Some 13 years after Los Angeles’ art-metal band Tool released their 10,000 Days album, they have debuted two new songs – ‘Invincible’ and ‘Descending’ – during stops on a tour of the US and Europe that began in May. Touring with a sound system supplied by Eighth Day Sound. Along with d&b audiotechnik GSL loudspeakers, Midas XL-4 console and anciliary gear, longstanding FOH mixer Alan ‘Nobby’ Hopkinson has chosen Heil Sound microphones.
For the band’s current run, Hopkinson is using PR31s and a PR40 on the guitar cabinets, a PR40 and PR30 on the two bass cabinets, a PR30s pair on Leslie speakers, PR48s and PR40s on kick and floor toms, and a PR30 for Jones’ Heil talkbox.
‘We were first introduced to the Heil range of mics during the recording of the previous album and to keep things as near to form, we took them on the road with us,’ he says. ‘They have a very natural sound, which really is the bottom line. There’s very little colouration, which keeps the sound raw. Perfect Tool.’
Alongside Jones, the band, comprised of Danny Carey on drums, Justin Chancellor on bass and vocalist Maynard James Keenan. Tool’s deliberate pace and stubbornly old-school approach – they’ve never made their music available for streaming or even sold it digitally – are tempered with cutting edge production in their live shows. The band performs with little audience interaction. Frontman Keenan stays in the back, cloaked in shadows while guitarist Jones and bassist Chancellor stay locked into playing the complex repertoire of songs that merge complex progressive rock with blistering heavy metal powered by the intricate drumming of Carey.
The band is known for complex live shows where video, lighting, and lasers become, literally, the focal point.
‘The visual element is always at the heart of this show with audio being the silk stitching to complete the purse,’ Hopkinson says. ‘We try to position audio to facilitate what the video and lighting departments are trying to create. All three departments have worked together for the years that I’ve been here – some for longer – so we have a pretty good understanding of each other.’
