For the third time in my life, I went to witness the spectacle that is a Tool concert. I knew it was going to be a good one before it started. In my first trip to the bathroom at the AT&T center, some disheveled stranger asked me if I had a condom. Welcome to the big rock show!

As a veteran concert-goer, I can safely say that Tool is unlike any other show I have ever seen. My usual type of concert is a beer-fueled, testosterone jacked, scream and hate fest. Tool has their songs that encourage head-banging (Stinkfist, 46&2, and Vicarious this show). The performance is borderline performance art but with a withered twist. For my tastes, Tool includes enough mysticism, philosophy, and spiritualism to make the haunting riffs, cryptic vocals, and disturbing images mean something. Some say Tool is to pretentious, but I see music written on a personal level and those that are left behind might feel some jealousy or fear.

My personal Tool experiences are not my own. Most of the crowd bought a ticket to see the emotionally heavy music performed live. Sure, some of the crowd came to see Sober, Undertow, Schism, and Vicarious, but I didn't let those people ruin my experience. It's always overwhelming to me to share a personal experience (through the music) with thousands of strangers who I'm guessing have a similar feeling.

While my mind wandered during the slower parts of the show, I couldn't help but think of how my life has changed since I bought the ticket almost 9 months ago. I moved addresses, lost a friend, changed job titles, and discovered and forgot many revelations about myself and the world. I can remember who I borrowed my first copy of Aenima from (thanks Paul). I remember going to the Lateralus midnight release party at Hastings and the crowd with witch I shared my first listening.
Guess I'm a Tool dork because I can frame almost the last year of my life through Tool. But at least they write their own music, and aren't concerned with making the Billboard charts like those pussy, money-grubbing, sell-outs Metallica.