23/11/2025

Tool – Spark Arena: November 22, 2025 (13th Floor Concert Review)

Tool returned to Auckland for their 6^th visit and 9^th show and their first since February 2020. We all know what happened after that…

And yes, Tool’s Maynard James Keenan seemed quite willing to take the blame (or the credit) for the pandemic.

“Sorry about the whole Covid thing”, he told us as their set was getting underway. “Also, stay with us, stay present, take the journey with us and put your fuckin’ phones away or I’m gonna give you Covid again”.

One thing is for certain…Maynard hates cellphones.

Fortunately the sell-out crowd was mostly compliant, keeping their phones tucked away until the last song, when Maynard promised, “you can take out your stupid cellphones”, but calling anyone who kept the phone’s light on, “dummies”.

But, phone-rage aside, this was a night for the hardcore Tool fan. This first show since July finds them with a re-vamped setlist, playing deep cuts and leaving out crowd favourites such as Stinkfist, Sober and Aenima.

Headsend

Up first was Australian grunge/metal/surfers Headsend. Because of the strict security and the long lines it produced, I missed the first few minutes of the trio’s set, but caught enough to appreciate them.

Yes, they owe a debt to Nirvana…nothing wrong with that…but with long hair flailing and riffs pounding, they did what was asked of them…warmed up the crowd and got us in the mood.

I wouldn’t mind seeing them on their own terms.

Tool

And then there’s Tool.

As the lights dimmed, the crowd roared and a low hum was generated from the PA, the four band members took their places, with “front” man Maynard, crouched down next to the drum kit, in the shadows like a spikey-haired Quasimodo.

Jones, Carey and Chancellor laid down a groove that became The Grudge and off we went!

A Tool show is an immersive experience. None of the players are “performers” in any show-business sense, instead they let the music do the talking, with that “journey” Keenan referred to, aided by the animated graphics projected behind them.

Which got me thinking…

As I looked around at the crowd, I noticed this was not the usual coming together of misfits, outcasts and punks. Instead, most of the audience around me seemed to be made up of 30-40 year olds looking well fed, well-coiffed, well cut and well oiled, thanks to the copious amounts of beer that were being consumed.

These folks looked like office managers, accountants, white-collar workers looking for an escape from the 9-5s, rather than the usual rock & roll outsiders who only feel at home in a dive bar, with a garage band screaming at them.

The common thread was the beer.

But, to be fair, this audience knew and appreciated what was going down.

When the first notes of H. were played, the crowd responded immediately…this to a song that hadn’t been performed since 2002.

“Those of you under 20 years old, raise your hand”, ordered Maynard…”under 25?”

“Some of these songs we haven’t played since you were spunk”

And we were treated to Crawl Away, a track from the band’s 1993 debut album and one that hadn’t been played since 1998.

The 90-minute set closed with searing versions of Vicarious and Intolerance…and then they were gone.

Or were they?

The crowd clapped, chanted and even waved for an encore for at least 10 minutes. Finally a clock appeared to count down from 5 minutes…

As fans counted down to one, drummer Danny Carey could be seen in front of a vintage-style moog, where he turned around to perform Chocolate Chip Trip…basically a drum solo…before the rest of the band returned to play…

Black Sabbath’s Hand Of Doom!

I was elated. This was the song they played at the Back To The Beginning Sabbath reunion show in July.

Tool nailed it and Maynard wrapped with a “Rest in peace, Ozzy”, before finishing the night with Invincible…cellphones and all!

This was escapism, 21^st century style.

12,000 adult professionals, getting out of the office and into a heady mix of prog-metal and sci-fi graphics.

Of course I’m generalizing…not everyone I saw fit the mould, but I’m guessing if you show up at Spark Arena tonight, it’ll look and sound much the same.

Marty Duda

Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Den

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