When I heard that Tool was coming I knew one way or another I was going to go! Tool is one of my top 3 bands of all! I have seen them so many times I can’t even count. The week before the tickets went on sale the local radio station was doing a daily give away where you could win them before you could buy them. Unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to try on Monday and on Tuesday I tried but wasn’t able to get through. However on Wednesday, during the rock lunch I did get through and I was caller 9 which meant I was a winner! I of course was on the radio when I won which you can see on my Facebook page. Even though I had my already won tickets, I knew when they went on sale I was still going to buy a pair of tickets. I thought it was best just in case I was able to buy better seats than I had won. The tickets I ended up buying were really good seats just 3 rows off the 100 level in section 122 which was towards the back but off to the side. It wasn’t until 2 weeks before the show that I got my tickets from the radio station. When I picked them up and saw they were in the 100 level 10 rows back but 2 sections closer to the stage I knew that’s where I would be sitting the night of the show! The day of the concert my girlfriend and I headed up to Springs where we met up with some other friends and then carpooled up to Denver together. I think we arrived at the Pepsi Center around 4:30 so we had plenty of time to hang out. One of the friends we rode up with packed a cooler with a bunch of sandwich stuff along with chips and other goodies which including some homemade THC butterscotch drops! So we hung out in the lot for a bit, ate, talked to some of the other people in the lot that were either walking by or just parked next to us. Before we headed towards the Pepsi Center I of course had to do my first 420 clip in the lot. As we walking up to the Pepsi Center there was a guy selling shirts for $25 each claiming they were $50 inside. Funny thing is these guys are always outside doing this and I usually get them down to $10 a shirt. So I told him I would take 4 for $40 and he laughed at me saying that wasn’t going to happen. I told him that was fine as we walked away, but I knew I would get my $10 shirt before the day was done. We hung out with our friends and did a few other clips and one of my friends even decided to be in one with me. It was actually hilarious! Since I had bought a few bottles of booze, about an hour before doors opened we started having a few drinks. We were having a pretty good time in the lot and decided to wait until about half hour after the doors opened to let the crowd die down. After all we had assigned seats and didn’t need to worry about racing in. Once we did get in my girlfriend and I went to our seats and our friends who ended up buying the other tickets I had went to their seats. It was too bad we weren’t close to each other. When we got to our seats the view was amazing! I was super pumped!! We waited maybe 15 minutes before the first band came out “Killing Joke”. I had never heard of them and honestly they were ok. They had 2 songs I liked, but the others I didn’t care too much for. So we decided to head outside for the break before they finished their set. Once we got to the smoking area the place was already packed. So I was glad we got there when we did since I knew it was going to take time to get back through security. While we were out there we tried looking for our friends but the place was just to packed, so I figured it was a good time to do a 420 clip! Unfortunately we never did find our friends during the break, after I was done smoking and doing my clip we headed in to make sure we were in our seats before the show started, especially since we also wanted to buy another beer before sitting down and the lines for that I figured would be long! As luck would have it we found one with no line so we grabbed our drinks and headed to our seats with plenty of time. As we were sitting there waiting I talked to a few people around us asking if they were going to be standing and/or recording? The reason I wanted to know was because they had a zero recording policy that night (as they always do at Tool) and I wanted to figure out the best way to do some recording without getting caught. All the people I talked to were supportive and said they would help keep an eye out for security for us. Once the show started and Tool hit the stage I hit the record button on the camera and did my best to conceal it. I thought things were going well! Especially since I watched as people all around us were getting caught. Security walked by me several times and never saw the camera. So at one point we even did a 420 clip during The Pot. I wasn’t planning on doing any 420 clips until the last song as I didn’t want to draw any attention to us. However the booze was kicking in and I felt like I could get away with it and we did! I continued to record the songs but unfortunately during the last song before the encore, security walked up and told me to stop recording or I would be kicked out. I told them no problem as I was happy to get away with just a warning. From what I saw they were making the other people they caught delete what they recorded. So I put the camera away as Tool took an intermission. I was talking to some people near us who had managed to record the entire song and they wanted to know if I got the guitar solo before they stopped me, which I did. So I gave them one of my business cards from my wallet so we could connect after the show. Tool came back out for the encore but I didn’t bother trying to record since I was planning on taking the chance for the last song. However, before he played it, Stinkfist, he told the crowd they could pull out their cameras and record. So at that point I knew I didn’t have to worry about it anymore and I was going to get my other 420 clips. I must have toked 4 or 5 times during that song catching them all on video! As they finished up and were throwing stuff out into the crowd I took my girlfriend and we headed down to the floor to see if we could find something. Sadly we didn’t but I met a guy who did and I at least got to see the pick he got and took a picture. After we left the show we headed outside and I did one more 420 clip as people poured out of the Pepsi Center. All in all the night was great! I was happy to see one of my top 3 bands with my girlfriend, and Tool absolutely put on a great show! They had some great songs picked out for the night and mixed in some new ones off the new album. As always if I can get a chance to see Tool, I will, which brings me to the next night. You can read that review as well!
Be sure to check out videos from this show and others on my YouTube channel!
Follow me on
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dans420chronicles
Twitter: @dan_chronicles
Instagram: Dan’s 420 Chronicles
