Fan Allegedly Collapses at Tool Show in Honolulu

Over the weekend, Tool played two shows at Honolulu’s Blaisdell Arena (signifying their first performances in Hawaii since 2011). According to various sources, a fan collapsed during one of the concerts, and their condition remains unknown as police continue investigating the possible cause(s).

What We Know About the Situation

The news first broken earlier this morning (Dec. 21), when Alternative Nation posted a story in which they wrote: “A Tool fan collapsed at the band’s show in Honolulu, with blood coming out of his mouth. Chest compressions were performed. Police searched the scene for evidence or drugs.”

According to Alternative Nation, a fan on Reddit shared more information:

Adam [Jones, guitarist] actually went to the corner of the stage and played guitar directly to the guy as he was getting compressions. Like he was trying to bring him back or send him off. . . . He seems to be the only one in the band who acknowledged the incident. Maynard [James Keenan, vocalist] just kept doing his dumb little dance moves and Justin [Chancellor, bassist] almost seemed to want to keep the crowd distracted from the chaos. . . . . I think the band should have recognized the moment and not just ignored the fact that a fan just died at the show.

My guess is the medic team chose to withhold the outcome from the band to keep the show moving forward. Probably also didn’t want to acknowledge how long it took them to get to the guy. Nobody gets compressions for over ten minutes like that and survives. Very tragic and sad. And traumatic for that whole side of the venue. The fact that some people continued to sing and “dance” in the same section that guy just died was a gross display of how awful we are as humans. . . . How out of touch we are. Even if it was a drug overdose . . . it was a tragic night and I feel the people at the show deserve to know the outcome. Lot of people got traumatized last night.

READ MORE: Tool Play Several Songs Live for First Time in Over 20 Years – Setlists + Videos

Unfortunately, that Reddit thread seems to have disappeared, but the incident has been discussed elsewhere on the site.

Specifically, one user created a different thread early yesterday morning (Dec. 20), leading Loudwire to believe that the situation happened on Dec. 19.

They wrote:

I think some dude just died (hopefully not) at the tool concert in Honolulu. Right around when they played Rossetta Stoned and Pneuma. Please tell me he survived. Esmdit: spoke to a medic, when they hooked him up to the AED [Automated External Defibrillator], AED alerted a pulse, guy left the arena with a pulse.

In the replies, the same person added that he saw “some guy Justin Chancellor side, they were giving him chest compressions for about 10 minutes.” Another person later clarified: “Five different people were doing compressions. Including two different cops. May have been dix people total.”

In response to that comment, another concertgoer mentioned:

It was crazy I was right there soo many things going on at once. Google reported that Took stopped the show they did not stop they kept going. They quietly took the person down the stairs. Last I heard was someone yell narcan and people screaming and I looked down and they were on the floor.

Two other people commented, “I was there, about two sections over. They had lots of people taking turns. It did not seem to be going well” and “Was up in the loges. So many security then police arrived at the scene.”

Plus, another Redditor remarked:

I feel bad for the girl sitting a few over. She was trying to wake him and screamed for help to get him down to the ground. It seemed like forever they were doing chest compressions. I think she even grabbed his shoes that came off when they were bringing him to the ground. Horrific thing to witness. He was blue in the face. Hopeful that the EMS was correct. There weren’t any sirens though.

Last night, another Reddit thread was created to talk about “Honolulu night 1 thoughts” in general, and eventually, someone mentioned that they “looked over and saw chest compressions going on for 15+ mins = never good.” They then ask, “Does anyone know if he lived? Also OOC how do you know it was an OD and not just a cardiac event?”

In response, someone specified: “Word was going around that the emts administered narcan. Cannot confirm that though.” Similarly, someone else explained: “I think Narcan is a standard procedure for even suspicion of an overdose.”

Finally, one user on X posted yesterday: “A fan passed away at the #Tool concert #blaisdell #honolulu #hawaii . A lot of us watched them try CPR for 10-20 minutes during Rosetta Stoned and Pneuma. We would assume it is overdose related, if so we gotta talk about #Narcan preventing this kind of stuff.”

Again, there has been no official confirmation regarding why the fan collapsed or what their current condition is.

Of course, Loudwire will update this story as needed pending new information.

Not the First Time This Has Happened

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time a fan has collapsed at a Tool concert, as something similar happened during Tool’s show in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022. As Loudwire reported at the time, the quartet “stopped their show for a brief period while medics tended to a fan who had collapsed near the stage.”

Loudwire continued:

According to Rock Feed, a fan near the front row appeared to be suffering a medical emergency, with fans around the person capturing the attention of singer Maynard James Keenan.

The vocalist stopped the show to allow for emergency medical technicians to approach and fans with vicinity cleared the way so that help could arrived faster. While the situation was taking place, Keenan took some moments to share banter with the crowd, thanking them for attending the show. And once medics were able to tend to the fan in question, the group was then able to continue the show.

Loudwire added: “In total, Tool played a 13-song set, including a three-track encore.”