On Monday (May 23), Tool performed the penultimate show of their mammoth 2022 world tour, which in turn completed a hectic Covid-delayed touring schedule that began way back in 2020.
To mark the celebratory occasion, the legendary alt-rock outfit recruited Viennese session shredder and YouTube personality Bernth, who joined Adam Jones and co on stage to reel off a guest guitar solo.
As Tool neared the end of their set at the O2 Arena in Prague, Bernth was brought out for a rendition of Opiate, which accommodated a spellbinding demonstration of the shredder’s technique.
Captured by fan-filmed footage, the one-and-a-half minute guest effort starts off fairly tame – mainly comprising wah-tinged melody lines – but it isn’t long before the fretboard fireworks begin, with Bernth leaping into action via a concoction of face-melting runs and blistering sweeps.
After wrapping things up by way of some impossibly speedy scale passages and ominous deep dives on the whammy bar, Bernth then sticks around for the rest of the song, and shreds in tandem with Jones to close the track out in style.
Check out Bernth’s Opiate guest solo in the video below.
Posting to Instagram after the event, Bernth wrote, “Thanks so much Tool for one of the best nights of my life. I had the honor of performing a guest solo with them on stage at yesterday's show in the O2 Arena in Prague!
“Thanks Adam Jones for inviting me,” he added. “It truly means the world and I will never forget this moment. Thanks for the hospitality, the kindness, the fun gear talk, and the amazing memories.
“And thanks to their awesome crew for the quick and effortless setup, soundcheck, and help! Jamming with these icons was such an honor – they sound absolutely incredible and I hope you got to see them on this tour.”
The message of thanks was accompanied by a host of pictures, one of which featured Bernth sitting alongside Jones with what looks like the latter’s Silverburst Gibson Les Paul. What’s most intriguing, though, is that the guitar in question looks to have been fitted with FOMOfx’s Virtual Jeff Pro virtual whammy bar.
Owing to the admittedly poor quality of the video, we can't say for sure whether Jones or Bernth used the guitar pictured. However, there were some gnarly whammy tones on show, so it's not entirely out of the realms of possibility.
A day after their Bernth-featuring concert, Tool wrapped up their world tour with a show at SportArena, Budapest.
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