In a recent episode of the Lipps Service Podcast, Tool’s Maynard James Keenan shared a story about a show where he received threats after the performance.
When the host asked if it was true that someone with a gun threatened him during one of their shows, Keenan approved. “Yeah. I mean, a veiled threat,” he explained. “I think somebody that was working there was trying to get new recruits in the door and they thought, ‘Well, we’ll get this young band to come and play the Scientology center. Love Jones was our opener and those guys are full comedy and had no problem running their mouth and talking shit about Scientology. So that was really fabulous to witness them. They’re already amazing sh*t talkers but then to have them really turn the heat up on the locals was kind of inspiring.”
The singer continued: “They came up and basically shut them down put a hand over the mic and [said], ‘You’re done.’ And the guy came back to see me and go ‘Hey, are we gonna have a problem with you?’ As he’s leaning down, I could see his jacket’s open and I’m like, ‘You really want to start in a glass building? Because this isn’t gonna end well. Yeah, you might shoot me but this thing’s coming the f*ck down.'”
When asked if the person had ‘flashed’ his gun, Keenan responded, “Yeah basically. He didn’t flash it, he just leaned forward and the jacket opened then I could see it. He’s basically saying Are we gonna have a problem?’ I go, ‘Are we?’ So that was a weird, awkward situation that just made me madder so of course we did run our mouths.”
Keenan faced another similar situation after Tool took 13 years to release their latest album, ‘Fear Inoculum.’ During this time, Keenan received death threats due to the long delay.
Drummer Danny Carey recalled the situation in an interview with Spin, saying, “He even told me he was getting death threats from these idiots out there. They just have no idea what our work ethic is. These things don’t happen, man. There’s no other record that’s going to sound like this Tool record. What you hear is what you get, and what you get is what it takes to get it done. And it’s not an easy process.”
When the title and release date for ‘Fear Inoculum’ were finally announced last month, Maynard James Keenan said it felt like ‘a weight lifted off my chest.’ He explained that the process of creating the album with the band had been very challenging.
