With talk of a new Tool album set for an unspecified 2019 release, fans have been wondering if a North American tour would be in the near future. The band has already announced a European tour, which will begin in June of 2019 and end in July, but no North American dates have been officially announced.
Recently, according to Alternative Nation , the yearly music festival known as Welcome To Rockville uploaded a new teaser video, promising a “major announcement.” In the video the Tool song “Mantra” can be heard, along with a logo in the background commonly associated with Tool. So it’s definitely shaping up to look like Tool has at least one forthcoming tour date.
That said, Welcome To Rockville is a music festival created by Danny Wimmer Presents, which promotes a number of different festivals across the United States. Furthermore, Danny Wimmer Presents is set to debut two new festivals this summer, one on North Carolina and one in Columbus, Ohio. As many of Danny Wimmer’s festivals feature the same acts from one to the other, it’s a good possibility that Tool will be popping up as headliners at a number of festivals this summer across the United States. This does not, however, necessarily denote a specific tour, but definitely sets an expectation that Tool could be priming up to announce a full tour.
My guess is TOOL will headline Sonic Temple again this year with Alice in Chains and Smashing Pumpkins https://t.co/gmYZP5UlTp
— IzzyWizzyWutWut!? (@KayDeeNation) November 23, 2018
While news of a possible incoming tour may be good news for Tool fans, it seems there’s still virtually no information on when to expect a new album. Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan has hinted toward new music being released in 2019, while confirming that the band is hard at work on a new album, but he’s remained ambiguous on any specific release date.
Tool has not released an album since their 2006 release, 10,000 Days .
Tool guitarist Adam Jones recently faced evacuation from his California home amid devastating wildfires, which could indicate a setback for the band. Jones has teased new guitar riffs at Tool concerts in recent years, but no new official song release has yet materialized.
Maynard James Keenan is also a member of the band A Perfect Circle, who released an album earlier this year entitled Eat The Elephant . He also regularly tours and records with the band Puscifer, which could be one of the contributing factors to the holdup on a new Tool album.
For now, fans do have one bit of comfort to tide them over until an official release date drops: Tool will definitely be doing a fair amount of touring in 2019.