Tool’s promoters are reportedly facing a lawsuit after the Tool Live in the Sand festival, after failing to deliver a ‘unique setlist,’ according to disappointed fans.
The first ever Tool in the Sand festival took place in the Dominican Republic last weekend, which featured sets from the likes of Primus, Mastodon, Coheed and Cambria, with Tool headlining two shows on Friday and Saturday night respectively.
So, what’re fans fussing about? Apparently, the festival promised ‘two unique sets’ by Tool, but fans were given two similar setlists on the Friday and Saturday night. The band delivered a 10-song-set on night one, and a nine-song-set on night two, with four of the same songs played on both nights.
Kind of sounds like a non-issue to me, but boy, fans weren’t happy about it. Punters were reportedly booing and flipping off the band during the Saturday night set, and a bunch of fans took to social media to share their frustrations.
So where does this supposed lawsuit come into play? There was an American attorney, Stas Rusek, who attended the festival, who told Metal Hammer that there was a “sense of betrayal” during Tool’s second night headlining. He confirmed that the potential lawsuit against the band is currently being investigated, and he’s looking for other disgruntled fans to join him.
"What it boils down to is that purchasers of the festival package were promised 'two unique sets' by Tool. While the comments on these posts argue about what 'unique' means, the reality is that the opportunity to see Tool play two unique sets, ie no repeats, was the determining factor for most attendees to pull the trigger on spending thousands of dollars to attend,” Rusek told Metal Hammer.
One annoyed fan took to social media to say, “I agree with this lawsuit. Promoters are not allowed to use trickery in any way shape or form to sell tickets… I hope whoever is at fault here has to pay out lots of money.”
My personal two cents? Frankly, I’d be stoked to see Tool two nights in a row, no matter what the setlist entailed. Sure, you can feel disappointed with a setlist, I’ve been there. But to try to take the band or promoters to court over it? Hmmmm nah.
Guess we’ll see what happens aye.
