Bi-Lo Center, Greenville, S.C.

June 5, 2007

The Deal: Two hours of Tool.

The Good: I had only seen Tool once before — on the second stage at Lollapalooza in the early 90s — so I was interested to catch one of my favorite bands in a bigger setting. From the opening notes to the final waves goodbye, the quartet simply blew me away. It's amazing how talented these four musicians/artists are to create such an aural painting with sound, lights and lasers. Maynard James Keenan was in fine form, though his actions and banter were toned down. He did end the show with, "We'd love to stick around, but we've got hotel porn to get back to. Priorities ... you know ... " His vocals were spot on and sounded simply incredible. Drummer Danny Carey didn't miss a beat and Justin Chancellor's bass work was hypnotizing, and Adam Jones made the smallest notes sound huge on the guitar. Plenty of favorites were left out as the set list focused on 10,000 Days, but I was far from disappointed.

The Bad: $6.50 for a bottle of beer is nearly as bad as $38 for a T-shirt. I didn't buy either.

The Verdict: One of the best shows I've seen in recent memory. I'm looking forward to their Bonnaroo set even more now.