It's been five years since the band was last in Aotearoa. Video / Frontier Touring
When Tool last performed in Aotearoa, their stadium-full concerts led to the country’s first big Covid outbreak scare.
Five years on, the art metal band from the United States is returning for an exclusive show at Auckland’s Spark Arena on Saturday, November 22.
However, some fans alreadyknew before the official announcement, after a band member’s slip of the tongue.
Guitarist Adam Jones, 60, revealed plans for a New Zealand tour during an interview with Hawai’i radio host Dave Lawrence, which was shared on YouTube last month.
Jones and Lawrence were discussing the reasons for the band’s decision to play in Hawai’i.
“We’re doing Australia and NZ, and we just went ... ‘God, we’d love to play Hawaii and play Japan on the way home’,” Jones said.
Tool band members consist of Maynard James Keenan, Adam Jones, Danny Carey, and Justin Chancellor. Photo / Travis Shinn Photography
The band’s fifth studio album - an 80-minute behemoth titled Fear Inoculum - debuted at no 1 in NZ when it was released in 2019, making it the band’s third consecutive chart-topper in the country.
This year, the group, which also consists of drummer Danny Carey, bassist Justin Chancellor, and vocalist Maynard James Keenan, have been keeping themselves busy.
In March, Tool played their first-ever set at Lollapalooza in Argentina, Chile and Brazil. Two months later, they played a tribute to Ozzy Osbourne at the Back to the Beginning event in Birmingham, England.
Just before Covid locked down the world, Tool performed twice at Auckland’s Spark Arena in February 2020.
A month later, it was reported a fan at the concert was the fourth confirmed case of the virus in the country.
It wasn’t until October that Keenan admitted on Joe Rogan’s podcast that he had Covid while performing at the Auckland show.
“Food didn’t taste right, but this is all hindsight right, we didn’t know at the time that these are the things you’re looking for,” Keenan said.
He said he spent four days in a NZ hotel “just trying to get through it” before the Spark Arena gigs.
“I was just drinking water, hot showers, taking care of myself, hot tea, just trying to get through it, and it sucked,” he said.
Tickets will be available for purchase on Monday September 22 at frontiertouring.com
