Have been a huge fan since the early days. Was super excited to finally see them at Aftershock this year and it was a huge let down. Maynard was hiding somewhere on stage while the rest of the band just stood there playing.
Agreed. All the choices they make about their live “shows” really gives the impression they hate their fans. They are so far up their own asses its really quite remarkable.
Maynard’s own comments reveals he hates his fans "This song changed my life, man!
“I DIDNT WRITE IT FOR YOU”
a simple thank you would have done but okyou can’t take The Nard Dawg at face value, you gotta read between the lines, my friend.
Theres no line to read lol theres no reason to act like that lmao
my generational divide is impossible to explain… look man, they faked their own deaths as a joke at one point, they said the point of their band was to evangelize a made up philosophy or new religious movement they invented that was about crying all the time, they were on comedy TV show. at some point Maynard was in a full on parody band before he met Adam, I assure you, you can’t take him seriously. the context of the statesmen your talking about he was saying all their fans were unwashed virgin idiots who wouldn’t leave them alone, but they were a band for just cool people only. he was being very sarcastic. it was a bit. I’ve seen the whole thing in context, he was clearly doing a bit. I could spend forever trying to explain the pre YouTube world and how Beck and Thurston from Sonic Youth did a whole TV interview being dumb and it was glorious because you know… they were in TV and TV was dumb and teenagers got that they were doing a bit and it was funny but when people TODAY see it they’re like ‘wait these guys are mean and they seem like they are dumb and suck’ and it’s like… no they were actually really cool, but you had to be there… maybe?
Nah, if you’re gonna write analytical shit through lyricism and someone, even if you think they’re annoying, professes that your work changed their life, at the very least you throw up a peace sign and dont say anything. Making fun of them when you made the deep magic is just being a cunt no matter how much The Humbling River fucken slaps. Its almost wild to hear the dude write shit like this and then turn around and be like “yeah fuck you guys, you guys are weird, fuck you I wrote this for me.” I have no words to describe it.
I see I wrote too many words for you to read. I’m sorry. He was doing a comedy bit. It was all a goof. He’s a little goofball.
I read the entire thing, it had little relevance to a permissible excuse to being a cunt
they do hate their fans, it’s not even subtext.
the just want you watching the video and enjoying the light show stuff, not paying attention to them. it’s a choice.
I’ve seen Tool live twice and it was epic both times. Definitely unpopular opinion
Same here. Incredible both times.
Their concerts emphasize their music. Did you want choreographed dance numbers?
i like a perfect circle a lot
i like progressive metal (btbam is my favorite of all time!)
i can appreciate the band members as talented musicians
but i think the true unpopular opinion here is
tool sucks
livei have the whole discography but i am heckin quick to hit skip on that whiny bullshit once it catches my attention in a playlist
He doesn’t like being the center of attention. It is pretty well known that he performs from the back of the stage.
The guitarist and bassist were asked why they didn’t move around much while performing, they replied they were busy counting which is no surprise when you listen to the polyrhythms that Danny Carey is drumming out.
When a set is a constant change in time signatures for multiple 10 to 15 minute songs I can’t imagine how difficult it would be to keep it going for hours, much less trying to also dance around.
Agree. Danny was my favorite part of the show for this reason. Absolutely mind-blowing to watch him play.
I am just blown away that they can play their songs in one go.
It’s one thing to do it in studio where you can record in whole or in part and restart or cut back in parts. To do their songs in concert is legendary.
I wish I could see them live but I’m way further away from any big city now so they won’t be close to me. Years ago my mom got free box tickets from her work to see them in Vancouver and took my sister. Mom had no idea who they were and other employees were mad she won them but my sister enjoyed the show.
Define sucks a little more precisely?
See, I would assume you mean that their musicianship is lacking live. Which is entirely possible, I’m not quibbling on that as I’m not into the band enough to have watched a ton it their live stuff to form a useful opinion at all.
But the way you described how they suck is about one member not being up front and visible. Again, I’ve never seen them live in person, nor watched a ton.
But I’m not sure that the lack of stage presence = suck. It sure can contribute to sucking live, but it isn’t what I’d say is the determining factor.
It’s like when someone big name in pop does a complicated and intense dance routine that’s impossible to sing through. Is that a good live performance or a sucky one? I err on the side of it being a good show if it isn’t all they do. The inverse is also true, that if all they do is sit on a stool and absolutely nail the music, it’s a good show.
It puts me in mind of Iron Maiden too. Even when they’re having a rough go of it musically, they can make up for it with giant Eddie and awesome lights and pyro and you still walk out happy enough even though Bruce was almost croaking (fear of the dark tour was exactly like that when I went lol). But when they’re on point and the flashy stuff is there, it’s a fucking spiritual experience.
My impression of tool is that they err on the side of musicianship first, and anything else is secondary. Was that maybe what you experienced?
I agree with OP, a live act should have a commitment to entertaining people. To me that is the difference between a good and bad live band. So the best live show I ever saw was Fela, and not because the band was tight, though it was. He brought a corps of African dancers, a full horn section, and the best performance I have ever seen. Worst was REM when they were starting out (I didn’t go see them after that) and Young the Giant when they were starting out (they got so much better later, we saw them again and it was such a good show). Because they just sort of stood there. Hayes Carll and Paul Thorn are great to see live because they tell stories and are really funny. J Roddy Walston won our hearts the first time we saw them, ginger madman at the piano.
Recorded music is art but live music is performance art and entertainment. I don’t think it’s reasonable to say that because a band sounds great live, that makes it a good performance. That’s a baseline (ha) not a goal.
Tool, the singer is known for being actively hostile to performing. A good sound and a dull show does still mean it’s a sucky performance, I think.
I don’t like performing either, but when my belly dance teacher dragged me along with her to paid gigs (because I could dance) you better believe I engaged with the audience, that IS the job, and that audience generally didn’t even pay to be there. She said stage fright was selfishness - that your job was to give a performance, that it was about giving something to the audience, not being perfect - she would say it’s not about us it’s about them. If that is true dancing for a party, it’s a hundred times more true for an act people paid a hundred dollars to see.
I saw them in '06 and he was doing it back then too. He had the decency to materialize for the encore at least.
Oh man that’s the opposite of the show I saw way back right around when 10,000 Days came out. They had a massive, really stunning visualizer light show going for the whole set, so no one was even looking at the band, and the quality of their performance was amazing. It was really something to hear Maynard do that long scream from 46 and 2 live.
Sorry to hear the performance you saw wasn’t very exciting; that really sucks. :(
I saw tool in 1994 and it was the best performance I’ve seen from them. Every time I’ve seen them since I thought it was good but wasn’t blown away
