Tool & Elder @ Spectrum Center

Oh no!  Am I getting too old for dad-rock?  Or is it just that I have seen a couple of Tool shows too close together (I mean, it has been nearly 2 years).

An early crowd was exposed to the most suited Tool support I have ever seen.  Elder.  Their heavy prog-rock light-on-lyrics songs made me wonder if I'd seen 6 5-minute songs or one 30 minute opus.  Regardless I thought it was pretty good.  Not only did I not know the songs, but I had not heard of the band either.  One to keep an eye on.

A sold out crowd in the Spectrum Center made plenty of noise as Tool came on stage piece by piece.  With Maynard standing on the opposite side of us, beside the drum, in the dark as usual.  Starting off with Fear Inoculum I am not hopeful that this set will be newer album heavy.  Fortunately Jambi was up next, which is my favorite Tool song.  And it sounded great, and as usual the visuals that come with the music at a Tool show were outstanding.  Rosetta Stoned straight after saw the last of the 10,000 days songs played for the night.  It was fantastic to hear Intolerance and I would have liked to have heard a lot more Undertow stuff, but apparently those days are long gone.  It was about now I noticed a dad and 2 sons on the opposite side of the arena from where I was sitting.  Dad was into, but his sons, maybe 10 & 13, were also having a blast.  The sons may not have known the music, but it didn't stop them dancing their hearts out for the rest of the show.  It distracted me from the band quite a bit.  But that didn't matter, because I felt like I was standing behind Adam Jones for a lot of the show.  The Grudge was a nice finisher to the set.  The encore started with Chocolate Chip Trip - which I've seen a bunch of times live now.  I understand Danny is an incredible drummer, but as a fan I want to see him display that with a different song.  Schism was a bit anti-clamitc for the final song, especially seeing they have been playing Stinkfist at some other shows.  But again that's just me.

Overall I think I'll wait before I head back to see Tool.  No doubt they are incredible musicians, who put on a big show, but the last 3 I've seen (in 5 years) have all been Fear Inoculum heavy.  It is the older stuff that does it for me - no Aenema songs tonight.  And tonight I understand the show went for 2 hours - and no I don't include the publicized 12 minute break between 7 song main set and 4 song encore - but 11 songs for $185 - the 2nd most I've ever paid for any concert - and $50 for a t-shirt (pass).  Who's the family member stereotypically counting where the money is going.  Dad!  It seems like it's alienating your prime audience a bit.  That said, most concert tickets are on the rise - maybe I'm just a grumpy old man, past his concert used by date.  We'll see.

Tool Setlist

The Crap Facts:

This is my 501st concert.

This is my 5th concert at The Spectrum Center.
This is my 106th concert in Charlotte.
This is my 128th concert in North Carolina.
This is my 302nd concert in the USA.
Elder are the 578th band I've seen.
This is my 8th Tool concert