On Tuesday night, Tool played their second show of 2019 at Birmingham, AL’s Legacy Arena at the BJCC. The performance followed the band’s headlining slot at Welcome To Rockville festival in Jacksonville, FL on Sunday, where they debuted a pair of new songs—“Descending” and “Invincible”—marking their first new music since the 2006 release of 10,000 Days.
Related: Tool Announces Spring 2019 Tour Dates
While the band’s first show of the year was highlighted by the new debuts, the biggest storyline to come out of their second 2019 show in Birmingham—aside from the first live rendition of Undertow track “Intolerance” since 2011—came from the intermission toward the end of the set.
According to Consequence of Sound, fans at the show reported that a date flashed across the stage’s video screen during the break in the performance: August 30th. Frontman Maynard James Keenan reportedly encouraged fans to blast the date out on social media, noting, “Alright, everyone, take out your phones, security stand down, and let these f*ckers do whatever it is with their phones.”
While he didn’t say it explicitly, the official designation of a date by Tool had only one possible meaning to fans of the band: the long-awaited follow-up to 10,000 Days is coming at the end of August.
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Later in the evening, the band posted the same clip to their social media accounts to fill the masses in on the news:
— TOOL effing TOOL (@Tool) May 8, 2019
So there you have it. After years of uncertainty, conflicting information and, of course, marginally patient waiting, it looks like the new Tool album is set to arrive on August 30th.
For a full list of Tool’s upcoming tour dates, head here.