PossibleEye has posted a review of TOOL’s Cleveland music event on the band’s Reddit. TOOL’s Music Clinic events feature members Adam Jones, Justin Chancellor, and Danny Carey. According to PossibleEye, Jones criticized how other bands handle events like these where they interact with fans, mentioning MEGADETH.
“First off, it was awesome. Got there right at doors and managed to sit in the second row with a few dudes from NJ. Everyone was extremely excited and you could feel the energy coursing through the room. We were able to walk through their stage set up if we wanted, and I did. So many things to look at.
“Same format as the others. MC comes out and ask people for tool stories for about 15–20 minutes then the guys come out and launch straight into The Grudge followed immediately by Eulogy.
“After this, it was Q&A. An interesting revelation was that they have recorded just about every show in the past 10 years. As much as they want to release a live album/DVD, they said that they didn’t want to give it to their record label so they were holding it close to the vest. In addition, this upcoming album is the last on their contract. Based on they tone in regards to record labels, I wouldn’t be surprised if they take an independent route after this new release.
“Lots of the same questions as past clinics, but the above was something I hadn’t read before. The guys were super gracious, and Danny had said he wasn’t down for these clinics at first because he wasn’t sure how they’d unfold. Now that they’ve done a few, he loves em and thinks they are very beneficial. Adam made a comment about seeing other bands do these before and being appalled at how impersonal and quick they made the people feel. He said he didn’t want to name names, then coughed out megadeth under his breath. Cue raucous applause.
“After this, they ripped into descending, followed quickly by Jambi. Adams talk box went out during the solo, so he switched to the wah pedal to cover. Sounded awesome and was not bummed at all to hear a recovery take on the solo. One thing to mention was the level of production they brought with them. It was a full on Tool show with backdrops and skrims, all made to feel like you were sitting in. Their practice space. Adam made a point to mention the amount of involvement these things take, and it was evident.
“After this, they started talking rhythms and polyrhythms as they played bits of Rosetta Stoned and 46&2 and provide examples. Danny then showed off his segue track that will be featured on the new record. It was a cool little ditty that he started on his sequencer, then jumped on his drums and absolutely destroyed em. It was beautiful.
“They took a few more questions, but nothing that hasn’t been breached before. They asked if they should take more questions or play two more songs. Obvious choice was 2 songs, so they shredddd two more songs (46&2 and the other escapes me…)
“They then took a group pic with us all and said they’d come out for a beer.
“Only Danny and justin came out. No photo opps. I’m pretty sure they’ve been playing it as they go on these clinics because they’ve slowly phased out the photo oops, which was a bummer. After seeing the crush of fans hit em after they walked out, I can understand.
“Overall it was an excellent experience. I’m sure I missed a ton, so others can chime in or you can ask specifics. They were super gracious and did their best to make everyone feel like they got their money’s worth. Would do it again in a heartbeat.”
TheJoben also wrote about the Cleveland clinic event.
“I am a huge fan and the furthest thing from most of the douches on here who bash the clinics/VIPs/band members, and to be completely honest, I was a little disappointed in the meet and mingle. I know they’re people but I pretty much exclusively wanted to meet Adam. And beyond that, my gripe isn’t with the band, it’s with the fans. I understand it’s exciting meeting them, but you don’t need to talk their ear off for an entire 2-3 minutes (as they were being swarmed by crowds of people) to tell your life story. I simply wanted to say thank you, your music has impacted me greatly and tonight was amazing. But after all the people trying to be best friends, Danny was forced to just shake hands and move along, cutting people off mid-sentence.
“Again, no hate at Danny, but the fans should realize that they are not the only ones there and that the band members don’t want to be listening to poems you wrote. Being advertised as a 2-4 hour event, i wouldve liked to see closer to 4 hours of content, with the extra consisting of enough time that the band can actually mingle with close to 200 fans (briefly).
“But, while the meet and mingle did not meet the “intimate” expectations I had after how much they talked it up at the end of the Q&A (and my dreams of meeting Adam were crushed altogether), it was still well worth it. Better than past VIPs i’ve attended by far. Amazing being surrounded by like minded fans, and seeing/hearing songs up close (EULOGY!!!). They are still gracious, funny, down to earth dudes who love what they do, and I still left satisfied with my experience.
“Last song was Aenema, by the way!”
