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Tool Performs Rare Songs at Oceania Tour Opener in Auckland
The air in Auckland's Spark Arena crackled with a palpable, almost sacred anticipation this weekend, a feeling familiar to those of us who treat setlists like holy texts and tour openings like major religious holidays. Tool, the progressive metal architects known for their meticulous craftsmanship and near-mythological gaps between albums, did not merely kick off their Oceania tour; they orchestrated a deep-dive retrospective that felt less like a concert and more like an archaeological dig into their own formidable legacy.It’s been over six years since the release of 'Fear Inoculum,' an album that itself felt like a geological event, and while fans might have expected a set leaning heavily on that material, the band instead delivered a stunning curveball, resurrecting songs from their back catalog that haven't seen the light of day in decades. This isn't just a band playing a gig; it's a statement of intent, a deliberate act of reconnecting with their own raw, unrefined past.For the vinyl collectors and festival travelers who live for these moments, the decision to break out such rarities is akin to a legendary director releasing a long-lost director's cut—it reframes the entire narrative of their career. Imagine the collective shiver that ran through the crowd as the first, dissonant notes of a song like 'Pushit' from 'Ænima,' or perhaps a deep cut from 'Undertow,' filled the arena, its performance history measured not in years but in generations of fans.This strategic setlist curation speaks volumes about Tool's unique position in the music industry; they operate outside the typical album-tour-album cycle, treating their live shows as evolving, living entities rather than mere promotional vehicles. The choice to premiere these forgotten gems in New Zealand, far from the prying eyes of the Los Angeles music press, adds another layer of intrigue, making the Oceania leg not just a tour opener but an exclusive, almost secretive workshop.It invites a broader conversation about the nature of a band's relationship with its own history. Are they revisiting these tracks out of nostalgia, or is it a deliberate re-contextualization, showing how their complex, polyrhythmic language has evolved? The sonic landscape they paint now, with Danny Carey's otherworldly drumming and Maynard James Keenan's matured, more controlled vocal delivery, inevitably casts these older songs in a new light, sanding down some of their youthful abrasion while amplifying their compositional genius.For the devout followers who analyze every time signature shift and lyrical nuance, this tour opener was a gift, a promise that the journey ahead is not just a victory lap for 'Fear Inoculum' but a comprehensive, career-spanning odyssey. It sets a thrilling precedent for the rest of the Oceania run and the inevitable global trek to follow, proving that even after all these years, Tool remains the master of the unexpected, capable of making a arena of thousands feel like they’re witnessing something intimate, rare, and profoundly special, a setlist that flows with the deliberate, unpredictable beauty of a perfectly sequenced playlist.
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#Oceania Tour
#Concert Setlist
#Live Performance
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