Tool's Loyal Fans Ignore Tech Problems

Progressive metal, like competitive sport fishing or Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, is generally the exclusive preserve of the Y-chromosomed. But then, after 15 years and four albums (three of which have wormed their way into the Billboard top five), Tool have built a solid cult as exceptions to hard rock's rigid rules.

Granted, dudes of all stripes — punks, goths, nerds, pro-wrestler look-alikes — were in abundance at the Hummingbird on Tuesday night. But the considerable number of women who showed up is a testament to Tool's come-one, come-all appeal. A Dream Theater sausage-fest this clearly wasn't. The gender breakdown wasn't the only demographic double-take.

The building was also filled with teenagers and young adults who were still terrified of cooties when this band wrote hit singles about putting your hand up someone's rectum. At least one youngster came with his dad, although from the looks of the two, it's tough to say exactly who brought whom.

Tool's cross-generational appeal is obvious. Combining the extended instrumental passages and conceptual mumbo-jumbo of classic prog-rock with ass-stomping alt.metal thunder, their music is ideal for alienated teenagers and alienated parents alike. Mammoth bruisers, like the nine-and-a-half-minute "Lateralus," were met with a mighty roar and neatly bridged the age gap that separates System Of A Down from Uriah Heep.

Despite the misanthropic vibe of their music, Tool are actually quite engaging in person. Early in their current tour's sole Canadian performance, frontman Maynard James Keenan — yoga-trim, sh

"What the fuck, dudes?" he chided. "Why not triple-platinum? I need to put a new wing on my winery."

Tool aren't much of a singles band, so it's not too surprising that almost half of the unmercifully heavy 11-song set was made up of selections from the new album.

As instrumental opener "Lost Keys" morphed into the gargantuan "Rosetta Stoned," though, something was wrong. Once Keenan switched from his bullhorn to the mic, his voice went from intentionally distorted to virtually incomprehensible. More technical hiccups cropped up later when one of the four giant projection screens that flashes scenes from the band's innovative and beautifully disgusting videos sputtered and died.

Muddy sound plagued Tool most of the night, as the sound techs struggled to nail the right balance between Keenan's upper-register howls and the band's pulverizing bottom end. But to the faithful, nothing short of the roof caving in could detract from the awesome, bowel-shaking spectacle of their heroes in concert.

After almost an hour and a half, Tool called it a night with a stirring, stretched-out take on current hit "Vicarious" and a fist-pumping, unremittingly aggro reading of crowd favourite "Aenima." The band were barely off-stage before the house lights came up with a flash, adding an incongruous hurt to the preceding 90-minutes worth of joyfully battered eardrums, scorched retinas and whiplashed necks.