Those of you who follow me regularly know that Tool is one of my 3 top favorite bands. I was lucky enough to have just seen them at Aftershock and to see them again when they came to Denver. The day tickets went on sale I logged into ticket master and joined the cue hoping to not only get tickets but to get good seats. After waiting for a few minutes, I got in and found some good priced tickets in the 100 level. I think I paid $150 each for them which wasn’t bad. After I got my tickets, I checked to see how much tickets were down on the floor. I found a couple in the 2nd row for $700 each. Though I love Tool I didn’t want to spend that much. However, I kept thinking about how cool it would be to see them from that close. Not wanting to spend that much money I moved on with my day. Later that night Jess and I were having some drinks and I went to check to see if those 2nd row tickets were still available and they were. As I was telling her about it and we talked about we decided to buy them. Just as I went to purchase them, they disappeared, someone had beat me to it. I was so disappointed, but it was my own fault for waiting so long. As we sat there for a few more minutes I refreshed Ticket Master and 2 seats became available in the 3rd row. Without even thinking more about it we bought the 2 tickets.
The day of the show we left early as I wanted to make sure to get there in time to get one of the limited Tool posters. Unfortunately, we were all the way on the North side of town when I remembered our ear plus so we has to go all the way back to the South side of town which took about 40 mins round trip. By the time we got to Denver and parked at the venue it was already 4 almost an hour later than I hoped. When we walked up to the outside merch booth there was already a long line of at least 200 people. It was around 4:30 they opened up and it took us about 45 minutes to get to the front of the line. When we got there I bought some shirts and 2 posters numbered 281-282/750. I wasn’t worried about the number I got I was just glad I was able to get a couple of them. After getting our merch we went across the street to have some dinner. After dinner we headed back to the car where I smoked a bowl and had a couple of shooters. Then we went into the venue. As we walked in the opening band was already playing.
The opening band was Elder. I had never heard of them before. They were more instrumental than a singing band. They did sing a little but mostly played some obscure music. It kind of made me think of a mix of Pink Floyd and Tool but not as hard as Tool. They were entertaining but honestly, they didn’t seem to put out high amounts of energy and barely engaged with the crowd. They were good like I said but I probably wouldn’t add their music to my apple music or go see them again if they were headlining. After their set I walked up to the rail to say hi to a few of the security guys I knew from other shows. Then Jess and I went to the bathroom and to grab a couple of drinks. We got back to our seats and had time to take a couple of pictures. It was then we realized we were sitting in front of someone else we met at another show last year. We were also sitting next to another guy we know from shows. It was a huge coincidence to end up next to people we knew.
When Tool hit the stage everyone stood up and from what I saw they never sat back down until the intermission then again at the end of the show. They came out playing the title song of their new album Fear Inoculum. The band played a great set list, though it contained a lot of their newer stuff, I would have preferred to have heard more older stuff. It was still a great show! Maynard hung out in the back like he always does letting the band be the focus. And as he usually does at the end of the show he let the crowd pull out their phones and take pictures and videos while they played Schism. Because we were so close, I wasn’t able to get any other pictures from our seats. I did try snapping a few on the way back from the bathroom after the intermission while they were doing the drum solo Chocolate Chip Trip. Like I said, all and all it was a great show, we had a great time. I was really hoping to get a pick which we didn’t but other than that I had no complaints. Being my top 3 band, I know this isn’t the last time I will see Tool and I look forward to that next time!
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