Power Trip 2023: Tool Proves It Is Worthy; Metallica Comes to Play

Power Trip closed out an impressive weekend of rock on Sunday with crowd-pleasing performances by Tool and Metallica.

Tool

Five of the six Power Trip bands cemented their place in rock history with hits in the ’70s and ’80s—and then there’s Tool, whose psychedelic and unique ’90s and 2000s longform jams put the band in their own category. I am among the many people who were unsure about their placement on the Power Trip lineup—but a whole lot of Tool fans were present on Sunday.

The band appeared right at the scheduled start time and launched into “Jambi,” off the 2006 hit album 10,000 Days. The heavy guitar and drum intro was paired with trippy onscreen visuals—but the side screens were not showing the band onstage, like normal. For all of us back in general-admission seating, there was no view of the band.

Spotlights shined down on drummer Danny Carey, bassist Justin Chancellor and guitarist Adam Jones—while frontman Maynard James Keenan lurked on an elevated structure toward the back of the stage, in complete darkness. Tool is no stranger to this setup; Keenan has said before that he likes to hang in the back to focus more on the music than the performance. My pal Jasyn Smith, an eager Tool fan excited to see the band for the first time, texted me: “I know Maynard doesn’t like to be in the spotlight or whatever, but these visuals are some bullshit.” Many people in the Power Trip Facebook group had complaints as well.

However, there were no worthy complaints about the band’s performance. While I wasn’t sure exactly how animated the band was due to the lack of visuals, the songs sounded as tight and as heavy as ever.

“Good evening, Power Trip. You all look great and you smell delicious,” Keenan said before playing “The Pot.” Sprawling artwork from Tool albums decorated the stage, as the visuals became more and more psychedelic. Keenan let out a fury of powerful and emphatic screams, matched by heavy guitars and intense drum patterns. Three headbanging Tool fans to my left were having the time of their life.

Visuals of pouring lava appeared when Tool jammed through “Fear Inoculum,” a song from their latest LP, released in 2019. Keenan and Chancellor appeared to be getting into the groove, and the crowd cheered louder and louder after every song.

Keenan navigated to the other side of the stage, still in the shadows, and shouted nonsense into a megaphone filter before “Rosetta Stoned.” Visuals of an eye looking around transitioned into watchful aliens—creatures who appeared often throughout the Tool set. As the band navigated time structures, riffs and a sludge-metal breakdown, flashing photos of UFOs, the pyramids and planets appeared onscreen, before words in a strange language flickered. My girlfriend Alyssa joked: “They’re putting a curse on the crowd.”

Then came the real treat—a fantastic laser light show. It was like a Pink Floyd production, but instead of songs about money and walls, Keenan screamed into a megaphone while more alien heads appeared.

The stage lighting grew darker for “Pushit,” and as more optical illusions dominated the screens, Danny Carey showcased some impressively tight drum work. After a psychedelic guitar solo and breakdown, the crowd cheered, thoroughly enjoying the heavy sounds.

Chancellor’s famous bass intro for “Forty Six & 2” excited the audience, and the band provided a powerful and trippy performance of the mind-bending track. Audience members were hanging through every section, riff and time signature. Pentagrams flew across the screens, matching a giant pentagram hanging center stage, as Carey breezed through more complex drum patterns.

“Pneuma” and the slow guitar intro garnered a ton of cheers, before Carey worked through a jam on some of the extra drums attached to his kit. Took journeyed through a number of breakdowns, and more intense laser lights, on this 11-minute epic.

Creepy zombie faces opened up a third eye for “The Grudge,” and fans got to hear Keenan’s voice at full power. He sounded hyped up and let out a great, “Yeah!” Phasers and delay effects galore spread through the Polo Grounds when Jones introduced “Invincible.” After a heavy riff section, Keenan crouched and swayed back and forth while Chancellor and Jones met center stage to jam together.

After performance of “Stinkfist,” complete with a wailing guitar solo and epic screams, Keenan shouted, “You still smell delicious!” He started that famous heavy breathing—and “Ænema” got the entire crowd hyped up, as an intense laser and smoke show provided visuals while the commanding voice of Keenan led Tool through a badass display of musical power.

After song came to a close, and the band brought their kids onstage while fans cheered. Tool performed the longest of any opener all weekend—and were the only one to not do an encore.

Metallica

Metallica’s famous logo was everywhere on T-shirts Sunday night, and the growing crowd was ready for one of metal’s most famous acts to take the stage.

The camera onscreen shook with anticipation, and at 9:38, three minutes after the scheduled start time, AC/DC’s “It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ’n’ Roll)” played over the speakers, sparking a sing-along for audience members still gathering themselves after AC/DC’s stellar show the previous evening. The thematic “The Ecstasy of Gold” ushered Metallica to the stage—as if the harmonic singing was summoning the rock gods.

Make no mistake: Metallica came to play. They kicked off with the breakneck speed metal of “Whiplash,” and after a catwalk-sprawling solo from guitarist Kirk Hammett, drummer Lars Ulrich led the band into “Creeping Death.”

The band utilized their circular “snake pit” for this show, sectioning off a half-circle in the pit section where they could walk around and rock. Thankfully, those of us in GA were able to see this because of the camera work, which brought back the zooms and closeups after their absence during Tool’s performance.

The large audience sang along loudly as diehard Metallica fans were shown onscreen moshing and singing every word of the thrash-metal epic. “We want some energy from each and every one of you!” demanded singer James Hetfield, who then started a “Hey” chant for bassist Robert Trujillo to start the iconic distorted wah intro of “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” Trujillo was running around the stage; Hammett was whammy-bar-soloing it up, and Hetfield, although he sang in a lower register than his famous thrash-vocal delivery, moved around energetically.

The hits kept rolling, as the intro to “Enter Sandman” further excited the crowd. Fireworks popped, and Hetfield traded the famous chorus back and forth with the crowd. He was right when he said, shortly after the song: “Indio we’re gonna have some fun tonight!”

The band left the stage for a minute as mic stands were moved around the snake pit; the band then launched into “Lux Æterna” from latest album 72 Seasons, which was released earlier this year. Hetfield was in the center of the snake pit; another “hey” chant led Metallica into “Too Far Gone,” also from 72 Seasons. The new material sounded great live.

Trujillo announced to the crowd: “We, Metallica, have been celebrating with all our heroes since Friday. This is a celebration!” Trujillo said he Hammett have been doing a spontaneous jam for every show, and played a ditty called “Funk in the Desert.”

After the stage went dark, Hetfield busted out the acoustic for the “Fade to Black” intro. Everyone had their flashlights up for the slow, somber song. Before the fast part of the track, Hetfield explained that the song is about suicide, “something you’re not supposed to talk about.” He said, “If you’re feeling the darkness, talk to a friend please,” making the heavy outro and Hammett’s wah wah solo so much more emotional.

Any tears were quickly burned away by the fiery, fast thrash of “Fuel.” The instrumental was extremely intense—but the power was lacking in the thrash king’s voice. Still, it was a headbanging, mosh-pit party, and Hetfield couldn’t help but stick his tongue out.

The band left the stage again, before jumping in on instrumental jam “Orion” as the track ramped up. Trujillo played a bass intro for a melodic bluesy breakdown; Hammett soloed up and down the scale; Ulrich nailed a double bass pedal flurry for the outro, and Hetfield provided gnarly headbanging.

Hammett’s beautiful phaser guitar intro for “Nothing Else Matters” was aborted after he missed a note. He blamed the “hot desert” before starting again. Fans were holding each other and singing the classic track, from 1991’s Metallica aka The Black Album. Hetfield’s voice sang menacingly—and then it was his turn for a sweet guitar solo. The crowd erupted when the song ended, and Hetfield quipped “You kinda like that song? It’s all right.”

Hetfield talked about how he and his band mates were proud to be part of the event. “After 42 years of playing music, we don’t take it for granted,” he said. He went on to thank the other bands at Power Trip for making Metallica into what they are—and then asked Indio if we were “ready for heavy.”

Drop-tuned riffs were on full display for “Sad But True.” Hetfield did a two-stomp dance while belting out the lyrics, and at the end of the song, he down-tuned his guitar even more and shoved it into the ground.

Metallic traveled to 2008 for a performance of “The Day That Never Comes.” Everyone was moving around and rocking, and while Hetfield’s singing voice may have sounded strained at times, he always impressed with his powerful and guttural “YEAHS.” The back half of track was pure rock fervor, and Hetfield was jamming the fuck out, pointing to his band mates and yelling at them.

After “Hardwired,” another breakneck-fast track, Hetfield asked, “There’s still some songs you need to hear, right?” He played a game with the crowd; after he yelled “Seek,” the crowd answered with “and Destroy!” The crowd was amped up, and you could hear everybody singing the chorus. Ulrich went crazy on drums while making wild faces, and Hammett turned in the fastest wah wah solo yet. Hetfield bent down and let fans in the snake pit touch his guitar.

There was huge pyrotechnics and fireworks for “One,” and nearly every audience member cheered while standing to take pictures or record. The tune turned from a sing-along into a huge rock jam, as the side screens showed fans in the pit going nuts and screaming. Ulrich motioned for the crowd to keep chanting and cheering—just before starting “Master of Puppets.” Hetfield can’t scream the whole song like he used to, so he called out “Indio!” to get help from the gigantic crowd.

After a long fireworks show, Hetfield asked the crowd: “Did you have a great weekend in the desert?” Judging by the smiles on everyone’s faces as they left Sunday night, the answer was a definite yes.