Power Trip 2023: Tool sounded great, but lacked the energy of AC/DC the night prior

Andrew L. John, Palm Springs Desert Sun
Updated ·2 min read
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A festivalgoer rocks out to Tool's set at Power Trip Music Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023.
A festivalgoer rocks out to Tool's set at Power Trip Music Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023.

Tool found itself in the worst possible position in the Power Trip lineup on Sunday, following an electric performance by AC/DC the night before, and right before Metallica was set to close out the hard rock festival.

It felt like a very difficult spot for any rock group.

For that reason, and because Tool didn’t quite match AC/DC’s energy and bravado — and because of the sheer novelty of the performance — Sunday’s set won’t be nearly as memorable. But it was still strong.

It’s probably unfair to compare the performance of one band to another, particularly when one is an iconic band playing in its first live show in more than seven years. I get that.

More: Power Trip 2023: Tool setlist

Festivalgoers listen to Tool perform at Power Trip Music Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023.
Festivalgoers listen to Tool perform at Power Trip Music Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023.

But while Tool sounded crisp and loud, and thousands appeared to enjoy the band's set at the festival, it inevitably felt like a let down after AC/DC, and as festivalgoers were gearing up for a highly anticipated show from Metallica.

I can understand Tool fans enjoying the set, which included astonishing visual effects — the kind that will lend to some interesting dreams — reverberating acoustics and some of the best vocals of the weekend from Maynard James Keenan.

The lighting coming off the stage was also exceptional. Flashes of green, yellow, blue and red danced off the top of the crowd throughout the set.

The band opened by playing “Jambi,” “The Pot” and then “Fear Inoculum.” It felt like a slow start, but the energy picked up toward the end of the 12-song, nearly two-hour set.

Festivalgoers record Tool's set at Power Trip Music Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023.
Festivalgoers record Tool's set at Power Trip Music Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023.

Tool played "Rosetta Stoned" for the third time in a live performance over the last week, after not playing the song since 2018 and not playing it with vocals since 2009. Tool played in Loveland, Colorado on Oct. 3 and in Sacramento at Aftershock festival on Friday. The set list closely resembled the set list from Aftershock.

One Tool fan standing a few rows in front of me head-banged through the first six or seven songs, next to a woman holding an infant who was wearing red earmuffs over her ears. After a short break, the man then whipped his shoulder-length hair around in circles for several more songs. He was one of several fans feeling it.

But the enormous energy from the night before was missing, and for those who were here to witness that epic Saturday night set it was easy to understand why.

A small contributor to that was that Sunday’s crowd was smaller than Saturday’s, when more than 80,000 watched Judas Priest and AC/DC take the stage at Empire Polo Club. But it may have been bigger than the roughly 60,000 that watched Guns N’ Roses and Iron Maiden here on Friday.

Andrew John is a reporter covering Power Trip for The Desert Sun and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at andrew.john@desertsun.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Power Trip 2023: Tool sounded crisp but lacked an explosion of energy