Tool just began their North American tour with heavy psychedelic rockers Elder who make a great case for making sure those edibles kick in by 7:30. The tour made its second and third stops in NYC for two sold out nights at Madison Square Garden on Friday and Saturday (1/12-1/13). It was Tool’s first time playing the venue since 2001, but they’ve played the NYC-area a handful of other times since releasing Fear Incoculum in 2019, including Barclays Center in Brooklyn and Prudential Center in NJ right after the album came out and Prudential Center again and UBS Arena in 2022.
As always, the Tool show was a chance for guitarist Adam Jones, drummer Danny Carey and bassist Justin Chancellor to show off their amazing skills with each of them getting the spotlight at some point throughout the progressive rock band’s 2-or-so hour set (intermission included). To help with the journey, synced trippy visuals accompanying each song were playing on the giant screens behind them. Maynard alternated between platforms on the left and right side of the stage, but of course did his singing from the back of the stage more in the shadows. His stage banter on night two included telling us our phone use was like crack addiction, and our cheering was weak, and he generally seemed in good spirits as he belted out favorites from throughout their 30+ year career, from the older heavy stuff like “The Grudge” to newer head trips like “Pneuma.”
The setlists for each night had a lot of overlap, but each night also got some things that the other didn’t. They broke out Undertow track “Flood” for the first time since 2011 on night one, and ended that night with an extended version of Lateralus track “Schism” for the first time ever. They mixed up the setlist for night two by swapping out “The Pot” for “Jambi,” “Intolerance” for “Sweat,” “Flood” for “Culling Voices,” and “Schism” for “Forty Six & 2.” See both nights’ setlists below, along with pictures from night two by P Squared and attendee-taken video (not everybody listened to Maynard’s strong suggestion that nobody take out their phones).
SETLIST: TOOL @ MADISON SQUARE GARDEN, 1/12/2024 (via)
Fear Inoculum
The Pot
Rosetta Stoned
Pneuma
Intolerance
Descending
The Grudge
Chocolate Chip Trip
Flood
Invincible
Schism
SETLIST: TOOL @ MADISON SQUARE GARDEN, 1/13/2024 (via)
Fear Inoculum
Jambi
Rosetta Stoned
Pneuma
Sweat
Descending
The Grudge
Chocolate Chip Trip
Culling Voices
Invincible
Forty Six & 2
