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Ryan A.'s Collection

Tool   10/05/1993

Le Transbordeur, Lyon, France
Source Aiwa CM-30 > TCD-D7 > Maxell cassette (ANA-1) > DAT-M > cdr
Media cdr   1 disc
Notes Maynard introduces the second song: “this the title track to our new album, Undertow.” The crowd reaction? ..... silence. birds chirping.
This is followed of course by a blistering version of said song as an ‘in-your-face.’ It’s strange to go to a Tool show now in a 20,000 seat arena then come home and listen to Tool play a small club to apathetic European audiences in 1993. But this is how Tool built their name and reputation. One song at a time. Winning over a few fans at a time with intense live performances, so that at the end of the show the majority of the crowd couldn’t help to be impressed and interested.

And this show is just another in a long line of those. Maynard is in such fine form tonight, haunting and intense. There aren’t but maybe a handful of Undertow shows where he sounds more powerful. The band has great control of the dynamics in Crawl Away, carrying it from a whisper to all-out pounding riffage. This is a show for Paul fans. His bass is relatively strong in the mix from the beginning. But suddenly it gets turned up dramatically during Prison Sex and continues to the end of the show. The result is a crawling, chomping mass of a sound. I love it.

The recording is another good one from Stephane. Very band-focused. But the cassette lineage does have a noticeable effect on the sound – dampening the highs, muddying the lows and putting a layer of hiss underneath the sound. The performance more than makes up for it.
Trades Allowed Yes
Ratings Sound: B+
Lists All Audio (cdr, shn & flac) · Tool
Owned by Ryan A. · Last Updated May 23, 2023