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Recent Articles By Jaime Lees

National Features

Tool can do no wrong in the eyes of its fans. In fact, the band inspires so much respect from its audience that it's nearly creepy. Tool gets away with things that would cause lesser bands to be written off or completely forgotten: There have been huge gaps between album releases (up to five years), infrequent tours, high ticket prices and band members who have been known to play in the dark and barely address the audience.

But all of this somehow works in Tool's favor. Far from feeling slighted or ignored, fans are supremely excited when an album comes out and are willing to pay as much as necessary for the rare live show. And instead of regarding band members as egotistical jerks, fans view them as mysterious and humble. This kind of blind worship is part of what makes the Tool experience so amazing.

The quartet has always been fairly hard to categorize. Metal, prog, alternative, hard rock — all possible genres only partially describe the band. The qualities of the typical "Tool sound" are just as nebulous as the members themselves. The lyrics are dense, mostly intelligent and sometimes inaccessible, hitting on such diverse topics as history, religion, numerology, witchcraft, death, psychology, math and uh, prison sex.

Last Saturday while performing at the tiny Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, Tool gave the kind of performance every fan hopes to witness. The crowd instantly responded when the band opened with "Jambi," a fast, powerful burner from its latest album, 10,000 Days. "Jambi" was followed by older favorites "Stinkfist" and "Forty Six & 2." Another stand-out song was "Schism," which was played differently from the studio recording, as it sped up near the end and highlighted drummer Danny Carey's superior skills. Live, "Schism" is a song that always seems like it might explode at any moment, but on this night it was held together by the enchanting bass guitar work of Justin Chancellor. Adam Jones rolls his fingers down the guitar frets with ease, making the heavy and bewitching "Vicarious" seem effortless. During "Rosetta Stoned," singer Maynard James Keenan encouraged the audience to clap along while he moved in his trademark lurching dance, perched on top of a riser in the back next to the drums.

If there was any complaint about the show, it was that Keenan's voice came across as a bit restrained (although this might just have been an effect of the poor sound quality in the venue). It's also possible that he was just saving his voice for the slow, quiet portion of the show. Keenan sang low and soft for "10,000 Days," a delicate and beautiful song rumored to be about his devotion to his mother during decades of ill health (and subsequent death), and her strong religious faith in the face of daily suffering. During this interlude, the audience sat down and watched — not out of boredom, but out of reverence. Many were moved to tears.

This Friday at the Scottrade Center, expect an outpouring of faith and devotion. Tool will be opening the doors to its sold-out church, and St. Louis congregants have been waiting patiently. — Jaime Lees 8 p.m. Friday, June 22. Scottrade Center, South 14th Street and Clark Avenue. Sold out. 314-241-1888.

Say Hello, Wave Goodbye
When a band plays a farewell show, it generally likes to do so at a venue that was a staple of its career. But Corbeta Corbata, a local punk favorite for over six years, has chosen to bid St. Louis adieu at the Creepy Crawl's new location, which they never got around to christening.

Guitarist Don Beasley wants keep the show all ages to allow in the band's many underage fans — and to make sure Say Uncle, a band fronted by a nine- and an eleven-year-old, could open.

It may not be a typical request for many of today's cooler-than-thou punk bands, but Corbeta Corbata isn't one of those. The trio of Beasley, bassist/singer Ben Smith and drummer Eric VonDamage brought together Dead Kennedys brashness with NoMeansNo bursts of creativity to construct songs that make them stand out like DayGlo against a blanket of pop-punk drones. For Beasley, the point was always to do something original and unexpected.

"Ben asked me to be in a band, and the reason I said yes was because he just said, 'Do you want to be in a band?'" Beasley recounts.

Not a punk band or a metal band (or, God save us all, a ska band). Just a band with no preconceived notions about what kind of music the trio would make. It worked, with Corbeta Corbata eventually recording a full-length album that Beasley was later shocked (and even a tad embarrassed) to find in his peers' stereos.

"Eric and I were the dorks that the hardcore and punk people wouldn't even pick fights with or hand flyers to after a show," 26-year-old Beasley says of his adolescence.

Corbeta Corbata grew to make the rounds however, frequently playing at the Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center, CBGB and just about every dingy basement show in town. While the band toured occasionally, continuous trips across I-70 proved to be killswitch for the band after Smith moved to Kansas City to attend school.

"We did everything we wanted to do as a punk band," Beasley says, recounting the times the band opened for D.O.A., Guitar Wolf or its heroes NoMeansNo.

They even made hippies bleed, Beasley says.

"At the RFT music showcase, six hippie girls were barefoot-dancing on broken glass watching us, and I'm like, 'Wow, hippies bleeding at our show! That's what I've always wanted.'"

Don't expect Corbeta Corbata's final show to provide the last notes St. Louis hears from the likes of Beasley and Von Damage, though. They've already founded a new band, Nerve Parade. Using reel-to-reel tape, the quintet will feature sounds made and manipulated by the members of the all-local supergroup, which includes Brian Fleshute, Peat Henry and Matty Coonfield.

"The idea is to make people nervous while they are watching us," Beasley said. "I want this band to attack people."

— Andrea Noble 8:45 p.m. Saturday, June 23. Creepy Crawl, 3524 Washington Boulevard. $8 to $10. 314-531-3888.

Write Your Comment show comments (11)

  1. This has to be the worst review ever written - blind worship, egotistical jerks? ...the lyrics are dense? When you praise it sounds like you're wiping an arse with an illiterate tongue. And I dont think you're smart enough to be sarcastic. Jaime Lees is an acne-pocked, burger-flipping, senseless idiot who just ripped off a worthy fan of a space in what was an amazing sold-out show. What Jaime was looking for is a shiny pop boy band with a gum-chewing frontman who mimes and puts on a skit. Who the hell is this moron to critic Tool; or any band for that matter? Flippin' idiot.

    Comment by Old Gregg — June 20, 2007 @ 01:48PM

  2. Dear Gregg's Mom,

    Why didn't you teach Gregg to read? That's not very nice.

    Jaime

    Comment by Jaime — June 22, 2007 @ 10:00AM

  3. I know reviewers are supposed to be jaded and point-out how everyone is a sell-out, how fans are all shills and that only the reviewer can intellectually defend their unique beliefs about music, but this article about Tool is about as uncreative as they come. Funny how the review takes so many shots at Tool's fans but doesn't seem to be able to find many problems with the performance or material. Could be blind-devotion at being a music snob but I think Tool dealt with these types of folks in there song "Hooker with a Penis".

    Comment by Gravy Crane Durham — June 25, 2007 @ 01:53PM

  4. Floor seats
    Tool aprox: $60.00
    the Police: $200.00

    Sorry for extra posts but if the reviewers would actually pay for a ticket someday they may be a little more up to speed on the relative cost of a concert ticket in 2007.

    Comment by GravyCrane — June 25, 2007 @ 02:17PM

  5. i'm really confused as to the negative reaction to this article. the author is a big tool fan and has been for years -- and *liked* the show. there is nothing negative about tool intended, or dissing of the fans intended either. she was stating a fact about how many tool fans are. the vitriol is somewhat confusing me.

    and the reviewer paid for her tickets to this show, fyi. and paid for her tickets to the STL show as well. not that that's anybody's business. frankly, whether a journalist did or did not pay for tickets has nothing to do with the kind of review the band gets. i've been reviewing live concerts for years now for weeklies and dailies, and rarely do free concert tickets make me personally want to review a show in favor of the artist. so that argument is completely irrelevant -- if not insulting.

    Comment by Annie Zaleski — June 25, 2007 @ 10:12PM

  6. oh, and i know *exactly* how much concert tickets cost these days. i paid for Bjork in Chicago, Arcade Fire in Chicago, upcoming Lollapalooza *and* Pitchfork fest out of pocket -- and also paid for Police tickets as well. so take your snide comments about free tickets elsewhere.

    Comment by Annie Zaleski — June 25, 2007 @ 10:15PM

  7. My bad.

    I didn't realize that the reviewers claim that fans have a a "blind devotion" and that I am willing to pay as much as necessary for the rare live show were compliments. I see now from your response that a ticket for Tool is a high priced ticket regardless of what other comparable rock bands charge for a concert.

    My comment was not that the reviewer was biased by receiving free tickets. I was responding to the statement in regard to the price of tickets. I see now from your response that a ticket for Tool is a high priced ticket regardless of what other comparable rock bands charge for a concert.

    Thanks for clearing that up. Now that I have apologized for seeing the review as anything but praise from a Tool fan, do I still have to take my snide comments somewhere else?

    Congrats on your ticket purchases. You guys are the best!

    Comment by GravyCraneDurham — June 26, 2007 @ 01:41PM

  8. Doesn't it say in the article that they are...
    a. "amazing"
    b. "powerful"
    c. "superior"
    d. "enchanting"
    e. "bewitching"
    f. "beautiful"

    Right. Those aren't complimentary words at all...

    I bought 5 tickets to shows on this tour. And if tickets were $500, I'd pay that, too. Oh, and I bought merch. Yeah, I'm a huge Tool fan, as are most of my best friends. I drove to freakin' Kansas to see them at Memorial Hall last year. I have no interest in dissing the audience. Blind worship is just a symptom of our devotion as Tool fans. It's a compliment to the faithful, ya dig?

    You are mostly confused and entirely wrong. So in the words of Tool... ahem...

    " point that f-in' finger up your a** "

    Comment by Jaime — June 26, 2007 @ 03:08PM

  9. I dig. Well OK, I said I was wrong. How much of an apology do you need?

    Memorial Hall, yep I was there and bought two scalped tickets from StubHub. I had to eat one of them because I couldn't find anyone in St. Louis or KC that would go. Even at face value. I had dumba.. standing in front of the place that wouldn't buy the ticket because they didn't want to go in alone. I was trying to do someone a favor and sell it at face value. "Scalp the Scalpers" Remember Maynard apologizing for the ticket price? "Kansas F'n City". I actually saw a Bob Marley wannabe M.F. get thrown out of the place. It was all worth it though when they played Patient. I swear everyone in the place had an orgasm at the songs climax, pun intended. Kemper, yep there too. OKC-Ford Center, yep at that one also, Cape, "I looked for the water all day and couldn't find it, and you call this a Cape?", STL yeah saw that one. And I could recount the ten other occurrences in which I saw the act over the past fifteen years much to everyone's bordedom. So what?

    So I am entirely wrong about the ticket prices and entirely wrong about "blind devotion" comment. To be blindly devoted is a good thing. To have so much respect that I would creep you out is also now seen as a positive. I am entirely wrong in reading the idea that Tool fans are somehow Zombie like and do not draw their devotion from an intellectual point of view. It is my ignorance. When I read the first half, I thought you were talking more about the KissArmy rather that ToolArmy.

    Comment by GravyCrane — June 27, 2007 @ 01:21PM

  10. And by the way, I forgot to mention that I think it is absolute BS that the RFT, or whoever owns the paper now,does not pay you for purchasing the tickets. Do they think these reviews grow on trees? Come on you cheap SOBs, by these ladies some duckets so they can do their job!

    Comment by GravyCrane — June 28, 2007 @ 02:00PM

  11. i'm glad you see what i'm sayin'
    rock on, my tool brothas
    hallelujah and amen

    Comment by Jaime — July 2, 2007 @ 01:33PM

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