News

A 7empest must be just that

May 20th 2023 – Le Ministère, Montreal, QC

We comfort ourselves in routine, tradition, superstitions. We pack our gear in a certain way, position the stage and patch the cable in a certain order. It’s reassuring, help us maintain a certain control on what’s to come. We try to chill during the hours that seperates soundcheck and showtime, give ourselves the final cues and a final group fistbump.

The next 3 hours will be spent mostly alone in our respective musical universe, relying mostly on our muscle memory to get us thru the 10000 time-measure change. Two years in , we are now like fingers to a hand, leaves to a tree, bees to a hive; each accomplishing our little task. We don’t see what the crowd see, we don’t hear what they hear either, but eyes open or closed we do see feel when we are fully locking in the groove and punching the punches, we know when it feels right. We know those pieces fit, we made that puzzle with success many times before but it doesn’t take much to see it tumble. We’ve struggled in the past to react to those hiccups in our matrix, when one drift off or rushes in.

Not on Saturday, we acted as one organism, pushing and pulling in unison. We each experience this moment differently but something bigger than the sum of its parts clearly takes form when on stage. Our feeling is that something of the same nature happens to our listeners, we see sparks in the eyes ,smiles and fist in air. We see reaction when a few starting notes of a favorite song are played and roar when it ends the right way.

We really enjoy that, we are happy that people join us in this silly journey with us… a TOOL tribute , what a foolish idea! We rarely play in our hometown, this was somehow grandiose for our scale and we didn’t want it any other way. A 7empest must be just that?

It’s time to put an end to the traditional post-show editorial that allows us to close a chapter in order to prepare the next in Cornwall at the iconic Port Theatre.

Spiral Out🌀🖤🌀

Spiral Out, Keep going

May 6th 2023 – La Boite, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC

Last Saturday we shared the stage. Out of the many shows we did, it happened only a few times, four times (4) to be exact.

Why so few? Simply because we felt that the common “TOOL” fans would be more inclined to attend knowing that we will play many songs and our three hours marathon-like usual performances gave us that reputation.

Yes, we might still have a little imposter syndrome and overcompensate a little. In short, our show is designed to please and give the appropriate FIX to any Tool fans in a wish to create a buzz to open to bigger venues, and we couldn’t fathom it any other way.

So here we were, scratching our head on How to deliver our known Parabolus experience with an hour less of music and no break. What song to leave aside? We committed to a set list and hope for the best.

It is only at the very moment to step on stage that we realized the value of an opening act. “Le Dernier Assaut” is an original French Garage-Pop band. Their energetic catchy songs are light years away from Prog-Metal-Alternative, yet in the end we share the same goals :”build camaraderie, learn to work together, overcome obstacles, find solutions, create opportunities to offer their music to as many people as possible, gain acceptance, and grow as musician and person.

We all hope this project to be more than a short-lived shooting star but instead a long-lasting “’Météore” spiraling throughout time.

Spiral Out🌀🖤🌀

Sound the reveille…

April 28th 2023 – Taverne 666, Rimouski, QC / April 29th 2023 – La Source de la Martinière, Québec, QC

Back on the highway, our last getaway weekend of the season is coming to an end.

Our next live appearances will be closer to home. We won’t miss the hotel’s checkout routine, the pit stops that cuts right in two the long distances between the cities we visit. But we have to admit this is always a fair trade. “TOOL” fans can be found anywhere, in small and big cities. So far places like Rimouski and especially Quebec are giving us more feedback than most crowd, helping us refueling our desire to keep spiraling.

The energy we leave on those stages is a reflection of the passion we feel in the crowd, the claps and clamor between songs, the hi-fives and fist bumps but especially the sing-along. TOOL’s music is our connection to another matrix, a gateway to the source, how we choose to become ONE for a moment, elevated above the turbulences of our daily grind.

We then met Raynald, a Neil Peart lookalike, on the shore of the river. He had some time and wisdom to share. According to him, we don’t necessarily need all of this, it is possible to be HIGH on Life itself if we recognize that the gateway can be anything. A landscape, a memory or that sunset before us. These words resonated in our relaxed minds. Indeed, many things can lead to the light, but his piccolo dissonant melody surely isn’t one to sound the reveille…

Spiral Out🌀🖤🌀

The source is bright and endless

April 21st 2023 – Overtime Sports Bar, Kingston, ON / April 22nd 2023 – The Brass Monkey, Ottawa, ON

The congregation of hopeful and skeptic gathered again to celebrate at Kingston’s Overtime for the first rendezvous, Ottawa’s Brass Monkey for the second coming.

Surprised by the presence of familiar faces ready to put their faith in us to the test for a second time, others probably doubting that the messengers would indeed deliver the message. Observing the attendees behavior’s before the show is always an interesting exercise. Spotting the “TOOL” t-shirt wearers, dropping into conversation about why they like Tool, when and where they saw them live and how it changed their life’s. What’s their favorite album, favorite songs, and will this tribute band be any fun. Some preaching in our favor, touched by a previous performance of our circus side show, still expecting us to raise the bar from their memory. We fuel ourselves in that fountain of doubt and hopes that we share as well. We always take the stage with some insecurities but with confidence that our offering is honest and respectful of the music we love.

This project, It’s calling us.

We have proposed a different set list for each nights, 30 songs combined for 6 hours of Tool was a challenge we were looking forward to, and revealed itself as a satisfying experience. We came to find that we are one band, let the light touch us , let the words spill through , bringing out our hopes and reasons, before the night goes away.

Spiral Out🌀🖤🌀

Watch the weather change…

April 1st 2023 – Salle Jean-Pierre Houde, Chateauguay, QC

We all have our personal journey, our backstory. The series of events that led to the individuals we are today and the role we are playing. Parabolus function as a unit and we rarely put the spotlight toward any of us since we believe that the project is way more than the sums of its parts. Yet, here’s an exception for this entry in our journey journal.

Last Saturday was a milestone in the timeline for one of us. 14 years ago, Simon did his first ever performance on that very stage; a solid interpretation of Metallica’s “Seek and Destroy” armed with his Epiphone Les Paul Jr guitar which he still uses to play Parabol/a and that we affectionally call the “Burstwood”. Following the guitar solo, that fist bump with your teacher is truly symbolic of what was yet to come.

This experience solidified his will to pursue music lessons and he participated alongside his teacher exchanging solo’s on Pink Floyd the following year. During the next 13 years Simon did returned on that stage to show constant progression year after year.

Simon’s talent is equal to his dedication and determination according to his teacher who attended the concert Saturday, and we all agree with him. Many of Simon relatives and friends support our project since the early days, but we can easily imagine the feeling being a little different in this venue where old and new memories collided.

We mention it often, on and off stage, this project is a challenge for all of us to transcends our limitations and grow as musicians and humans. Simon will be an engineer soon, and we all have other professional aspirations, but once a week, we play music and spiral out together with great passion to improve our musicianship.

We are pleased to share the many hours of practice, the hours of travel and especially the hours on stage! Thanks for your tricky parts dissections and your inspired noodling. We are glad you can take care of our live recording and all those multitrack mixes (they do sound better everytime) those are gonna be great memento when we retire.

We are very proud of you Simon. You are the best Adam Jones we could’ve wished for.

Spiral Out🌀🖤🌀

Shine on benevolent Star…

March 10th 2023 – El Mocambo, Toronto, ON

The F*cking Elmo

There are venues and there are Venues ! We appreciate every opportunity to go play and we can adapt to almost anything. We have simple requirements to have a great night: a stage, electricity to plug our gears and a crowd . Last night we got more than that; a high ceiling, a vast stage, an immense led display screen, a next level artist dressing room and a crowd of true Tool fans. In addition, the light rig able to hang our newly crafted heptagram star above the stage. (Thx to Pat!) It looked better than we expected and really tied the stage together. The Tool experience was indeed complete. Thank you to the El Mocambo to provide artists with state-of-the-art technology and the hard work of Andre behind the board, we looked and sounded better than ever. For those who attended that show, we thank you very much and truly hope you enjoyed your night. Special thanks to Steve for making this happen for us, to the El Mocambo team hospitality and especially to the management that took a gamble with us and our little circus side show. Looking forward to play again in the near future.

Our journey continues, next stop Sarnia…

***

March 11th 2023 – Rustr Music Hall, Sarnia, ON

Whitey’s Big Bday Bash

The Rustr is our home far far away from home, and a proof that a long-distance relationship can work out when the feelings are strong on both sides. We returned to a comfort zone, a room where we already created memories and where we are comfortable spiraling with Mike, Bil, Whitey, Scott, and whole crew at the Rustr. There is something special about that place for us, every visit we are proud to present a different evolution of our show to a returning crowd of connoisseurs, that are expecting the best of us. With restriction on space, minimal stage props and visual, we need to dig deeper to our center. That Heptagram we now install on stage is our statement to the craftsmanship of our idol, we hold it dearly and our not ready to let it go. It represents our dedication and our focus to the project: to always put on the best musical performance possible, aiming for perfection as crazy as it might sound. At Rustr, it seems easier for us to reach to the center and expel our best. If this place was twice as big, we could probably host that many more people, but we would lose that intimacy feeling. We wouldn’t trade it all, we can’t have it any other way, and already looking for the next time.

Spiral Out🌀🖤🌀

In this holy experience, Choosing to be here in

February 11th 2023 – Le Murdoch, Sherbrooke, QC

The first visits are the most memorable, and the Eastern Townships awaited us with open arms in a packed Murdoch.

Gathering in large numbers often adds some discomfort due to proximity. Recent years have accustomed us to the meter distance, a crowd elbow to elbow now seemed a vestige of the past. It was nevertheless a common phenomenon of shows from another era, and it was interesting that we could experience it in our turn. We had planned an old-fashioned show, without elaborate visual support. A raw performance to highlight an amalgam of energetic songs drawn far from the group’s repertoire, and this is what we presented without interruption for nearly three hours.

Maintaining that high level of energy was a tall order but having a dense crowd literally inches from us was a catalyst and a source of motivation. We chained songs that are familiar to us and others that we had never delivered Live before, a feeling of being exposed and vulnerable in front of the TOOL connoisseurs. We lived a unique moment and the comments collected lead us to believe that the pleasure was shared. Now, many also want to see a larger-scale show with a more elaborate staging as we are also capable of. We heard you and wanted to come back to Sherbrooke to offer you this, as soon as possible.

Spiral Out🌀🖤🌀

Taken all you can, taken all you can, we can take

With the winter cold now firmly in place, the holiday frenzy over, a certain blues sets in in January. It’s hard to keep your spirits up, but what better than a concert to get together and see that we’re all alive! For us this weekend did not end with just one but two concerts that made us vibrate. An intimate one, at Le Cerbère de Saint-Jérôme, where it all began. The other, in unknown territory: Quebec City

****

January 13th 2023 – Le Cerbère, Saint-Jérôme

It was our third visit to Saint-Jérôme, a first to work with Denis on sound, who did a very good job. Each time we manage to attract new people but also several familiar faces to join the crowd on this Friday the 13th. We felt the receptive crowd from the first notes of the show and we transported them as usual through all the eras of the band’s career. The evening ended with a cake, highlighting the birthday of our cheap Maynard. We are not superstitious and everything went perfectly, setting the table for our trip to Quebec.

****

January 14th 2023 – La Source de la Martinière, Québec

The old capital had been waiting for us for a long time (it was the resumption of a show canceled last summer) and to say that we were impatient to tread the boards of La Source de la Martinière is an understatement. The team on site was also waiting for us, and we were well received. A very beautiful scene, a good sound engineer (thanks Sasha!), an effective and pleasant sound test, a surprising ticket sale (FULL), a photographer to immortalize the moment (thanks Alexis!) … the table was set for a good spectacle ! The crowd at the door was intense at the beginning of the evening, the room was practically at capacity when the group had to cross the room to access the stage. The group was in great shape and the large crowd was electrifying. We had selected a lot of songs and managed to establish a cohesive order, we played them to the best of our abilities, with confidence and a lot of fun. We felt all the love from the audience towards TOOL’s music and all felt a sense of privilege to be the messengers. The table is set for future shows in the region and we look forward to returning in the spring.

Can’t wait for the cold season to end 🙂

Spiral Out🌀🖤🌀

Out with the old, in with the new

January 1st 2023

New year is not about expecting, hoping and wishing, it’s about doing, being and becoming. We hope 2023 is an incredible part of your story, every moment is a fresh beginning, just make sure to do it with love and passion.

Speaking of change, following our collaboration with visionary artist: Cameron Gray, we is very pleased and excited to announce the launch of our new image and our brand new website for 2023. With a fresh new look and user-friendly navigation. With the aim of providing visitors with a much easier way to access information, the Parabolus – Complete Tool Experience home page showcases options for English/French versions, and the essential information for news, events and EPK information. The site also contains the integrated social media buttons for Facebook, Youtube and Instagram to ensure easy browsing between the various platforms.

We hope that we would provide a really positive user experience for our customers. Please take a look around and start to discover more about Parabolus – Complete Tool Experience. We hope that you will enjoy our new site, and thank you 10 000 times in advance for your continued support! Spiral Out🌀🖤🌀

Collaboration Announcement: Cameron Gray

In its beginnings, this project was already intended to be more than a group playing the music of TOOL.

We wanted our passion for music to resonate with others and eventually surround ourselves with talented people who could bring their talents to the project.

We all agree that what makes TOOL unique is its ability to weave all aspects of art into a cohesive whole.

Music is the cornerstone from which all inspiration can blossom into images where complex concepts and mystical references can be expressed.

TOOL has collaborated with many artists over their career including Cam de Leon, Meats Meier, Chet Zar and Adi Granov to name a few, but most notably Alex Grey whose visionary art is a visual expression symbiotic relationship between the band’s music and lyrics since 2001.

In order to define the image of the tribute project, we were looking for a partnership with an inspired and creative artist who would be in harmony with the themes and visions of TOOL. During our research, we discovered the work of a brilliant artist who was also enthusiastic about participating in the Parabolus – Complete TOOL Experience project. Therefore, we are delighted to announce this new collaboration with renowned artist: CAMERON GRAY.

His work is impressive and joins us spontaneously. We invite you to visit his website to see his undeniable talent.

With the existing collaboration with our Graphic Designer, Designer and Concept Artist Karine Borduas-Roy, our future concert posters will now feature selected illustrations of Cameron Gray’s work.

We look forward to showing you the first poster which will be completed shortly.🌀

Website – Parable Visions: Art by Cameron Gray
https://parablevisions.com