Source: Radio New Zealand
The lead vocalist of US progressive rock unit Tool has apologised for performing in New Zealand with Covid at the start of the pandemic in 2020.
Speaking to a sold-out crowd at Spark Arena in Auckland on Saturday, singer Maynard James Keenan said he was “sorry about the whole Covid thing”.
Drummer Danny Carey and guitarist Adam Jones then launched into a swirling 10-minute rendition of the title track to their hypnotic 2019 album, Fear Inoculum , setting the tone of what was to follow over an enthralling but somewhat brooding two-hour show.
Rock band Tool performing live at Auckland’s Spark Arena on 22 November, 2025.
RNZ / Elliott Samuels
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Carey even played the first of two shows in Auckland without wearing one of his beloved signature basketball singlets, instead wearing a tightly fitted flesh-covered outfit that had distinct reptilian vibes.
Happy to take up his usual position at the back of the stage to one side of the drum kit, a mohawked Keenan dressed in an industrial suit surprisingly sung with the help of a songbook, though this could have been due to possibly playing some tracks for the first time since the late 1990s and early 2000s.
“Some of these songs we haven’t played since you were sprung,” Keenan told the crowd after asking for a show of hands on how many of the audience were aged less than 25.
A mournful rendition of ‘Disposition’ and twisting version of ‘H’. from 2001’s Lateralus made a rare appearance, as did ‘Crawl Away’ from the outfit’s 1993 debut Undertow .
The latter’s inclusion in the setlist sent the crowd into a brief frenzy, with muscular guitars combining well with a pared back Carey on drums – at least until the tempo accelerated tenfold at the back end of the song.
The only other song from Undertow that featured tonight similarly had the crowd jumping in unison, with ‘Intolerance’ opening with a thunderous grind of the guitars that took everyone in the audience wearing their black T-shirts straight back to the 1990s – where they’re probably all still living to this day.
Other highlights included a sonorous 10-minute rendition of ‘Rosetta Stoned’ from the 2006 album 10,000 Days , during which Jones rode his soaring guitar notes successfully above the sludge-filled river of bass and drums as the track winds down to a close.
Justin Chancellor of Tool performs onstage during the 2017 Governors Ball Music Festival on 4 June, 2017 in New York.
STEVEN FERDMAN / AFP
A powerful and emotive version of ‘Pneuma’ from Fear Inoculum arguably received the largest cheer from the crowd during the evening, with Jones and Chancellor both taking central positions on stage as Carey began his 12-minute drumming opus with the tabla.
Anyone who has watched Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy spend more than five hours trying to learn how to play this song on the drums on YouTube will know what I’m talking about.
Last but certainly not least, the four-piece from Los Angeles performed Black Sabbath’s ‘Hand of Doom’ during the encore, with Keenan paying tribute to the late founding member of the band, Ozzy Osbourne , at the end of the song.
While the set did include some rare gems, some of the more popular omissions probably had many in the crowd wanting a little more.
Aenima opener ‘Stinkfist’ was notably absent from the setlist, as were other more well-known bangers such as ‘Forty Six & 2’.
Australian support act Headsend was also a slightly puzzling choice given the plethora of solid domestic artists that are available that align solidly with Tool’s sound. Earth Tongue anyone?
The Grammy Award-winning outfit eventually closed the show with a soaring elongated 15-minute version of ‘Invincible’ from Fear Inoculum , which seemed to keep going even if you knew it was coming to an end.
With Covid similarly not quite done and dusted, let’s hope that the band can at least put Keenan’s little indiscretion behind them so they can start to work on a long-overdue new album and return to these shores with some new material.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
