TOOL's MAYNARD JAMES KEENAN earns Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt
09-01-2024
TOOL, A PERFECT CIRCLE and PUSCIFER frontman Maynard James Keenan has earned his black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
“Congratulations to my friend, training partner, and sometimes nemesis @iamthebriefcase on the monumental task of receiving his Black Belt today,” fellow jiu jitsu black belt Ty Gay announced in an Instagram post on Saturday (January 6). “Was an amazing event, with a bunch of truly amazing people. Today, Jiu-Jitsu became just a little bit better.”
TOOL will make its return to Europe in the spring with a month of dates slated for the 2024 trek, including stops at London’s O2 Arena, Stockholm’s Tele2 Arena and Paris’s Accor Arena, as well as appearances at Graspop Metal Meeting, Tons Of Rock and Copenhell.
News of TOOL‘s European tour follows a particularly busy time for the Los Angeles-based band, with the foursome currently in the midst of a North American tour that extends into February. Over the last few months, TOOL has headlined Aftershock, Welcome To Rockville, Louder Than Life and the Sonic Temple Arts & Music festivals, as well as a once-in-a-lifetime performance at Power Trip, which Metal Hammer described as “a mind-melting, triumphant showcase of just how singular their art is, a transcendental experience that surpasses genre boundaries.”
Tickets for all headlining dates are on-sale this Friday, November 17 at 10 a.m. local time. In advance of the forthcoming on-sale, TOOL Army has opened additional memberships, with pre-sale tickets available exclusively to members for a 24-hour window beginning today at 10 a.m. local time. TOOL Army members will continue to have access to pre-sale tickets until the public on-sale begins on Friday. A limited number of VIP packages will also be initially available to TOOL Army members, with remaining options available to the general public as the on-sale begins on November 17. Select packages include premium tickets, sound check access with group photo, exclusive merchandise and more. All ticketing links are available via Toolband.com. NIGHT VERSES opens on all European, non-festival dates.
TOOL 2024 European tour dates:
May 25 – Hannover, DE @ ZAG Arena
May 27 – Amsterdam, NL @ Ziggo Dome
May 30 – Birmingham, UK @ Resorts World Arena
June 01 – Manchester, UK @ AO Arena
June 03 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
June 05 – Paris, FR @ Accor Arena
June 08 – Berlin, DE @ Parkbühne Wuhlheide
June 10 – Wien, AT @ Wiener Stadthalle
June 11 – Kraków, PL @ Tauron Arena
June 13 – Budapest, HU @ BudapestAréna
June 18 – Köln, DE @ Lanxess Arena
June 20 – Dessel, BE @ Graspop Metal Meeting
June 22 – Copenhagen, DK @ Copenhell
June 25 – Stockholm, SE @ Tele2 Arena
June 27 – Oslo, NO @ Tons of Rock
During a recent appearance on “The Vinyl Guide” podcast, TOOL bassist Justin Chancellor was asked if he and his bandmates have begun writing material for the follow-up to their 2019 album “Fear Inoculum”. He responded: “We’ve got many ideas cooking. We haven’t recorded anything yet. But we’re quite busy until — I guess until after the spring of next year touring. So once that’s done, we’re gonna get back in the studio and knuckle down and put some of it together. We’ve already had a few pretty decent sessions of writing. So we’ve got the ingredients in place. We’ve just gotta really bang it out and spend that time when we’re not touring.”
Asked if there are any ideas that were recorded during songwriting sessions for previous albums that haven’t been released yet, Justin said: “Yeah, tons from the last album. We have tons of ideas, but not recorded to the standard we’d put on an album. Just kind of, I’d say, lots of demoed stuff. And then just tons of ideas just kind of stored away.”
Quite possibly the era’s most highly anticipated album, TOOL‘s latest LP, “Fear Inoculum”, arrived in August of 2019. Debuting at No. 1 on Billboard‘s Top 200, the album earned heaps of critical praise with NPR saying, “‘Fear Inoculum’ was worth the 13-year wait,” Revolver proclaiming the album “a masterpiece to be dissected for years to come” and Consequence saying the release finds “TOOL in peak performance.”
Last year, TOOL released “Opiate2”, a re-imagined and extended version of the 1992 EP’s title track and an accompanying short film, marking the band’s first new video in 15 years. The band also unveiled the first incarnation of “Fear Inoculum” vinyl, dubbed the Ultra Deluxe edition, the limited offering included five 180-gram vinyl discs emblazoned with a unique etching and accompanied by an elaborate pictorial booklet including never-before-seen artwork.
TOOL formed in 1990, releasing five studio albums: “Undertow” (1993),“Ænima” (1996),“Lateralus” (2001),“10,000 Days” (2006) and “Fear Inoculum” (2019); two EPs: “72826” (1991) and “Opiate” (1992),and the limited-edition boxset “Salival” (2000). The band has won four Grammy Awards: “Best Metal Performance” (1998, “Ænima”),”Best Metal Performance” (2002, “Schism”),”Best Recording Package” (2007, “10,000 Days”) and “Best Metal Performance” (2020, “7empest”).
TOOL is Danny Carey (drums),Justin Chancellor (bass),Adam Jones (guitar) and Maynard James Keenan (vocals).
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