Tool Rocks Huntington Civic Arena!
For HNN by Brandon Woolum


Although the clock read 7:30 P.M. Thursday night, tri-state rock fans knew what time it was. It was Tool time.

No, Tim Allen was not in town showing how he uses tools, but Maynard Keenan and the boys were rockin' Huntington's Civic Arena.

Hard Rockers, Tool, along with Tomahawk brought their 2002 summer tour to Huntington on Thursday evening.

Once the rock fans got through the tight security at the front gates, which included a full pat down, it was time to rock!

As the lights dimmed and the crowd bunched tight against the security barrier, Tomahawk ran onto the stage dressed in full emergency workers uniforms to loud cheers. They then began what would be a 30-minute set. The Huntington crowd didn't have all cheers for this band featuring former Faith No More singer Mike Patton. Patton began to call the Huntingtonians rednecks and hillbillies.

This created quite a stir and Patton looked out at a sea of middle fingers and heard thousands of people booing him.

The band left the stage to a mixed reaction.

Forty minutes later it was the headliners turn. After a 5-minute long video introduction, lead singer Maynard Keenan appeared at the back of the stage wearing a full black latex suit and facing the back of the arena. The rock heavyweights then began blasting out tunes off their "Lateralus" CD in a two hour set.

Their stage show featured a complex video animation, which ran the entire concert set and was in sync with the music. There were also many types of lights and smoke used to create this one of a kind stage show. The smoke caused the fire alarm to sound twice during the band's set.

Lead singer, Maynard, continued to stay near the back of the stage with his back facing the crowd. He rarely even glanced at the nearly sold-out crowd while he belted out the hard rock tunes.

To finish the show off, Maynard came down and met the three other members, and they all engaged in a group hug as the crowd cheered as loud as they could. The band did not perform an encore.