Is Tool a Stadium Band? Adam Jones Answers

2021-05-13

Press photo of prog-metal band Tool.

Tool – Story by Cat Badra, photo by Travis Shinn

Adam Jones of Tool talks about the band’s desire to keep shows small- or at least, not too massive

Tool are a massively successful and popular band, and they can easily sell out arenas pretty much everywhere around the world. But, when it comes to playing stadiums, that might be a bit much for the guys.

In a new interview, guitarist Adam Jones talks about the idea of playing stadiums and mentions that the band has actually turned down those kind of offers. Speaking with Metal Hammer, he gave a few reasons, including the aura of the group’s live show, the massive production, opening acts and more.

When asked about the group’s favorite kind of venue and if Tool would like to perform in smaller venues than they usually do, Jones stated, “We’ve been offered stadiums, and we’ve turned them down, because we think that at that size there are only a certain amount of people that can actually enjoy that show.”

When asked to elaborate, Jones added, “It’s not about you anymore. Seeing The Rolling Stones and you’re all the way back in the stadium and you’re basically watching a Jumbotron, you know? I’m not into it — we’d rather do two nights in a smaller place than one night in a huge place. As far as what type of room, it’s just cool whatever they throw us. Sometimes we do play some smaller places. A few nights ago, in Oslo [Norway] we played this rectangular room, usually you’d be at the far end of the rectangle, but we were in the middle of the rectangle, it was very strange, but really cool.”

“There is something to be said for playing a club, that intimacy,” he continued, “and we’ve talked about doing that Rolling Stones thing where they did a club tour and had a higher ticket price, and that seems like something that could be good.”

Jones went on to describe the band’s current tour, stating that it’s “epic” and “designed so that the worst nosebleed seat is great. We definitely directed focus to someone that is sitting far away, it’s almost the best seats just because of the visuals and how we have designed the whole thing. Like I said, we have this three-dimensional thing…it’s going to be a good show!”

Cat Badra
Latest posts by Cat Badra (see all)
Posted by Cat Badra | Music, Rock, Rock News

Related Posts