Tool

Last year, Tool used unsettling animation, freakish contortionists and radically revised editions of its epic compositions to surpass audience expectations with a riveting concert/art exhibit. On Wednesday, October 16, the country's most elaborate off-Broadway stage show returns to Kemper Arena with an exponentially enhanced light show and overhauled backdrops. Maynard James Keenan, metal's most versatile vocalist, suffered from a tiring throat on a few September dates, leading to shortened shows, but with a three-week break between the group's September 7 gig in Moline, Illinois, and the start of Tool's fall tour leg, Keenan should be sporting rested and recovered pipes. But even if Kansas City gets the condensed version (the Moline show clocked in at an hour and a half), Tool doesn't waste a minute, filling every gap between tunes with experimental noise and eschewing clichéd banter. And even if it plays the exact same setlist as it did last year (unlikely; it's inserted a Ramones cover and selections from debut disc Opiate into recent performances), the songs won't sound the same -- Tool's tunes underwent more construction over the summer than Missouri's highways. Each night, the band adds or deletes lyrics, expands or demolishes bridges and selects fresh segues. As a result, Tool remains the rare rock act that fans must catch at every opportunity.