CLEVELAND, Ohio — After decades in the making, the members of progressive metal band Tool are starting to feel a little old.
“I have to do a lot of stretching and I take a really hot shower before I go on stage. It helps my dexterity,” says guitarist Adam Jones. “I wish I was 17 and could reach my wallet without hurting my back. .”
Still, you wouldn’t be able to tell in the reactions to Tool’s latest tour, which arrives at Cleveland’s Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Sunday, March 20. Words like “shocking”, “mind-blowing” and “mind-blowing” come up often, which is exactly what Jones and his comrades had planned.
“We put a lot of money into it,” admits Jones. “We want people to leave with the best experience. I’ve had friends who have gone to these shows who are like, “Oh my god, you’ve gone so far with this one.”
For many, the second leg of the “Fear Inoculum” tour has been a long time coming. First, there was the album of the same name – Tool’s fifth studio effort – which took 13 years to arrive. The delay was due to a mix of complex legal issues, family commitments, and the band members’ deliberate creative process.
“It all depends on when it suits us,” insists Jones. “We started working on the record, we stopped, then we started again. I really like the record. I think it went well. Maybe it took all this time to make something as good as a result.
“Fear Inoculum” finally arrived in 2019 and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. However, while Tool was touring in support of the album, the band had to cancel their 2020 North American tour. due to the pandemic.
“I think it hit us the same way it hit anyone,” Jones says. “We just didn’t know what was going on. Then for the state to arrest you. That’s when you go, “Oh man, this is real.”
Cleveland was one of the lucky cities. Tool played Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on the first leg of the “Fear Inoculum” tour in November 2019, just months before the gig industry shut down. But Sunday’s show is not a retread of the gig fans saw two and a half years ago.
“It’s new and improved,” Jones proclaims. “We started the ‘Fear Inoculum’ tour and we still do. But we added so much more footage. We have different lights. The show is constantly changing and improving. If anyone saw the show before COVID, before we shut down, that’s something completely different.
This should serve as music to the ears of metalheads. Especially since the concert, which seemed to be sold out months ago, has seen more seats open in recent weeks. They are in the upper levels of Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. But that shouldn’t matter according to Jones.
“We really try to make it too challenging no matter where you are in the arena,” explains the guitarist. “When the fans say, ‘Oh my god, I had a great night’, that’s the point. We’re in a situation where we can put all of that into our shows, so why not?
