Taped to the backs of seats all around Brisbane Entertainment Centre were sheets of paper noting, in a large font: “No pictures or recordings allowed from cell phones. Thank you.” There were similar statements printed on every ticket and a verbal reminder from security staff at the entry gates, as well as from the ushers who guided people to their seats. I’ve seen artists such as Bob Dylan and the Eagles make similar requests of their audiences at the same venue in recent years, but none was so strongly worded or strictly enforced as Tool’s: at the first hint of a phone screen emerging from the darkness, eagle-eyed security staff flashed bright lights at the offender, and anyone stupid enough to try it a second time was ejected from the concert. There was one concession from the artists on stage after about 2½ hours: “Security, stand down,” said singer Maynard James Keenan, who then invited everyone to get their phones out for the final song of the night, Stinkfist.
I found the complete lack of recording devices to be a nice change from most concerts I attend. At Queen and Adam Lambert earlier this month, for instance, one particularly keen punter in front of me at Suncorp Stadium filmed a couple of minutes of pretty much every song they played. I understand and respect why Tool has chosen to take such a hardline approach to recording at its concerts: the intent is to encourage the audience to be present in the moment, seeing and hearing it in real time, rather than mediated through a screen. I suspect that many of us spend more than enough time staring at screens each and every day. An enforced break in routine should be welcomed.
mcmillena@theaustralian.com.au
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An early contender for my favourite concert of the year is a US progressive metal band whose six-date tour of Australia recently passed through four cities, including Brisbane. Tool is the first arena show I ever saw back in 2002, aged 14, and it’s heartening to know the quartet has lost none of its power to move and thrill audiences in the 18 years between viewings. My highlight was the decision to air a song named 7empest, which the band had only performed live for the first time in Sydney two nights previous. At 16 minutes, the song is the last track on Fear Inoculum, which was released in 2019 after 13 years between albums. The constantly shifting arrangement is so inordinately complex and demanding on drummer Danny Carey, guitarist Adam Jones and bassist Justin Chancellor that it’s hard to imagine writing and recording such a strenuous beast, let alone performing it live. What a treat it was, and what a remarkable achievement by these outrageously talented musicians.