If one act is phenomenal when attending a concert, it is generally a great night overall. When two bands on the bill play an awesome show, it steps up the level to truly memorable, and when three bands playing are all phenomenal, then you are simply spoiled with being at a concert that, when people look back at it, you can say “I was there” and make everyone else jealous. Last Friday night, Jan. 22, Chaifetz Arena fell into that third category, with three bands who are all on top of their game in the category of putting on a great performance.
The first act of the night was 3TEETH, the forward thinking industrial band that we profiled two weeks ago. The band walked out at promptly 7:15 and played with a swagger that does not come easily for a group playing arenas for the first time. Powering through seven songs in half an hour, singer Alexis Mincolla’s screams echoed through the 13,000-seat arena. After only one album, 3TEETH have mastered balancing their sound. Throughout their set, all four members of the band were prominently featured, with keys, drums, guitar and vocals all driving songs at one point or another. Although they did not have much room to work with on the stage, the band still shone and were incredibly reminiscent of Nine Inch Nails’ work and stage presence. They left the stage with me already knowing that this concert was going to be legendary, and it had just started.
Next up was Primus, who took the sold-out crowd down a demented Alice in Wonderland rabbit hole into a whole new dimension. After their first song, about blue-collared meth addicts, legendary bassist and lead singer Les Claypool asked the crowd “Are you frightened? If not you soon will be.” What ensued over the next 50 minutes was a seven song set with a whole lot of jamming between the three members, bass solos that put absolutely every other bassist to shame, and the “frightening” visuals of everything, from animated elephants jumping on a trampoline to anti-drug PSA’s to Neanderthal’s riding bicycles around a suburban neighborhood. Though it may sound terrifying, it was absolutely magical.
After performing their massive hit from the 90s, “Jerry Was a Racecar Driver,” the band left the stage with a tip of Les’ massive top hat and a quick bow. After two bands that blew me away, I thought that it was not possible to have the show get even better, and yet I was proven wrong again.
It was then time for the headliners of the evening, Tool. They are the reason that this show sold out in 10 minutes, despite not having any new music in the last ten years. The lights went out, and their rabid fan base went berserk. Walking out in full riot gear, lead singer Maynard James Keenan had no spotlight on him the entire show. That honor went to the rest of the band, who displayed some of the most incredible musicianship ever seen.
While many artists cannot recreate the hard riffs that they come up with in the studio, Tool actually improves them. The iconic bass line in “Schism,” the ridiculous time changes in “Jambi” and the technical drumming in every single one of their songs all were perfect. From a band with a song whose lyrics’ syllables are matched up with the first few numbers of the Fibonacci Sequence, the perfection in musicianship shouldn’t have been surprising. The music was only half of this experience though, with the other being the visuals that were presented before the band.
Tool took fans even further down the rabbit hole and displayed visuals that can only be described as mesmerizing. Disfigured faces with no eyes, bodies melding and molding, and trippy designs were all prominently featured on the screen that spanned the length of the entire stage.
After a quick 15-minute intermission, as opposed to the usual encore break, drummer Danny Carey performed a 10-minute drum solo that solidified him as one of the greatest drummer’s of all time. With two more songs after the solo, the night ended with one of their most well known songs, “Stinkfest.” By this time, every ounce of energy from every fan in the arena had been expended. It was a night that solidified two legends of the 90s alternative scene, while also introducing fans to a new threat in the same genre.
Though I was sad to have to climb back up the rabbit hole and return to real life, the complete audio and visual overload that I was exposed to will not leave my head any time soon.
And although Tool might not be a name everyone knows, despite their massive success, those who are unaware of their music are simply missing out.
