The concert (Tool) I had been waiting on for so long finally arrived on Saturday. And as it has been with all the shows but one in the last year and a half, it rained. It rained hard. Then it rained a bit more. And then, the sun peaked above the clouds to mock us, despite it being 8:30 at night, but quickly ducked back to let it pour down yet again. And while the suggestion of Maynard, during a song break, was a good one ("if you take off all your clothes and tie them up in your raincoat, they won't get wet"), I was sadly without a raincoat so I had to just get my clothes wet. Very wet.

Smartly, I brought with me (for once), a change of clothes, a towel, and even my favorite jacket, which has a nice hood that helped me keep the rain at bay. Not-so-smartly, that jacket is just cloth and cloth can only do so much against the torrent of rain I faced - and that mainly is to soak up water. And while I think it would have held out most of the show, after a while the hood became heavy and stuck against my ears, making the music muted. And we couldn't have that, obviously, so down it went and in came the water. I also think wearing "cord" pants wasn't the most well-planned move, given I've never said I was good at planning anything. By the end of the show they must have weighted 15 lbs. They are 5 lbs just by themselves.

One of the friends who went with me only had a t-shirt, so he had to walk home. When we stepped out of my car to head to the show, the water was already rising nicely and there was a little pond around my car. When he stepped his feet in it, he said "dammit, I hope I don't mess up my boots." Yes, boots. Not cowboy boots. Not booties. Boots, of the military influence. And here I was thinking that is exactly what boots were made for, but it seems I was wrong all this time. His trendy Domino's shirt had seen better days (though not many if he ever actually worked at the place) but he didn't seem to mind that at all.

One advantage of the rain was that I didn't have to worry about smokers carelessly swinging their smoking arm around and burning my eyes out and then say to me "watch it, bitch". They tried, of course, but they couldn't get one to light for anything. Man, how they tried. I believe the guy next to me missed the whole show because he spent the whole time flicking his lighter in a caveman-like attempt to create fire. The other advantage, I learned, is that concerts in the rain are just damn fun. As I said, it always rains lately when I go to a show, but I've not had to stay outdoors. It only bothers me normally because, since my hometown is such a backwoods area that no one ever goes to it, I have to drive. When I drive, I like the windows down and the music up, both of which I can't do as much when it rains.

All in all, as always, an amazing show. And what with it being new material, a nice new experience. Great lights and video, and an interesting new bit with the characters from their new video doing an upside down "butterfly in the cocoon" type motion hanging high above the stage during one of the long instrument-only bits. I know there was deeper meaning, as always with them, but I was too far away to get a good very detail view.

The way home was uneventful, unless you count being stuck in the parking area for an hour and a half an event. Partly due to my friend not coming to the car for that long and partly due to the lack of moving traffic. When I came back to the car, the water was nearly up to the door, though still a hands span or so from it, thankfully. It was an interesting challenge, trying to strip with a ton of people around without exposing myself, dry off quickly, put dry clothes on, and stick that part of my body in the car while keeping the rest of my wet body outside (all while it was still raining of course). I'd have done well had I not taken my shoes off and had them float halfway across the lot before I noticed. Chasing them down, barefoot and in only boxers was no doubt a sight, if nothing to write home about. Getting into dry undies was the real challenge though, as there was a car full of women next to me and I had to be quick and time it just right. And as one might expect, as soon as they came off my feet, the door opened, the light came on and there was my friend. Thankfully my shirt covered. It took me about 3 attempts to get them on. I somehow managed, regardless of the years of practice, to put both my legs through one leg hole, and once almost through the "no guy in the world uses this" crotch hole.

I might never go to a show when it's sunny again.

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