What Shoes Go with Tool?
May 21, 2007 - 4:17 p.m.
Summer concert season is in session.
A few weeks ago, I checked the incomplete schedule for my preferred concert venue in Massachusetts. Nuttin� much. Next, I bebopped over to Tool�s site to see if they were swinging back this way again. I knew they were still on tour and that some shows earlier this year had been postponed due to Danny Carey�s torn bicep surgery and recovery. (Drummers kind of need biceps that are, well, NOT TORN.) And there it was: �New dates added for Boston and [some other places I don�t remember because I stopped reading after �Boston�].�
YES!
I checked the Tour link. Boston, July 12, Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre.
Huh?
What Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre? Where is there a Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Boston? Mansfield? Massachusetts? New England?
What you talkin� �bout, Willis?
Clickety-click and googledy-google. Was it the Tweeter Center with new naming rights? No. It can�t be the (new) Garden, because that�s not an amphitheatre, right? Right. Search Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre. The closest, best match was for the Verizon Wireless ARENA in Manchester, New Hampshire. Is it close to Boston? Yes, about as close as Mansfield is, and that�s often considered the Boston stop on tours. Check the Arena schedule. No Tool in July. Well, that must be it, it�s just not on their site yet, and I don�t think I�ll go to an indoor show in New Hampshire. Bummer.
Driving home from work later in the week (Friday), and without carpoolers Lauren, Jeannie, and Leah on board, I flipped through radio stations in search of something appealing to my ears. I came upon Tool�s �Vicarious.� Jackpot. Oh, wait, someone�s yapping over it; it�s just a commercial.
A COMMERCIAL FOR TOOL TICKETS GOING ON SALE TOMORROW AT 10:00 A.M. AT MY PREFERRED CONCERT VENUE!!!
Can you say Fucking Crazy Deliriously Happy? I can.
(Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Boston? Incorrect data, that�s all.)
So, that night, before going beddy-bye, I made sure I was logged in to the ticket sales site, that my account info was entered and up to date, had my credit card nearby just in case, and set two alarms for 9:45 a.m. even though I�m up earlier than that.
Hardcore, baby.
You see, after enjoying Tool from afar last year, I knew I wanted to see them again, but a little more up close.
I purchased the tickets as soon as my fingers and the interweb would allow.
SECTION 3, 19TH ROW, MOTHERFUCKERS.
That�s 19 rows from the stage. Off-center, towards the side of the stage where Maynard was doing his sing last year.
After much rejoicing, I let it sink it further.
Close to the stage. Close to the hot lights. Packed in with a bunch of energetic fans. In mid-July.
Last year, far from the stage, on an unseasonably cool late September evening, I was comfortable.
This year, I very well may die in a pool of my own sweat.
That is, if I don�t freak out, hyperventilate, and suffocate first. Yeah, I don�t do well in crowds. Tight, unmoving, seemingly endless crowds = hyperventilation. Been there, done that, several times.
What was I thinking?
But then I thought, 19th row, and smiled. I�ll manage, just this one time. Also, I made a mental note that sandals might not be the way to go unless I want broken toes. Which I don�t.
So much for �from a good, safe distance.�
Autumn
Stuck in my head : �Trip Like I Do� � The Crystal Method
Trick or Treat - November 02, 2007
Autumn Has Left the Building - July 19, 2007
The Nail - June 04, 2007
Ungolding - June 01, 2007
Bollocks - May 29, 2007