Tool Beats the Storm at Riot Fest

Photos and article by : Kristopher West

Rain, mud and an incoming storm pushed Tool into the daylight at Riot Fest, cutting one of the weekend’s biggest sets down to just seven songs.

By Saturday afternoon, the rain had turned large parts of Douglass Park into mud. Walking between stages meant watching where you stepped, then eventually giving up because everyone was getting covered anyway. Photographers had the added problem of carrying thousands of dollars in camera gear through it.

Then Riot Fest started changing the schedule.

Storms were expected later in the evening, forcing the festival to move performances forward. Tool had been scheduled to close the Riot Stage at 8:20 p.m. Instead, they were moved to 6 p.m., taking what should have been a 100-minute headlining set and squeezing it into 65 minutes.

That also meant seeing Tool in a way you normally don't: in daylight.

The photo pit was already packed when photographers were brought in. There was barely room to move across the front of the stage as everyone tried to find a workable position. Tool is always going to draw photographers, and now everyone was dealing with a schedule that had suddenly been pushed forward.

At 6:05 p.m., Tool came out.

Maynard James Keenan wasn't dressed the way he has been for many recent Tool shows. The elaborate stage look was gone. Keenan told the crowd his flight had been delayed and joked that there hadn't been time for the "hair hat." He also told everyone that he was only three weeks removed from a full hip replacement.

Then Adam Jones, Justin Chancellor, Danny Carey and Keenan started "Stinkfist."

There wasn't much room in the schedule for anything except music.

"Rosetta Stoned" followed before the opening notes of "The Grudge." Three songs into the set, Tool had already covered material from Ænima, 10,000 Days and Lateralus.

Tool doesn't have many songs that can simply be shaved down to make a festival schedule work. "Rosetta Stoned" is still "Rosetta Stoned." "The Grudge" is still "The Grudge." The clock may have changed, but the songs didn't.

Adam Jones stayed mostly planted on his side of the stage while Justin Chancellor moved around with his bass. Danny Carey sat behind the massive kit at center stage, and Keenan stayed toward the back on his riser, noticeably more reserved physically after the hip replacement he had just mentioned.

"Jambi" came next.

Then "Pneuma."

The screens were running behind the band, but it was still early evening. Tool's production is normally surrounded by darkness, where the lights and visuals become a huge part of what you're watching. At Riot Fest, the sun was still hanging over Douglass Park while they played.

It was strange seeing Tool that way.

The shortened set also reached back to Undertow for "Crawl Away," a song that has never been a permanent part of Tool's setlists and gave the hour at least one deeper cut before the end.

There was time for one more song.

"Ænema."

After spending the day walking through rain and mud while another storm was threatening to shut the festival down, there probably wasn't a more appropriate Tool song to hear.

At 7:10 p.m., it was over.

Tool had played seven songs in 65 minutes: "Stinkfist," "Rosetta Stoned," "The Grudge," "Jambi," "Pneuma," "Crawl Away" and "Ænema." The weather had taken nearly 40 minutes from their original headlining slot, and there was no way to get that time back.

The set everyone had expected to see at 8:20 that night never happened.

Instead, Tool played while there was still daylight over Chicago, Maynard came out three weeks after hip surgery in a much simpler stage look, photographers packed the front of the stage, and thousands of people watched from a field that had spent the day turning into mud.

Riot Fest had spent Saturday racing the weather.

For 65 minutes, Tool got their turn.

TOOL — RIOT FEST 2026 SETLIST

Stinkfist
Rosetta Stoned
The Grudge
Jambi
Pneuma
Crawl Away
Ænema

Full setlist: Tool at Riot Fest 2026 — Setlist.fm

SEO / WORDPRESS

SEO Title:
Tool at Riot Fest 2026: Photos, Setlist and Review

Meta Description:
Tool's Riot Fest 2026 headlining set was moved up as storms approached Chicago. See photos and the complete seven-song setlist from Douglass Park.

URL Slug:
tool-riot-fest-2026-photos-setlist-review

Focus Keyphrase:
Tool Riot Fest 2026

Secondary Keyphrases:
Tool Riot Fest setlist
Tool Riot Fest photos
Tool Chicago 2026
Tool live 2026
Riot Fest Day Two
Maynard James Keenan Riot Fest
Tool Douglass Park
Tool concert photos
Tool 2026 tour

WordPress Excerpt:
Rain had already turned Douglass Park into mud when approaching storms forced Riot Fest to move Tool's Saturday headlining set into the daylight. Tool had 65 minutes to get through seven songs before Day Two was cut short by the weather.

OFFICIAL LINKS

Tool — Official Website
Riot Fest — Official Website
Rockabilia — Official Website
Spiral Out Network
Tool at Riot Fest 2026 — Setlist.fm

PHOTO GALLERY

Gallery Title:
PHOTOS: Tool at Riot Fest 2026

Gallery Introduction:
Tool performs on the Riot Stage during Day Two of Riot Fest at Douglass Park in Chicago on September 19, 2026. Approaching storms pushed the band's headlining performance into the early evening and reduced the set to seven songs.

Photo Captions:

Maynard James Keenan performs with Tool during Riot Fest 2026 at Douglass Park in Chicago.

Adam Jones performs during Tool's shortened Day Two headlining set at Riot Fest 2026.

Justin Chancellor performs with Tool on the Riot Stage at Douglass Park.

Danny Carey behind the kit during Tool's performance at Riot Fest 2026.

Tool performs during Day Two of Riot Fest as storms approach Chicago.

Image Alt-Text Format:
[Band member] of Tool performing at Riot Fest 2026 at Douglass Park in Chicago — Photo by Kris West

Featured Image Alt Text:
Tool performing during Riot Fest 2026 at Douglass Park in Chicago.

Photo Credit:
Photo by Kris West / Spiral Out Network

SOCIAL MEDIA

Tool: @toolmusic
Maynard James Keenan: @iamthebriefcase
Adam Jones: @adamjones_tv
Danny Carey: @dannycarey_tool
Justin Chancellor: @justin_chancellor
Riot Fest: @riot_fest
Rockabilia: @rockabilia
Photography: @spiralout_photo

SOCIAL POST

Rain, mud, a packed photo pit and Tool playing at 6 p.m.

Storms moving toward Chicago forced Riot Fest to push Tool's Saturday headlining set into the early evening, cutting the band down to 65 minutes and seven songs.

Maynard came out three weeks after a hip replacement, there wasn't time for the usual "hair hat," and Tool opened with "Stinkfist" before closing the shortened set with "Ænema."

Tool at Riot Fest 2026.

📸 @spiralout_photo

@toolmusic @iamthebriefcase @adamjones_tv @dannycarey_tool @justin_chancellor @riot_fest @rockabilia

#Tool #RiotFest #RiotFest2026 #ToolBand #ConcertPhotography #Chicago #LiveMusic

GOOGLE / SOCIAL PREVIEW

Headline:
Tool Beats the Storm at Riot Fest

Description:
Approaching storms moved Tool's Riot Fest headlining set into the daylight and reduced the performance to seven songs. Photos, complete setlist and coverage from Day Two at Douglass Park.

Suggested Featured Image:
Use a strong horizontal Tool photo with Adam Jones or Justin Chancellor clearly visible and enough of the stage production behind them to immediately identify the performance as a festival set.

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