By Natalie Zina WalschotsSecurity was tight at Toronto's Air Canada Centre, with long lines of black-clad, bleary-eyed people snaking around the building in surly clumps. Intronaut were already well into their lean 30-minute set while people streamed into the stadium, finding their seats and avoiding security to clandestinely smoke.
While Intronaut are certainly heavy, their particular take on progressive, replete with complex polyrhythms and harmonies, was stretched to its aesthetic limit in the cavernous space. The music that usually twines about the listener like muscular tentacles brushed the audience almost gently, like curling tendrils, made somehow delicate. They finished their set with the powerful, urgent "Any Port," holding their own in front of an immense and distracted crowd. The quality of their performance, as well as their ability to adapt and fill the space, was impressive.
Tool are known for their dark, surreal imagery and visually intense live shows, and it came as no surprise that their stage set-up included four immense screens placed at angles above the stage, as well as a sprawling lit-up backdrop. Excitement built, rippling through the audience like a live and shivering thing as the lights went down and the sound of a massive mechanical heartbeat began to throb through the ACC, heralding the arrival of the band on stage.
As the pulsing tone gradually resolved itself into the opening riff of "Hooker with a Penis," eerie purple and green lights combined with stark white spots illuminated Danny Carey (drums), Adam Jones (guitar) and Justin Chancellor (bass). Frontman Maynard James Keenan hung back, as he often does in live performances, and remained for the most part unlit. However, the illuminated backdrop behind him made his lean body stand out like the back outline of a bare tree against a stormy sky, causing his writhing movements to become even more eerie and alien as he sang.
Tool's live charisma cannot be overstated. The band members play together as though each is an individual limb in a larger body, with grace and a wordless connection. The images projected as the band played drew heavily from their music videos, an amalgam of gothic horror and morphing, psychedelic symbols. They played a blistering, spine-tingling rendition of "Schism" that the audience adored, and their performance of "Forty-Six & 2" was transcendent.
But the highlight of the night was unquestionably when, during "Lateralus," Maynard announced that he needed a break, and invited who appeared to be Danny Walker, the drummer from Intronaut, to join Tool on stage. It was only then that the audience noticed a smaller drum kit affixed to the side of Carey's rig. The ensuing drum battle was positively mythic, the precise violence and cacophony resolving itself into a deep, primal groove that seemed to unite every breath and heartbeat in the room before shattering apart again.
After finishing the night with "Ǽnema," there was no encore for the audience at the ACC. The set simply ended with riotous applause, and then the lights went on, cold and unforgiving. It seemed that the entire audience stumbled outside and immediately it up a cigarette for comfort, still reeling from the experience of the show.
To see Exclaim!'s Tool photo gallery, courtesy of Fil ZuZarte, head here.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2012-01-26 12:31:44Colourful interpretation. One small flaw was that it was not Intronaut's drummer who accompanied Danny during Lateralus. I'm not sure who it was, but they called him "Chris". He looked nothing like Intronaut's drummer. Other than that, good editorial.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2012-01-26 12:46:01the Toronto Star says it was sometime Crystal Castles timekeeper Chris Chartrand:
www.toronto.com Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2012-01-26 13:06:04tool fans are lucky to be able to see Intronaut live. Do your homework kids and get into them
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2012-01-26 13:17:54Intronaut suck balls. They should stick to Ipecac bands as openers.
Posted by NatalieZed On 2012-01-26 13:40:58I could be totally mistaken about it being Danny Walker who joined Carey on stage; in their tour blog, Intronaut mentioned Walker being invited to play/battle during Lateralus at other shows on the tour, and that may have coloured what I saw.
The star reviewer said "pretty sure" that it was Chris Chartrand, but doesn't completely confirm it either. If anyone has more definitive proof as t who it was I will definitely ask that the possibly mistaken detail be changed.
Thanks for the comments and for your keen eyes!
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2012-01-26 15:15:24Intronaut are awesome. You suck balls
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2012-01-26 15:27:59Intronaut are like a proggier version of Trivium. They insanely suck balls and I don't. I eat pussy with some tits as a side dish.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2012-01-26 15:35:18it was refreshing to read your perspective. i, on the other hand, found the show quite boring aside from the drum-off. i'm a long time tool fan, and it's not the first time i've seen them live, but i've yet to be impressed by their presence. many of the visuals were old music videos, and besides some screens dropping at one point, nothing too interesting went on with the displays. it's obviously not the reason one goes to see tool, but (not for the first time) i left feeling like i would have better spent my money on a live recording of the show.
i completely missed intronaut thanks to the bone-headed security set up (hey organizers: women like music, too - you need more female security to pat the ladies down; and why do you insist on enforcing "no camera" rules in an age when everyone's cell-phone has photo and video capabilities?), but it sounds like i should check them out.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2012-01-26 16:02:24It was Chris Chartrand. Not the first time Tool had him do that track with them on tour.
Posted by Retromingent On 2012-01-26 16:26:29Yes, that was Danny Walker with Tool. The author has it correct. Danny is my son and I have been in contact with him throughout the tour. Tool has been promoting Intronaut for a while now and both bands are good friends and have been hanging out for a while.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2012-01-26 16:56:25I don't doubt that the Intronaut drummer has been playing with Tool on this tour, but that was DEFINITELY NOT him on stage with Tool last night in Toronto. It was Chris Chartrand.
Posted by Retromingent On 2012-01-26 17:04:37I will have Danny answer this himself here when he gets a chance. But throughout the tour he was been the guest drummer on Lateralus.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2012-01-26 17:21:52"Intronaut are like a proggier version of Trivium. They insanely suck balls and I don't. I eat pussy with some tits as a side dish."
You are an idiot, that is all.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2012-01-26 18:31:04All in all a great show except no one has mentioned the fact the they really f#cked us over by playing the into of Ticks and Leeches and then going into Sober - really crappy to do especially since they play that song very often and have been playing it most of the tour.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2012-01-26 18:31:08All in all a great show except no one has mentioned the fact the they really f#cked us over by playing the into of Ticks and Leeches and then going into Sober - really crappy to do especially since they play that song very often and have been playing it most of the tour.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2012-01-26 19:24:17Intronaut are idiots. That is all. I am still eating pussy.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2012-01-26 20:34:18Yeah, your moms
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2012-01-26 21:23:20Here's a video of the Lateralus duel. The sound does not do it justice, but still awesome.
www.youtube.com@jamieaking
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2012-01-26 22:24:21I can not comment on this show because I was not there however I was at the Albuquerque show and both bands were fantastic ,tool has improved since 2009 when I caught them last and Intronaut was a nice surprise and now I am a fan of theirs as well .
in my opinion the author of this review was spot on with the feel of the show I was at ,and really captured the moment beautifully .
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2012-01-26 23:48:45Im actually soo pissed about them playing the intro to ticks then going into sober. That's a really big dick move by tool. I found myself waiting the rest of the concert for that song and was extremely disappointed.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2012-01-27 00:12:27Believe that Carey made a mistake by playing the Ticks and Leeches intro.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2012-01-27 00:27:24BlogTo says it was Chris Chartrand:
www.blogto.com Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2012-01-27 09:08:50Intronaut were all that mattered to me, extremely disappointed after seeing Tool
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2012-01-27 10:54:12I don't see the big deal, Ticks is fine but one of my least favourite tunes. I doubt it was a miscue, either typical Tool messin around or possibly Maynard nixed the tune due to all the screaming. He may have felt his voice didn't have it, just a guess, I'm not dissing his performance. In another article someone said that Maynard said "Sorry, we're a little rusty" which led this person to believe Tool had their worst performance ever. I'm not so sure, Maynard's remark could have been typical tongue in cheek Tool and referring to the fact that this is not the first show of the tour and they have been touring extensively for 6 years (with only the recent 1.5 year hiatus). I don't know the stats but I would think they are among the most heavily toured bands on the planet over the last 18 years...if not the most. Good show, seemed a little quiet at first but I think that may have been the board, got louder as show went on. This was my 7th time and it is my least favourite show but I have been to some extraordinary events ie Hummingbird, Bonnaroo. However, I still loved it! Is it just me or was the smoke spiralling?? I had a buzz on but nothing major, so I think it was real :-)
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2012-01-27 12:02:54They've been teasing with the T/L intro prior to Sober at each show. Seems like they've been alternating between the two sets with the Pot cut out.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2012-01-27 12:37:18check out
setlist.fm, tool played t/l every show so far except a double show in texas and toronto. t/l are one of those songs i feel won't be played many more times and i wish i could have seen it.
www.setlist.fm Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2012-01-27 13:49:17LOL at the guy who said that Tool is the band that tours the most. Open your fucking eyes.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2012-01-27 16:27:08All good points. Security sucked the most though, we were in line for over an hour and we missed Hooker with a penis.
Second, I saw T/L on the
setlist.fm, and thought for sure we'd get it, when they started then bailed, I immediately thought about rioting!!
Met a Friday the 13th fan in my section, and I'm trying to track her down.
Any luck?
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2012-01-27 22:03:33tool has live charisma?
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2012-01-30 11:39:07They haven't done it at every show but the Ticks and Leeches tease before Sober had been done, I was at the Toronto show and as soon as Maynard made the remark about not having played some of the songs since some people were sperm, I remembered seeing an online review of a previous show on the tour where he said the exact same thing before they did the drum intro to Ticks then played Sober, so I knew it was coming. I was personally happy they played Sober instead of Ticks, there's no way Maynards voice could replicate that song now, he was even signing Sober differently than in the past, but it was my first Tool show and probably my only one, I live on the east coast and they have never been past Montreal, Sober is one of my favorite songs and I'm glad I got to see it live. Wish I had seen Tool years ago when Maynards voice was still up to the task, but he sounded better than I thought he would.
Posted by Nameless Poseur On 2012-01-30 19:44:46Tool didn't play any new songs? Wow.
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