After recently finding themselves under fire for underwhelming some fans with their back-to-back headlining shows at their first-ever ‘Tool Live In The Sand‘ destination festival earlier this month, enigmatic alternative metal titans Tool launched the Latin American tour yesterday, March 15th. The kickoff show took place at Explanada del Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, Mexico.
If you somehow missed what transpired at the ‘Tool Live In The Sand‘ festival in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, the storied group headlined both the March 07th and March 08th dates of the fest, which given it’s unique locale commanded a high premium for many individuals attending.
While fans who made the trip to catch the multi-platinum chart toppers were expecting ‘two unique setlists’, the group instead upset a vocal contingent of their fanbase by including four of the same songs (“Fear Inoculum“, “Rosetta Stoned“, “Pneuma” and “Jambi“) in each of those two setlists. For reference, those setlists can be found below.
Friday, March 07th:
“Stinkfist”
“Fear Inoculum”
“Rosetta Stoned”
“Pneuma”
“Jambi”
“Schism”
“The Grudge”
“The Flood”
“Invincible”
“Vicarious” (first time since 2020)
Saturday, March 08th:
“Fear Inoculum”
“Ænema”
“Rosetta Stoned”
“Pneuma”
“Jambi”
“Descending”
“Chocolate Chip Trip”
“Intolerance”
One fan who attended the festival was Stas Rusek, an Augusta, GA-based lawyer who listed those two shows as being his 27th and 28th respective times seeing the band live. Rusek has since been actively pursuing clients who attended that festival for a potential class-action lawsuit. That complaint would be filed on the basis of Tool allegedly failing to deliver on their apparent claims of performing ‘two unique sets’ at the fest.
Rusek spoke to Metal Hammer last week about that seemingly pending case, which he described a ‘bait and switch’, stating:
“What it boils down to is that purchasers of the festival package were promised ‘two unique sets’ by Tool. While the comments on these posts argue about what ‘unique’ means, the reality is that the opportunity to see Tool play two unique sets, ie no repeats, was the determining factor for most attendees to pull the trigger on spending thousands of dollars to attend.
Most Tool fans, like me, have attended multiple shows on the same tour, and we know that, due to the spectacular and complex nature of their show, most songs will be repeated. However, this is not what festival attendees were promised.”
Rusek went so far as to start canvasing for clients via advertisements on social media, seeking to sign on disgruntled attendees of the festival to move forward with the case. It remains to be seen if he has reached the desired threshold and will go through with filing the actual complaint.
For now, those curious to see if Tool rallied back in response to the rampant criticism they have faced over the past week at least now have a glimpse into what to expect nightly from the band amid this long-awaited first headlining run throughout the South American territory. Last night’s set ran as follows:
“Fear Inoculum”
“Jambi”
“Rosetta Stoned”
“Pneuma”
“Ænema”
“Descending”
“Schism”
“The Grudge”
Encore:
“Chocolate Chip Trip”
“The Pot”
“Invincible”
“Vicarious”
As you can see for yourself, no curveballs or rarities were served up, as the band seemingly avoid the opportunity to generate some goodwill to those left feeling betrayed by the festival setlist. Tool‘s immediate touring plans include:
03/15 Mexico City, MEX – Azteca Stadium Esplanade
03/18 Guadalajara, MEX – Calle 2 (feat. The Cult & Seven Hours After Violet)
03/22 Buenos Aires, ARG – Lollapalooza Argentina
03/23 Santiago, CHL – Lollapalooza Chile
03/28 Bogotá, COL – Festival Estereo Picnic
03/30 São Paulo, BRA – Lollapalooza Brasil
