Billy Strings Sits In Again With Tool In Nashville

Tool brought their winter tour to Nashville last night for a show at Bridgestone Arena. Guitarist Billy Strings made a surprise guest appearance on “The Grudge” just before the intermission.

Tuesday marked the second time Billy Strings joined the progressive metal quartet in the past four months. The bluegrass phenom previously performed “Jambi” with Tool at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on October 11, 2023.

After opening with the title track to their latest album, 2019’s Fear Inoculum, Tool treated Nashville fans to classics “Forty Six & 2” and “Rosetta Stoned.” The band — vocalist Maynard James Keenan, guitarist Adam Jones, drummer Danny Carey and bassist Justin Chancellor — then went back to Fear Inoculum for “Pneuma” and “Descending,” which were split by a performance of 10,000 Days cut “Intolerance.”

Keenan introduced Billy Strings who stepped on stage with an electric guitar in hand. Strings traded licks with Adam Jones and then took a solo of his own during “The Grudge,” the song that opens the band’s 2001 record Lateralus.

While Tool asks fans to keep phones in their pockets, a handful of clips and photos of the collaboration have emerged. Listen to the start of “The Grudge,” watch a few videos and check out photos below:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C2eahS3OSLf/?igsh=MXJpM3kyNjhlM2s1bA%3D%3D

Tool returned following the intermission to perform four additional songs. Keenan and his bandmates delivered “Chocolate Chip Trip” and “Invincible” off Fear Inoculum as well as Undertow’s “Flood” before capping the night with fan-favorite “Schism.”

Attendees at the Tool show last night included drummers Kris Myers (Umphrey’s McGee) and Eric Slick (Dr. Dog).

Tool continues the tour in Atlanta tonight. Billy Strings kicks off his winter tour with three nights in Asheville, North Carolina February 16 – 18.