Watch Tool play using “backup crappy gear” and no effects during intimate final pre-tour rehearsal livestream

After a two-year Covid-induced postponement, Tool will finally embark on their US arena tour tonight (January 10), and to mark the occasion the band recently took part in an intimate rehearsal livestream on Instagram.

Footage from the event has been snapped and shared on YouTube, meaning fans can get a glimpse of Adam Jones, Justin Chancellor and Danny Carey greasing the grooves on The Pot and The Patient. See both clips below.

There was one slight twist, though: according to the band’s whiteboard, the trio – who weren’t joined by frontman Maynard James Keenan in the footage – were playing with “no FX” and “backup crappy gear”. Gotta be prepared for anything these days.

Despite the stripped-down rigs, it sounds as though attendees will be in for a treat when the stint around the country kicks off at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Oregon. The tones sound suitably gnarly – no doubt they'll sound even better when Tool are equipped with their proper gear – and the group’s playing sounds pinpoint.

Jones – who teamed up with Gibson last year to release a V2 of his ‘79 Les Paul Custom – also took the opportunity to put in some last-minute six-string ground-work, flexing his nimble melodies and thunderous riffs.

Tool’s much-delayed tour, which is being held in support of their comeback album, Fear Inoculum, was originally scheduled for March 2020, but was postponed and rescheduled during the pandemic.

During that time, Keenan contracted Covid twice – an experience he described as “ugly” to Apple Music and that prompted him to urge others to “take this [pandemic] seriously”.

Tool dropped Fear Inoculum in 2019, which marked their first new material in 13 years following the release of 2006’s 10,000 Days.

To find out more about the tour, head over to Tool’s website.