I bought some VIP tickets for the Tool concert in Calgary this past Monday and I thought I would share the experience if anyone is interested to hear how it went.
I won’t lie, I was pretty apprehensive about spending $650 on a ticket. In my excitement, I actually thought they were $500 CDN. Nope, $500 US of course. I have done VIP tickets in the past for different shows, but this is by far the most I've ever spent.
I went with my Brother in law and they asked us to show up at 12:45 and the VIP event would take four hours. FOUR hours! What could we be doing for that long? It was pretty vague in the VIP email. Just swag and a Q&A with a band member, possibly Adam Jones.
Because of logistics, we arrived at exactly 12:45 with 67 other people in line (they told us that later). They opened the doors and we had to shut off our cell phones and turn them in. They gave us a swag bag with a bunch of stuff in it, including drumsticks, a VIP shirt, picks and lots of other little things. They also handed out the tickets (third row!) and put the VIP wristbands on us. They were very clear we were not allowed to leave the facilities until after the VIP event was over. No smoke breaks or anything.
Of course, they put us through the metal scanner and thoroughly went through any bags and/or purses we had. Mainly looking for recording devices and weapons I guess. Once we were all ready, they took us to a small room with chairs set up for us and some light snacks. At the front were a couple amps, a guitar, a TV and an Indian style rug on the floor. Seems like it's going to be Adam.
The VIP manager, Justin, came in and gave us the ground rules. Nothing surprising… don’t be stupid, and absolutely no recording or you will be kicked out and blacklisted by Tool forever.
Justin then talked about how he met the band and got involved. Apparently he was the ringside announcer for WWE and because Adam is a huge fan, they become friends. After Justin was finished with WWE, Adam asked if he wanted to help with the band and the VIP event specifically.
Justin then did a small Q&A with the group and opened it up to us to tell Tool stories. Most of them ended up being awkward stories about Maynard. I think he was mainly stalling for time at this point.
Justin then said no one has asked THE question that gets asked at every event. And from the back of the room, someone shouts “When is the next Tool album coming out?” We all laughed and turned around it was Adam himself that asked it!
I won’t get into too much detail here. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone that’s going to do the VIP, but it was truly awesome. He talked for two hours straight about his upbringing, the formation of the band, how many of the songs are conceived and on and on. It was fascinating, and we were all hanging off his every word. We were allowed to ask questions, but mostly we all just wanted to listen.
I will make a few observations; Adam was truly humble and extremely likable. He seemed like such a down to earth guy you just wanted to go hang with and have a beer and chat. He was also insanely grateful for his success and the fans and it came across as completely genuine.
A couple things that stood out that is worth mentioning that you hard core fans are already aware; Adam, Justin and Danny lay down all the music and Maynard comes in after its all put together with the lyrics and singing. He alluded to the fact that Maynard respects them as musicians and see's himself as more of the final piece of the puzzle.
I kind of suspected this before, but after listening to Adam, I think I get why Maynard hangs back on stage and lets the spotlight on the other three. I truly believe that MJK wants us to appreciate the musical geniuses of the band, and he's just there to add to it. For those that have been to a puscifer show, you know that he doesn’t hide from the spotlight at those. I know I’m getting a little sidetracked here, but I felt Adam implied this and it solidified how I feel. Although it could all be conjecture.
Back to the event. The whole time Adam was talking, they had this security guard walking around us earnestly looking for recording devices. It was a little unnerving and distracting, but I understand why. A few indications that I won’t get into here, is that Adam was the most paranoid about people recording or peaking in.
Near the end, Adam talked about digital distribution and how they might tackle it. He then showed us an exclusive sneak peak of a new Opiate song/video. The song was completely redone, similar to how they redid that live Pushit version. It was incredible and I can’t wait until they release it.
And that was it for Adam (for now). He thanked us and told us he loved us and all his fans. We all had the biggest smiles after.
We then headed to the merch table and we could purchase things at a small discount ($10-15 dollars off). That took about 45 minutes.
Justin then lead us down to the front three rows for sound check. Adam, Justin and Danny (no Maynard of course) played us Lateralus which was insane! They had the light show and everything going. Danny and Justin were smiling the whole time. After, they came down and we took a big group picture and got to shake their hands on the way out. It was about 5:30 at this time, and my BIL and I decided to head across the street for a bite to eat and a beer before the show started.
That was it. That was the VIP experience. Was it worth $650? I think it was worth $500, but $650 is pushing it. Do I have any regrets? Absolutely not. It was something I will remember fondly for the rest of my life.
If anyone has any questions, feel free to PM me and I’ll get into more detail.
I’m going to get a little into the concert itself now if you’re still with me and want to keep reading.
The opening act was Crystal Method, which was absolutely terrible. But I almost felt sorry for the guy. He admitted we were there to see Tool, and had no illusions. He seemed to be trying, but it just wasn’t that good.
One thing that I noticed, is hardly anyone showed up to the Dome to see the opening act. Sometimes when you go to a concert, people are milling about in the concourse getting drinks and chatting, but it seemed that people just didn’t care to show up early. Just a strange observation I made.
When Tool came on, it was awesome of course. The first three rows were for VIP, so I got to be almost as close as possible. This was my fourth Tool show, and I did have floor tickets in the past, but nowhere near this close.
I’m not going to give a full review here. There are many out there that you can go and read, and they all do a good job of describing it.
But a couple observations I made being so close that I wasn’t able to see at the other shows. Adam, Danny and Justin seemed to be having the time of their lives. Danny and Justin just smiled the whole show. Adam’s not really into the smiling thing, but you could tell he loved being up there. They all seemed truly grateful.
Another thing I’m embarrassed to admit (being a Tool fan from the beginning) is I had no idea how truly amazing Justin is. I knew of course how good Adam and Danny are, but Justin blew my mind. He went full out from the beginning to the end. And what he can do with that bass! Many of the riffs I assumed were Adams, was Justin making his instrument do things they aren’t supposed to do. I respected the guy before, but now I put him on a whole other level.
Maynards voice held up, but unfortunately the overall sound wasn't as good as past concerts. It definitely wasn’t as loud, and his voice sometimes washed out into the music and wasn’t very clear. Not his fault, bad mixing or something.
Otherwise, it was phenomenal.
That’s all folks. If any of you made this far, thank you for taking the time. I would love to hear your comments and feedback.
*Edit: it's Justin not Jason, thanks
