen versions which are vastly superior, but this version always holds a special place as the song that woke me up to Pink Floyd. i had a copy of Collection of Dance Songs, but it never hooked me (outside of the Dr. Who theme in One of These Days), but post-Comfy Numb, i listened to Collection with different ears and realized just how good it is.

well, here are 4 bands and some pathetic attempt at explaining why i love them. other bands/songs include:

Curve - Coast is Clear (Toni's voice)

Front 242 - Neurobashing

Ministry - So What

Dead Can Dance - Rakim (decending trills)

Tom Waits - Lucinda (this was a neck snapping moment as i described it to TK, fucking blew my mind, absolutely phenominal)

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this conflicts me

i'm all in favor of sharing Tool with little kids, and this is an interesting way of doing that. however, it's TOOL. but the idea of filling the kid with Baby Maynard is too amusing to ignore. but this goes against everything i believe that is Tool.

at least there are sound samples. and the idea of Baby Maynard really is hard to ignore. who wouldn't want this man influencing your children? (fixed, sorry folks -mol)

and speaking of the man, Puscifer has risen. go have a listen. quite a few suprises. like a song that typifies the Led Zeppelin experience. (even if MJK does come in a few beats too early)

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i know the feeling

i woke up this morning and Opie (of Opie and Anthony) was lamenting his experience yesterday at the Jets game (played Miami). he admitted that he naively believed that getting there a little over an hour before kickoff would be a good idea. he hadn't expected it to take over an hour after paying his $15 to actually park (lot Y) and then get shuttled back to the stadium. then when leaving, it was even worse and what should have taken 15 minutes to get back to NYC, took over 2 hours. all i could think about when listening to this was when TK and i saw Tool on 9/29.

we got there a little before 8pm (figuring we'd be able to see some of the opening act, Isis) only to take more than 30 mins to park in a mud filled parking lot in bumblefuck. (we still wonder if we were parking in the next town over)

then LEAVING, took us more time than it took to enjoy the entire concert, so it was nearly 130am (show ended at 11pm) when we FINALLY got out of that parking lot. and what did we learn? paying $35 for VIP parking isn't such a bad idea.

a comment that was echoed to Opie a few times before they went to break.

and yes Opie, i (and TK) know your pain.

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JESUS FUCKING CHRIST IT'S COLD!

what a way to greet us. and yes, maynard, it was pretty fucking cold last night. TK and i had a really good time last night seeing Tool at Great Woods. 5 years and 8 days ago, i saw Tool for the first time there and it was an experience, and last night was even better. so bear with me as i try and spew thoughts and details out.

the good:
suprisingly well behaved crowd, Tool, no rain, Tool, discovering going in from the south is a better approach, Tool.

the bad:
parking, traffic, parking, mud, parking, the cold, parking, the fucking talkers behind us during Wings For Marie (Pts 1&2), and did i say parking?

TK and i spent nearly 3 hours in that fucking parking lot. 45 mins getting in, and then just over 2 HOURS to get out. so, we missed the opening act Isis, which i wanted to see at least some of. never heard/seen them before so i was curious. i figured once we got there, it wouldn't take so long to park, but we were dead wrong. they parked us in the middle of fucking bumblefuck. the farthest, back corner of the parking lot they could (lot 13). where it wasn't paved. and had mud. which some inexperienced girl in a black 2000 ford explorer sport managed to spin onto the passenger side of TK's car. had i known we were going 4 wheeling, i would have driven, but what the FUCK. not to mention, lighting was non-existant so as we were walking to/from, we were hoping that we wouldn't step in a mud puddle. fucking nuts. as we were driving in, we saw that Premier Parking was $35 and laughed at that idea. by the time we got to where we were parking, we both agreed that we were idiots not to do it. (that is right off the entrance, paved and would have had us on the road in far less time) it was most certainly a scam, but for $35, it would have saved us a ton of sitting. waiting. twiddling our thumbs. so we spent more time the parking lot than the entire duration of the concert.

the concert:
we had pretty good seats all told. i thought we were going to be under the pavillion, but we were a few rows back from it. oh well, but we still had a pretty decent view of the stage which was cool because they actually projected stuff onto the stage itself (it was white and we laughed at the stage guy dusting the stage with his booties on). no real backdrops, and 2 screens on either side with projections (that was also projected onto the stage)

so, at 908pm, house lights dumped and we enjoy the following:

Intro Bass Drone
JESUS FUCKING CHRIST IT'S COLD!
Stinkfist
The Pot
Forty Six & 2
Jambi
Schism
Lost Keys
Rosetta Stoned
Wings for Marie (Part 1)
10,000 Days (Wings Pt. 2)
break
Lateralus
Vicarious
Aenema

one hell of a set. it is their current standard set, so no suprises for me in what they played, but hearing it and experiencing it are two very different things. MJK's vox were pretty good which very few missed words, no breaks in his voice (he was sick 2 weeks ago, and has recovered well). Danny is a fucking madman on the drums. Justin (looking a lot like Jesus) was great. Adam was Adam - didn't move a whole lot, but what comes out of his guitar is incredible.

9:08pm

Stinkfist - had the extended bridge, MJK kicking, having a good time

The Pot - very cool live. danny's bass drum at the beginning adds some more power to the song. the crowd loved singing (out of key of course) along with this one

Forty Six & 2 - extended keyboard intro is very cool, another crowd pleaser

Jambi - goddamn the opening bass is powerful. it's a powerful song to begin with, but that opening bass is fuzzy and it just rattles your ribs. loved it.

Schism - another good one. the opening noodling had me thinking we might get Right In Two, but we didn't (and i had even heard that from the Toronto show and knew they didn't play it). i loved the overdrive breakdown in the middle of the song. another song that needs to be experienced to fully appreciate it.

Lost Keys/Rosetta Stoned - to steal MJK's words again, HOLY FUCKING SHIT! people actually started to leave during Lost Keys, which is pretty much controlled feedback, so i turned to TK and told him it's going to hit like a ton of bricks. and HOLY FUCKING SHIT! it does. very intense song, loved experiencing it. love the vocal effects box MJK uses.

Wings For Marie/10,000 Days - we got lasers! beautiful. it's a very emotional song, and i just stood there soaking it in. i'm glad they are playing it, because it is a beautiful song, and one that just is. i really don't have the words. at the end, the crowd was really quiet which was amusing. blew us all away.

a brief break - a sea of lighters, and seeing it reminded me of seeing Pink Floyd in 1994 during Wish You Were Here. it was a very cool sight to see the entire place lit up with lighters. MJK then said something about pre-marital sex and finishing up. and then told us that Pittsburg was louder, so we obliged and he said that we were. we'll see on later shows if he said Pittsburg again, or says Boston/Mansfield.

Lateralus - fucking incredible. the closer last tour, but the last 3 songs could be inter-changeable as closers. loved the visuals, one of my favorite songs anyways, but it can only be described as powerful.

Vicarious - another with an extended intro, and lots of power and energy. another strong song that was very cool live.

Aenema - one of the few songs they play that can be properly used to close a show. again, great song, lots of energy, people loved it. and MJK didn't screw up the words by repeating them (fuck your tattoos) which made it even more cool.

fin. 10:58pm - lights come up, band hugs, danny tossed drum sticks and a drum head, adam tosses 2nd drum head, MJK tosses water bottles. exit stage left.

i'm pretty much out of words, but this was the best Tool concert i've seen (of the 4, so that doesn't mean much). i love all 4 shows for different reasons, but this one was really good. can't wait til they come back again. i plan to be there.

thank you Tool.

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