If you went to either of Tool’s Auckland shows, you’re probably still feeling a bit smug. Fair enough. Not often a band turns up, drops an armful of rarities on night one, then continues that fizz into the next evening.

Saturday was already outrageous. The band tore into Disposition for the first time since 2002, followed immediately by H., another long-lost favourite from that same era. 

Then they pulled out Crawl Away, a genuine Undertow relic that hadn’t been played live in 26+ years. It felt like watching a museum exhibit suddenly start breathing.

Then Sunday night rolled around. Tool treated the crowd to Intension for the first time since 2014, then dropped Prison Sex, which hadn’t been heard live since 2002. That alone would’ve had most fans floating home.

And just to make things even spicier, they debuted Mockingbeat live for the very first time.

Plus, at both shows, the crowd was treated to a cover of Black Sabbath’s Hand of Doom.

Two unreal shows. 

Speaking about the shows this morning, Bryce said, “I’ve been lucky enough to see them a few times over the years, and that is as good as I’ve ever heard them sound in terms of production. 

“You could feel the drumming hit you. Justin Chancellor, so underrated. He’s incredible.”

Fans online from around the world can’t believe how lucky we got, too. 

“Holy shit. How was H.? How was Crawl Away? I can't believe this. Im almost crying,” wrote one person on reddit.

“This is unreal. Luckiest Tool fans ever,” another wrote.

All this while the band hint that new music is quietly brewing. As Adam Jones put it recently to Loudwire Nights, “The three of us have been jamming… I think we’re going to dive deep soon.” 

Sometimes the universe just shouts “treat yourself,” and apparently this weekend, it picked Auckland.

How good.