Catdirt posted a link to this story earlier today. Having stood at the stage while the whole mess was going on and having left Tool's performance because of said mess, I have to weigh in on this. If there is one thing that illustrates the stupidity of apparently a sizeable amount of Tool fans, it is the notion in that article that the band's need to post claymation film rather than their own image onscreen is to blame. Video footage during concerts isn't exactly out of the ordinary. I've seen that done a few hundred times out of the 1000+ bands I've seen over the past decade. It's part of the show. Now, if you're the sort of person who is going to whine that "I can't see Maynard" and push to the front of the stage, you really don't belong at a show. If you can't understand that claymation is as much a part of your supposed favorite band's performance as the band itself, then you are an idiot and really should have stayed home. The only people who really were at fault during the mess were the assholes who started it. Does personal responsibility even exist?

It just seems asinine that someone could make such a blanket statement that could potentially put Tool in the same irresponsible light at Great White under the condition of anonymity, even though claymation videos are definitely not the same as pyro. Plus, I found some of the other statements to be questionable. For example, if Tool did kick out people from backstage before the set, then why would anyone bring injured people to that area knowing that there would be no one there? Why didn't the staff go backstage once Tool was out of the area and the show started? Plus, Tool did stop playing , albeit briefly, right around the time I was looking for Megan. One of the rules of J-school is that anonymity is to be used sparingly. If you use it on any source that makes a controversial statement (particularly one that is difficult to prove), it cheapens the story, the credibility of the paper and the constitutional rights that journalists often successfully claim allows a priviledged relationship between the writer and the source.

I'm not trying to defend Tool so much as I just think that there is a major piece of the story that's missing and perhaps people should be addressing why there is a large contingent of violent music fans in Southern California than trying to place blame on the band, venue or anything else.