How Tool overtook Sacramento

It was the first Sacramento show for Top Shelf in 2022! Tool and Blonde Redhead were a hit — let’s get after it! Fans were very excited and eager to enter the arena. There were many fans walking around wearing Tool merchandise, even concerts shirts from 2012. Some fans had mohawks and others wore all black… there was a lot of diversity in the crowd. 

Since COVID has entered the world, there have been more and more restrictions at concerts. At the Golden One Center, vaccine cards are required and now artists like the Black Keys, Metallica, Eric Church and Tool are accompanied by dogs trained to find traces of COVID in members of the band, crew and everyone else in the backstage area. This information is provided by the Bio-Detection K9 company in Ohio, with dogs who have been trained to sniff people’s hands and feet to detect the virus. It is a very interesting and smart precaution.

Blonde Redhead took the stage first and the crowd opened up with a few roars!

The stage was set and the band started playing with dim lights. Kazu Makino and Amedeo Pace did their thing on the vocals while Simone Pace controlled the vibe with the drums. Their 45-minute set included hits like “Elephant Woman”, “Bipolar” and “Spring and By Summer Fall.” Fans were vibing, dancing and moving their heads around to their music. It was a great start for the show. 

As soon as Blonde Redhead finished their set, fans left their seats to refill their drinks and buy merchandise. The arena was packed with Tool fans. As far as the production went, there was a string curtain that surrounded the entire stage; it was very interesting and creative. On the stage, there was the drum set in the middle, keyboards on the left and a mic with stand on the right. Behind the instruments was a giant blank screen. Above the stage was a large octogram light.

As the members of Tool walked onstage, the crowd went nuts!

Each member walked to their spots and immediately started jamming. They started the show off with “Fear Inoculum”, followed by “Opiate”. Each member did their thing and played beautifully. Vocalist Maynard James Keenan, guitarist Adam Jones, bassist Justin Chancellor and drummer Danny Carey played a handful of songs until the curtains went up and the fans could see them clearly. Tool continued to kick ass and played fan favorites such as “The Pot”, “Pneuma” and “The Grudge”. 

Towards the middle of their set, the background turned on, with creative visuals of eagles, different colored shapes and magma melting down slowly. Each song had a different background. There were also laser pointing and glitter falling from the ceiling. The production overall was amazing! The crowd roared, applauded, danced, rocked their heads and had a great time during the entire Tool set. The band then finished off the night with “Hooker with a Penis”. Even when the show was over, fans were still screaming and pumping each other up, because they simply love Tool. It was a great start to 2022 and we can’t wait to cover Tool again! 

Photography by Arik Ruiz

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