title: Baltimore

text: Crime in Baltimore, generally concentrated in areas high in poverty, has been extreme for many years. Overall reported crime has dropped by 60% from the mid-1990s to the mid-2010s, but homicide rates remain high and exceed the national average. The worst years for crime in Baltimore overall were from 1993 to 1996; with 96,243 crimes reported in 1995. Baltimore's 344 homicides in 2015 represented the highest homicide rate in the city's recorded history—52.5 per 100,000 people, surpassing the record set in 1993—and the second-highest for U.S. cities behind St. Louis and ahead of Detroit. Of Baltimore's 344 homicides in 2015, 321 (93.3%) of the victims were African-American.


title: Baltimore

text: Drug use and deaths by drug use (particularly drugs used intravenously, such as heroin) are a related problem which has impaired Baltimore for decades. Among cities greater than 400,000, Baltimore ranked 2nd in its opiate drug death rate in the United States behind Dayton, Ohio. The DEA reported that 10% of Baltimore's population – about 64,000 people – are addicted to heroin, most of which is trafficked into the city from New York.


title: Baltimore

text: In 2011, Baltimore police reported 196 homicides, the lowest number in the city since 197 homicides in 1978 and far lower than the peak homicide count of 353 slayings in 1993. City leaders at the time credited a sustained focus on repeat violent offenders and increased community engagement for the continued drop, reflecting a nationwide decline in crime.


title: Baltimore

text: On August 8, 2014, Baltimore's new youth curfew law went into effect. It prohibits unaccompanied children under age 14 from being on the streets after 9 p.m. and those aged 14–16 from being out after 10 p.m. during the week and 11 p.m. on weekends and during the summer. The goal is to keep children out of dangerous places and reduce crime.


title: Baltimore

text: Crime in Baltimore reached another peak in 2015 when the year's tally of 344 homicides was second only to the record 353 in 1993, when Baltimore had about 100,000 more residents. The killings in 2015 were on pace with recent years in the early months of 2015 but skyrocketed after the unrest and rioting of late April. In five of the next eight months, killings topped 30–40 per month. Nearly 90 percent of 2015's homicides resulted from shootings, renewing calls for new gun laws. In 2016, according to annual crime statistics released by the Baltimore Police Department, there were 318 murders in the city. This total marked a 7.56 percent decline in homicides from 2015.


title: Baltimore

text: In an interview with "The Guardian", on November 2, 2017, David Simon, himself a former police reporter for "The Baltimore Sun", ascribed the most recent surge in murders to the high-profile decision by Baltimore state's attorney, Marilyn Mosby, to charge six city police officers following the death of Freddie Gray after he was paralyzed during a "rough-ride" in a police van while in police custody in April 2015, dying from the injury a week later. "What Mosby basically did was send a message to the Baltimore police department: 'I'm going to put you in jail for making a bad arrest.' So officers figured it out: 'I can go to jail for making the wrong arrest, so I'm not getting out of my car to clear a corner,' and that's exactly what happened post-Freddie Gray." In Baltimore, "arrest numbers have plummeted from more than 40,000 in 2014, the year before Gray's death and the subsequent charges against the officers, to about 18,000 [as of November 2017]. This happened even as homicides soared from 211 in 2014 to 344 in 2015 – an increase of 63%." Simon's HBO miniseries We Own this City aired in April 2022 and covered many of the events surrounding the death of Freddie Gray and the work slowdown by the Baltimore Police Department during that time period.


title: Baltimore

text: Once a predominantly industrial town, with an economic base focused on steel processing, shipping, auto manufacturing (General Motors Baltimore Assembly), and transportation, the city experienced deindustrialization, which cost residents tens of thousands of low-skill, high-wage jobs. The city now relies on a low-wage service economy, which accounts for 31% of jobs in the city.


title: Baltimore

text: Around the turn of the 20th century, Baltimore was the leading U.S. manufacturer of rye whiskey and straw hats. It also led in refining of crude oil, brought to the city by pipeline from Pennsylvania.


title: Baltimore

text: The city is home to the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Other large include Under Armour, BRT Laboratories, Cordish Company, Legg Mason, McCormick & Company, T. Rowe Price, and Royal Farms. A sugar refinery owned by American Sugar Refining is one of Baltimore's cultural icons. Nonprofits based in Baltimore include Lutheran Services in America and Catholic Relief Services.


title: Baltimore

text: Almost a quarter of the jobs in the Baltimore region were in science, technology, engineering, and math as of mid-2013, a fact attributed in part to the city's extensive undergraduate and graduate schools; maintenance and repair experts were included in this count.


title: Baltimore

text: The center of international commerce for the region is the World Trade Center Baltimore. It houses the Maryland Port Administration and U.S. headquarters for major shipping lines. Baltimore is ranked 9th for total dollar value of cargo and 13th for cargo tonnage for all U.S. ports. In 2014, total cargo moving through the port totaled 29.5 million tons, down from 30.3 million tons in 2013. The value of cargo traveling through the port in 2014 came to $52.5 billion, down from $52.6 billion in 2013. The Port of Baltimore generates $3 billion in annual wages and salary, as well as supporting 14,630 direct jobs and 108,000 jobs connected to port work. In 2014, the port also generated more than $300 million in taxes. It serves over 50 ocean carriers making nearly 1,800 annual visits. Among all U.S. ports, Baltimore is first in handling automobiles, light trucks, farm and construction machinery; and imported forest products, aluminum, and sugar. The port is second in coal exports. The Port of Baltimore's cruise industry, which offers year-round trips on several lines supports over 500 jobs and brings in over $90 million to Maryland's economy annually. Growth at the port continues with the Maryland Port Administration plans to turn the southern tip of the former steel mill into a marine terminal, primarily for car and truck shipments, but also for anticipated new business coming to Baltimore after the completion of the Panama Canal expansion project.


title: Baltimore

text: Baltimore's history and attractions have made it a popular tourist destination. In 2014, the city hosted 24.5 million visitors, who spent $5.2 billion. The Baltimore Visitor Center, which is operated by Visit Baltimore, is located on Light Street in the Inner Harbor. Much of the city's tourism centers around the Inner Harbor, with the National Aquarium being Maryland's top tourist destination. Baltimore Harbor's restoration has made it "a city of boats", with several historic ships and other attractions on display and open to the public. The USS "Constellation", the last Civil War-era vessel afloat, is docked at the head of the Inner Harbor; the USS "Torsk", a submarine that holds the Navy's record for dives (more than 10,000); and the Coast Guard cutter "WHEC-37", the last surviving U.S. warship that was in Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941, and which engaged Japanese Zero aircraft during the battle.


title: Baltimore

text: Also docked is the lightship "Chesapeake", which for decades marked the entrance to Chesapeake Bay; and the Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse, the oldest surviving screw-pile lighthouse on Chesapeake Bay, which once marked the mouth of the Patapsco River and the entrance to Baltimore. All of these attractions are owned and maintained by the Historic Ships in Baltimore organization. The Inner Harbor is also the home port of "Pride of Baltimore II", the state of Maryland's "goodwill ambassador" ship, a reconstruction of a famous Baltimore Clipper ship.


title: Baltimore

text: Other tourist destinations include sporting venues such as Oriole Park at Camden Yards, M&T Bank Stadium, and Pimlico Race Course, Fort McHenry, the Mount Vernon, Federal Hill, and Fells Point neighborhoods, Lexington Market, Horseshoe Casino, and museums such as the Walters Art Museum, the Baltimore Museum of Industry, the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum, the Maryland Science Center, and the B&O Railroad Museum.


title: Baltimore

text: Historically a working-class port town, Baltimore has sometimes been dubbed a "city of neighborhoods", with 72 designated historic districts traditionally occupied by distinct ethnic groups. Most notable today are three downtown areas along the port: the Inner Harbor, frequented by tourists because of its hotels, shops, and museums; Fells Point, once a favorite entertainment spot for sailors but now refurbished and gentrified (and featured in the movie "Sleepless in Seattle"); and Little Italy, located between the other two, where Baltimore's Italian-American community is based – and where U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi grew up. Further inland, Mount Vernon is the traditional center of cultural and artistic life of the city; it is home to a distinctive Washington Monument, set atop a hill in a 19th-century urban square, that predates the monument in Washington, D.C. by several decades. Baltimore also has a significant German American population, and was the second largest port of immigration to the United States, behind Ellis Island in New York and New Jersey. Between 1820 and 1989, almost 2 million who were German, Polish, English, Irish, Russian, Lithuanian, French, Ukrainian, Czech, Greek and Italian came to Baltimore, most between the years 1861 to 1930. By 1913, when Baltimore was averaging forty thousand immigrants per year, World War I closed off the flow of immigrants. By 1970, Baltimore's heyday as an immigration center was a distant memory. There also was a Chinatown dating back to at least the 1880s which consisted of no more than 400 Chinese residents. A local Chinese-American association remains based there, but only one Chinese restaurant as of 2009.


title: Baltimore

text: Baltimore has quite a history when it comes to making beer, an art that thrived in Baltimore from the 1800s to the 1950s with over 100 old breweries in the city's past. The best remaining example of that history is the old American Brewery Building on North Gay Street and the National Brewing Company building in the Brewer's Hill neighborhood. In the 1940s the National Brewing Company introduced the nation's first six-pack. National's two most prominent brands, were National Bohemian Beer colloquially "Natty Boh" and Colt 45. Listed on the Pabst website as a "Fun Fact", Colt 45 was named after running back #45 Jerry Hill of the 1963 Baltimore Colts and not the .45 caliber handgun ammunition round. Both brands are still made today, albeit outside of Maryland, and served all around the Baltimore area at bars, as well as Orioles and Ravens games. The Natty Boh logo appears on all cans, bottles, and packaging; and merchandise featuring him can still easily be found in shops in Maryland, including several in Fells Point.


title: Baltimore

text: Each year the Artscape takes place in the city in the Bolton Hill neighborhood, close to the Maryland Institute College of Art. Artscape styles itself as the "largest free arts festival in America". Each May, the Maryland Film Festival takes place in Baltimore, using all five screens of the historic Charles Theatre as its anchor venue. Many movies and television shows have been filmed in Baltimore. "" was set and filmed in Baltimore, as well as "The Wire." "House of Cards" and "Veep" are set in Washington, D.C. but filmed in Baltimore.


title: Baltimore

text: Baltimore has cultural museums in many areas of study. The Baltimore Museum of Art, and the Walters Art Museum are internationally renowned for its collection of art. The Baltimore Museum of Art has the largest holding of works by Henri Matisse in the world. The American Visionary Art Museum has been designated by Congress as America's national museum for visionary art. The National Great Blacks In Wax Museum is the first African American wax museum in the country, featuring more than 150 life-size and lifelike wax figures.


title: Baltimore

text: Baltimore is known for its Maryland blue crabs, crab cake, Old Bay Seasoning, pit beef, and the "chicken box". The city has many restaurants in or around the Inner Harbor. The most known and acclaimed are the Charleston, Woodberry Kitchen, and the Charm City Cakes bakery featured on the Food Network's "Ace of Cakes". The Little Italy neighborhood's biggest draw is the food. Fells Point also is a foodie neighborhood for tourists and locals and is where the oldest continuously running tavern in the country, "The Horse You Came in on Saloon", is located. Many of the city's upscale restaurants can be found in Harbor East. Five public markets are located across the city. The Baltimore Public Market System is the oldest continuously operating public market system in the United States. Lexington Market is one of the longest-running markets in the world and longest running in the country, having been around since 1782. The market continues to stand at its original site. Baltimore is the last place in America where one can still find arabbers, vendors who sell fresh fruits and vegetables from a horse-drawn cart that goes up and down neighborhood streets. Food- and drink-rating site Zagat ranked Baltimore second in a list of the 17 best food cities in the country in 2015.


title: Baltimore

text: Baltimore city, along with its surrounding regions, is home to a unique local dialect known as the Baltimore dialect. It is part of the larger Mid-Atlantic American English group and is noted to be very similar to the Philadelphia dialect.


title: Baltimore

text: The so-called "Bawlmerese" accent is known for its characteristic pronunciation of its long "o" vowel, in which an "eh" sound is added before the long "o" sound (/oʊ/ shifts to [ɘʊ], or even [eʊ]). It also adopts Philadelphia's pattern of the short "a" sound, such that the tensed vowel in words like "bath" or "ask" does not match the more relaxed one in "sad" or "act".


title: Baltimore

text: Baltimore native John Waters parodies the city and its dialect extensively in his films. Most are filmed in Baltimore, including the 1972 cult classic "Pink Flamingos", as well as "Hairspray" and its Broadway musical remake.


title: Baltimore

text: Baltimore has three state-designated arts and entertainment (A & E) districts. The Station North Arts and Entertainment District, Highlandtown Arts District, and the Bromo Arts & Entertainment District. The Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts, a non-profit organization, produces events and arts programs as well as managing several facilities. It is the official Baltimore City Arts Council. BOPA coordinates Baltimore's major events, including New Year's Eve and July 4 celebrations at the Inner Harbor, Artscape, which is America's largest free arts festival, Baltimore Book Festival, Baltimore Farmers' Market & Bazaar, School 33 Art Center's Open Studio Tour, and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parade.


title: Baltimore

text: The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is an internationally renowned orchestra, founded in 1916 as a publicly funded municipal organization. Its most recent music director was Marin Alsop, a protégé of Leonard Bernstein's. Centerstage is the premier theater company in the city and a regionally well-respected group. The Lyric Opera House is the home of Lyric Opera Baltimore, which operates there as part of the Patricia and Arthur Modell Performing Arts Center. The Baltimore Consort has been a leading early music ensemble for over twenty-five years. The France-Merrick Performing Arts Center, home of the restored Thomas W. Lamb-designed Hippodrome Theatre, has afforded Baltimore the opportunity to become a major regional player in the area of touring Broadway and other performing arts presentations. Renovating Baltimore's historic theatres has become widespread throughout the city; renovated theatres include the Everyman, Centre, Senator, and most recently Parkway Theatre. Other buildings have been reused; these include the former Mercantile Deposit and Trust Company bank building, which is now The Chesapeake Shakespeare Company Theater.


title: Baltimore

text: Baltimore also boasts a wide array of professional (non-touring) and community theater groups. Aside from Center Stage, resident troupes in the city include The Vagabond Players, the oldest continuously operating community theater group in the country, Everyman Theatre, Single Carrot Theatre, and Baltimore Theatre Festival. Community theaters in the city include Fells Point Community Theatre and the Arena Players Inc., which is the nation's oldest continuously operating African American community theater. In 2009, the Baltimore Rock Opera Society, an all-volunteer theatrical company, launched its first production.


title: Baltimore

text: Baltimore is home to the Pride of Baltimore Chorus, a three-time international silver medalist women's chorus, affiliated with Sweet Adelines International. The Maryland State Boychoir is located in the northeastern Baltimore neighborhood of Mayfield.


title: Baltimore

text: Baltimore is the home of non-profit chamber music organization Vivre Musicale. VM won a 2011–2012 award for Adventurous Programming from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers and Chamber Music America.


title: Baltimore

text: The Peabody Institute, located in the Mount Vernon neighborhood, is the oldest conservatory of music in the United States. Established in 1857, it is one of the most prestigious in the world, along with Juilliard, Eastman, and the Curtis Institute. The Morgan State University Choir is also one of the nation's most prestigious university choral ensembles. The city is home to the Baltimore School for the Arts, a public high school in the Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore. The institution is nationally recognized for its success in preparation for students entering music (vocal/instrumental), theatre (acting/theater production), dance, and visual arts.


title: Baltimore

text: In 1981, Baltimore hosted the first International Theater Festival, the first such festival in the country. Executive producer Al Kraizer staged 66 performances of nine shows by international theatre companies, including from Ireland, the United Kingdom, South Africa and Israel. However, the festival proved to be expensive to mount, and the following year the festival was hosted in Denver, called the World Theatre Festival, at the Denver Center for Performing Arts, after the city had asked Kraizer to organize it.


title: Baltimore

text: In June 1986, the 20th Theatre of Nations, sponsored by the International Theatre Institute, was held in Baltimore – the first time it had been held in the U.S.


title: Baltimore

text: Baltimore has a long and storied baseball history, including its distinction as the birthplace of Babe Ruth in 1895. The original 19th century Baltimore Orioles were one of the most successful early franchises, featuring numerous hall of famers during its years from 1882 to 1899.


title: Baltimore

text: As one of the eight inaugural American League franchises, the Baltimore Orioles played in the AL during the 1901 and 1902 seasons. The team moved to New York City before the 1903 season and was renamed the New York Highlanders, which later became the New York Yankees.


title: Baltimore

text: Ruth played for the minor league Baltimore Orioles team, which was active from 1903 to 1914. After playing one season in 1915 as the Richmond Climbers, the team returned the following year to Baltimore, where it played as the Orioles until 1953.


title: Baltimore

text: The team currently known as the Baltimore Orioles has represented Major League Baseball locally since 1954 when the St. Louis Browns moved to the city of Baltimore. The Orioles advanced to the World Series in 1966, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1979 and 1983, winning three times (1966, 1970 and 1983), while making the playoffs all but one year (1972) from 1969 through 1974.


title: Baltimore

text: In 1995, local player (and later Hall of Famer) Cal Ripken Jr. broke Lou Gehrig's streak of 2,130 consecutive games played, for which Ripken was named Sportsman of the Year by "Sports Illustrated" magazine. Six former Orioles players, including Ripken (2007), and two of the team's managers have been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.


title: Baltimore

text: Since 1992, the Orioles' home ballpark has been Oriole Park at Camden Yards, which has been hailed as one of the league's best since it opened.


title: Baltimore

text: Prior to an NFL team moving to Baltimore, there had been several attempts at a professional football team prior to the 1950s, which were blocked by the Washington team and its NFL friends. Most were minor league or semi-professional teams. The first major league to base a team in Baltimore was the All-America Football Conference (AAFC), which had a team named the Baltimore Colts. The AAFC Colts played for three seasons in the AAFC (1947, 1948, and 1949), and when the AAFC folded following the 1949 season, moved to the NFL for a single year (1950) before going bankrupt. Three years later, the NFL's Dallas Texans would itself fold. Its assets and player contracts purchased by an ownership team headed by Baltimore businessman Carroll Rosenbloom, who moved the team to Baltimore, establishing a new team also named the Baltimore Colts. During the 1950s and 1960s, the Colts were one of the NFLs more successful franchises, led by Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Johnny Unitas who set a then-record of 47 consecutive games with a touchdown pass. The Colts advanced to the NFL Championship twice (1958 & 1959) and Super Bowl twice (1969 & 1971), winning all except Super Bowl III in 1969. After the 1983 season, the team left Baltimore for Indianapolis in 1984, where they became the Indianapolis Colts.


title: Baltimore

text: The NFL returned to Baltimore when the former Cleveland Browns moved to Baltimore to become the Baltimore Ravens in 1996. Since then, the Ravens won a Super Bowl championship in 2000 and 2012, six AFC North division championships (2003, 2006, 2011, 2012, 2018, and 2019), and appeared in four AFC Championship Games (2000, 2008, 2011 and 2012).


title: Baltimore

text: Baltimore also hosted a Canadian Football League franchise, the Baltimore Stallions for the 1994 and 1995 seasons. Following the 1995 season, and ultimate end to the Canadian Football League in the United States experiment, the team was sold and relocated to Montreal.


title: Baltimore

text: The first professional sports organization in the United States, The Maryland Jockey Club, was formed in Baltimore in 1743. Preakness Stakes, the second race in the United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, has been held every May at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore since 1873.


title: Baltimore

text: College lacrosse is a common sport in the spring, as the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays men's lacrosse team has won 44 national championships, the most of any program in history. In addition, Loyola University won its first men's NCAA lacrosse championship in 2012.


title: Baltimore

text: The Baltimore Blast are a professional arena soccer team that play in the Major Arena Soccer League at the SECU Arena on the campus of Towson University. The Blast have won nine championships in various leagues, including the MASL. A previous entity of the Blast played in the Major Indoor Soccer League from 1980 to 1992, winning one championship. The Baltimore Kings, a Baltimore Blast affiliate, joined MASL 3 in 2021 to begin play in 2022.


title: Baltimore

text: The FC Baltimore 1729 is a semi-professional soccer club playing for NPSL league, with the goal of bringing a community-oriented competitive soccer experience to the city of Baltimore. Their inaugural season started on May 11, 2018, and they play home games at CCBC Essex Field.


title: Baltimore

text: The Baltimore Blues are a semi-professional rugby league club which began competition in the USA Rugby League in 2012. The Baltimore Bohemians are an American soccer club. They compete in the USL Premier Development League, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. Their inaugural season started in the spring of 2012.


title: Baltimore

text: The Baltimore Grand Prix debuted along the streets of the Inner Harbor section of the city's downtown on September 2–4, 2011. The event played host to the American Le Mans Series on Saturday and the IndyCar Series on Sunday. Support races from smaller series were also held, including Indy Lights. After three consecutive years, on September 13, 2013, it was announced that the event would not be held in 2014 or 2015 due to scheduling conflicts.


title: Baltimore

text: The athletic equipment company Under Armour is also based out of Baltimore. Founded in 1996 by Kevin Plank, a University of Maryland alumnus, the company's headquarters are located in Tide Point, adjacent to Fort McHenry and the Domino Sugar factory. The Baltimore Marathon is the flagship race of several races. The marathon begins at the Camden Yards sports complex and travels through many diverse neighborhoods of Baltimore, including the scenic Inner Harbor waterfront area, historic Federal Hill, Fells Point, and Canton, Baltimore. The race then proceeds to other important focal points of the city such as Patterson Park, Clifton Park, Lake Montebello, the Charles Village neighborhood and the western edge of downtown. After winding through 42.195 kilometres (26.219 mi) of Baltimore, the race ends at virtually the same point at which it starts.


title: Baltimore

text: The Baltimore Brigade were an Arena Football League team based in Baltimore that from 2017 to 2019 played at Royal Farms Arena. The team ceased operations along with the league in 2019.


title: Baltimore

text: The City of Baltimore boasts over of parkland. The Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks manages the majority of parks and recreational facilities in the city including Patterson Park, Federal Hill Park, and Druid Hill Park. The city is also home to Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine, a coastal star-shaped fort best known for its role in the War of 1812. , The Trust for Public Land, a national land conservation organization, ranks Baltimore 40th among the 75 largest U.S. cities.


title: Baltimore

text: Baltimore is an independent city, and not part of any county. For most governmental purposes under Maryland law, Baltimore City is treated as a county-level entity. The United States Census Bureau uses counties as the basic unit for presentation of statistical information in the United States, and treats Baltimore as a county equivalent for those purposes.


title: Baltimore

text: Baltimore has been a Democratic stronghold for over 150 years, with Democrats dominating every level of government. In virtually all elections, the Democratic primary is the real contest. As of the 2020 elections, registered Democrats outnumbered registered Republicans by almost 10-to-1. No Republican has been elected to the City Council since 1939, and the city's last Republican mayor, Theodore McKeldin, left office in 1967. No Republican candidate since then has received 25 percent or more of the vote. In the 2016 and 2020 mayoral elections, the Republicans were pushed into third place by write-in and independent candidates, respectively. The last Republican candidate for president to win the city was Dwight Eisenhower in his successful reelection bid in 1956.


title: Baltimore

text: The city hosted the first six Democratic National Conventions, from 1832 through 1852, and hosted the DNC again in 1860, 1872, and 1912.


title: Baltimore

text: Brandon Scott is the current mayor of Baltimore. He was elected in 2020 and took office on December 8, 2020. Scott succeeded Jack Young who had been mayor since May 2, 2019, upon the resignation of Catherine Pugh. Prior to Pugh's official resignation, Young was the president of the Baltimore City Council and had been the acting mayor since April 2.


title: Baltimore

text: Catherine Pugh became the Democratic nominee for mayor in 2016 and won the mayoral election in 2016 with 57.1% of the vote; Pugh took office as mayor on December 6, 2016. Pugh took a leave of absence in April 2019 due to health concerns, then officially resigned from office on May 2. The resignation coincided with a scandal over a "self-dealing" book-sales arrangement.


title: Baltimore

text: Stephanie Rawlings-Blake assumed the office of Mayor on February 4, 2010, when predecessor Dixon's resignation became effective. Rawlings-Blake had been serving as City Council President at the time. She was elected to a full term in 2011, defeating Pugh in the primary election and receiving 84% of the vote.


title: Baltimore

text: Sheila Dixon became the first female mayor of Baltimore on January 17, 2007. As the former City Council President, she assumed the office of Mayor when former Mayor Martin O'Malley took office as Governor of Maryland. On November 6, 2007, Dixon won the Baltimore mayoral election. Mayor Dixon's administration ended less than three years after her election, the result of a criminal investigation that began in 2006 while she was still City Council President. She was convicted on a single misdemeanor charge of embezzlement on December 1, 2009. A month later, Dixon made an Alford plea to a perjury charge and agreed to resign from office; Maryland, like most states, does not allow convicted felons to hold office.


title: Baltimore

text: Grassroots pressure for reform, voiced as Question P, restructured the city council in November 2002, against the will of the mayor, the council president, and the majority of the council. A coalition of union and community groups, organized by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), backed the effort.


title: Baltimore

text: The Baltimore City Council is now made up of 14 single-member districts and one elected at-large council president. Current members of the council are Nick Mosby, Danielle McCray, Zeke Cohen, Ryan Dorsey, Mark Conway, Isaac Schleifer, Sharon Middleton, James Torrence, Kristerfer Burnett, John Bullock, Phylicia Porter, Eric Costello, Robert Stokes, Sr., Antonio Glover, and Odette Ramos. Nick Mosby has been the council president since November 2020, when he was elected to succeed the role from Mayor Brandon Scott.


title: Baltimore

text: The Baltimore City Police Department, founded 1784 as a "Night City Watch" and day Constables system and later reorganized as a City Department in 1853, with a following reorganization under State of Maryland supervision in 1859, with appointments made by the Governor of Maryland after a disturbing period of civic and elections violence with riots in the later part of the decade, is the current primary law enforcement agency serving the citizens of the City of Baltimore. Campus and building security for the city's public schools is provided by the Baltimore City Public Schools Police, established in the 1970s.


title: Baltimore

text: In the period of 2011–2015, 120 lawsuits were brought against Baltimore police for alleged brutality and misconduct. The Freddie Gray settlement of $6.4 million exceeds the combined total settlements of the 120 lawsuits, as state law caps such payments.


title: Baltimore

text: The Maryland Transportation Authority Police under the Maryland Department of Transportation, (originally established as the "Baltimore Harbor Tunnel Police" when opened in 1957) is the primary law enforcement agency on the Fort McHenry Tunnel Thruway (Interstate 95), the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel Thruway (Interstate 895), which go under the Northwest Branch of the Patapsco River, and Interstate 395, which has three ramp bridges crossing the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River which are under MdTA jurisdiction, the Baltimore-Washington International Airport, (BWI) and have limited concurrent jurisdiction with the Baltimore City Police Department under a "memorandum of understanding".


title: Baltimore

text: Law enforcement on the fleet of transit buses and transit rail systems serving Baltimore is the responsibility of the Maryland Transit Administration Police, which is part of the Maryland Transit Administration of the state Department of Transportation. The MTA Police also share jurisdiction authority with the Baltimore City Police, governed by a memorandum of understanding.


title: Baltimore

text: As the enforcement arm of the Baltimore circuit and district court system, the Baltimore City Sheriff's Office, created by state constitutional amendment in 1844, is responsible for the security of city courthouses and property, service of court-ordered writs, protective and peace orders, warrants, tax levies, prisoner transportation and traffic enforcement. Deputy Sheriffs are sworn law enforcement officials, with full arrest authority granted by the constitution of Maryland, the Maryland Police and Correctional Training Commission and the Sheriff of the City of Baltimore.


title: Baltimore

text: The United States Coast Guard, operating out of their shipyard and facility (since 1899) at Arundel Cove on Curtis Creek, (off Pennington Avenue extending to Hawkins Point Road/Fort Smallwood Road) in the Curtis Bay section of southern Baltimore City and adjacent northern Anne Arundel County. The U.S.C.G. also operates and maintains a presence on Baltimore and Maryland waterways in the Patapsco River and Chesapeake Bay. "Sector Baltimore" is responsible for commanding law enforcement and search & rescue units as well as aids to navigation.


title: Baltimore

text: The city of Baltimore is protected by the over 1,800 professional firefighters of the Baltimore City Fire Department (BCFD), which was founded in December 1858 and began operating the following year. Replacing several warring independent volunteer companies since the 1770s and the confusion resulting from a riot involving the "Know-Nothing" political party two years before, the establishment of a unified professional fire fighting force was a major advance in urban governance. The BCFD operates out of 37 fire stations located throughout the city and has a long history and sets of traditions in its various houses and divisions.


title: Baltimore

text: Since the legislative redistricting in 2002, Baltimore has had six legislative districts located entirely within its boundaries, giving the city six seats in the 47-member Maryland Senate and 18 in the 141-member Maryland House of Delegates. During the previous 10-year period, Baltimore had four legislative districts within the city limits, but four others overlapped the Baltimore County line. , all of Baltimore's state senators and delegates were Democrats.


title: Baltimore

text: Three of the state's eight congressional districts include portions of Baltimore: the 2nd, represented by Dutch Ruppersberger; the 3rd, represented by John Sarbanes; and the 7th, represented by Kweisi Mfume. All three are Democrats; a Republican has not represented a significant portion of Baltimore in Congress since John Boynton Philip Clayton Hill represented the 3rd District in 1927, and has not represented any of Baltimore since the Eastern Shore-based 1st District lost its share of Baltimore after the 2000 census; it was represented by Republican Wayne Gilchrest at the time.


title: Baltimore

text: Maryland's senior United States senator, Ben Cardin, is from Baltimore. He is one of three people in the last four decades to have represented the 3rd District before being elected to the United States Senate. Paul Sarbanes represented the 3rd from 1971 until 1977, when he was elected to the first of five terms in the Senate. Sarbanes was succeeded by Barbara Mikulski, who represented the 3rd from 1977 to 1987. Mikulski was succeeded by Cardin, who held the seat until handing it to John Sarbanes upon his election to the Senate in 2007.


title: Baltimore

text: The Postal Service's Baltimore Main Post Office is located at 900 East Fayette Street in the Jonestown area.


title: Baltimore

text: The national headquarters for the United States Social Security Administration is located in Woodlawn, just outside of Baltimore.


title: Baltimore

text: Baltimore is the home of numerous places of higher learning, both public and private. 100,000 college students from around the country attend Baltimore City's 12 accredited two-year or four-year colleges and universities. Among them are:


title: Baltimore

text: The city's public schools are managed by Baltimore City Public Schools, and include schools that have been well known in the area: Carver Vocational-Technical High School, the first African American vocational high school and center that was established in the state of Maryland; Digital Harbor High School, one of the secondary schools that emphasizes information technology; Lake Clifton Eastern High School, which is the largest school campus in Baltimore City of physical size; the historic Frederick Douglass High School, which is the second oldest African American high school in the United States; Baltimore City College, the third oldest public high school in the country; and Western High School, the oldest public all-girls school in the nation. Baltimore City College (also known as "City") and Baltimore Polytechnic Institute (also known as "Poly") share the nation's second-oldest high school football rivalry.


title: Baltimore

text: The city of Baltimore has a higher-than-average percentage of households without a car. In 2015, 30.7 percent of Baltimore households lacked a car, which decreased slightly to 28.9 percent in 2016. The national average was 8.7 percent in 2016. Baltimore averaged 1.65 cars per household in 2016, compared to a national average of 1.8.


title: Baltimore

text: Baltimore's highway growth has done much to influence the development of the city and its suburbs. The first limited-access highway serving Baltimore was the Baltimore–Washington Parkway, which opened in stages between 1950 and 1954. Maintenance of it is split: the half closest to Baltimore is maintained by the state of Maryland, and the half closest to Washington by the National Park Service. Trucks are only permitted to use the northern part of the parkway. Trucks (tractor-trailers) continued to use U.S. Route 1 (US 1) until Interstate 95 (I-95) between Baltimore and Washington opened in 1971.


title: Baltimore

text: The Interstate highways serving Baltimore are I-70, I-83 (the Jones Falls Expressway), I-95, I-395, I-695 (the Baltimore Beltway), I-795 (the Northwest Expressway), I-895 (the Harbor Tunnel Thruway), and I-97. The city's mainline Interstate highways—I-95, I-83, and I-70—do not directly connect to each other, and in the case of I-70 end at a park and ride lot just inside the city limits, because of freeway revolts in Baltimore. These revolts were led primarily by Barbara Mikulski, a former United States senator for Maryland, which resulted in the abandonment of the original plan. There are two tunnels traversing Baltimore Harbor within the city limits: the four-bore Fort McHenry Tunnel (opened in 1985 and serving I-95) and the two-bore Harbor Tunnel (opened in 1957 and serving I-895). The Baltimore Beltway crosses south of Baltimore Harbor over the Francis Scott Key Bridge.


title: Baltimore

text: The first interstate highway built in Baltimore was I-83, called the Jones Falls Expressway (first portion built in the early 1960s). Running from the downtown toward the northwest (NNW), it was built through a natural corridor, which meant that no residents or housing were directly affected. A planned section from what is now its southern terminus to I-95 was abandoned. Its route through parkland received criticism.


title: Baltimore

text: Planning for the Baltimore Beltway antedates the creation of the Interstate Highway System. The first portion completed was a small strip connecting the two sections of I-83, the Baltimore-Harrisburg Expressway and the Jones Falls Expressway.


title: Baltimore

text: The only U.S. Highways in the city are US 1, which bypasses downtown, and US 40, which crosses downtown from east to west. Both run along major surface streets; however, US 40 utilizes a small section of a freeway cancelled in the 1970s in the west side of the city originally intended for Interstate 170. State routes in the city also travel along surface streets, with the exception of Maryland Route 295, which carries the Baltimore–Washington Parkway.


title: Baltimore

text: The Baltimore City Department of Transportation (BCDOT) is responsible for several functions of the road transportation system in Baltimore, including repairing roads, sidewalks, and alleys; road signs; street lights; and managing the flow of transportation systems. In addition, the agency is in charge of vehicle towing and traffic cameras. BCDOT maintains all streets within the city of Baltimore. These include all streets that are marked as state and U.S. highways as well as the portions of I-83 and I-70 within the city limits. The only highways within the city that are not maintained by BCDOT are I-95, I-395, I-695, and I-895; those four highways are maintained by the Maryland Transportation Authority.


title: Baltimore

text: Public transit in Baltimore is mostly provided by the Maryland Transit Administration (abbreviated "MTA Maryland") and Charm City Circulator. MTA Maryland operates a comprehensive bus network, including many local, express, and commuter buses, a light rail network connecting Hunt Valley in the north to BWI Airport and Cromwell (Glen Burnie) in the south, and a subway line between Owings Mills and Johns Hopkins Hospital. A proposed rail line, known as the Red Line, which would link the Social Security Administration to Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center and perhaps the Canton and Dundalk communities, was cancelled by Governor Larry Hogan; a proposal to extend Baltimore's existing subway line to Morgan State University, known as the Green Line, is in the planning stages.


title: Baltimore

text: The Charm City Circulator (CCC), a shuttle bus service operated by Veolia Transportation for the Baltimore Department of Transportation, began operating in the downtown area in January 2010. Funded partly by a 16 percent increase in the city's parking fees, the circulator provides free bus service seven days a week, picking up passengers every 15 minutes at designated stops during service hours.


title: Baltimore

text: The CCC's first bus line, the Orange route, travels between Hollins Market and Harbor East. Its Purple route, launched June 7, 2010, operates between Fort Avenue and 33rd St. The Green route runs between Johns Hopkins and City Hall. The Charm City Circulator operates a fleet of diesel and hybrid vehicles built by DesignLine, Orion, and Van Hool.


title: Baltimore

text: Baltimore also has a water taxi service, operated by Baltimore Water Taxi. The water taxi's six routes provide service throughout the city's harbor, and was purchased by Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank's Sagamore Ventures in 2016.


title: Baltimore

text: In June 2017, The BaltimoreLink started operating; it is the redesign of the region's initial bus system. The BaltimoreLink runs through downtown Baltimore every 10 minutes via color-coded, high-frequency CityLink routes.


title: Baltimore

text: Baltimore is a top destination for Amtrak along the Northeast Corridor. Baltimore's Penn Station is one of the busiest in the country. In FY 2014, Penn Station was ranked the seventh-busiest rail station in the United States by number of passengers served each year. The building sits on a raised "island" of sorts between two open trenches, one for the Jones Falls Expressway and the other for the tracks of the Northeast Corridor (NEC). The NEC approaches from the south through the two-track, Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel, which opened in 1873 and whose limit, sharp curves, and steep grades make it one of the NEC's worst bottlenecks. The NEC's northern approach is the 1873 Union Tunnel, which has one single-track bore and one double-track bore.


title: Baltimore

text: Just outside the city, Baltimore/Washington International (BWI) Thurgood Marshall Airport Rail Station is another stop. Amtrak's "Acela Express", "Palmetto", "Carolinian", "Silver Star", "Silver Meteor", "Vermonter", "Crescent", and "Northeast Regional" trains are the scheduled passenger train services that stop in the city. Additionally, MARC commuter rail service connects the city's two main intercity rail stations, Camden Station and Penn Station, with Washington, D.C.'s Union Station as well as stops in between. The MARC consists of 3 lines; the Brunswick, Camden and Penn. On December 7, 2013, the Penn Line began weekend service.


title: Baltimore

text: Baltimore is served by two airports, both operated by the Maryland Aviation Administration, which is part of the Maryland Department of Transportation. Baltimore–Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, generally known as "BWI", lies about to the south of Baltimore in neighboring Anne Arundel County. The airport is named after Thurgood Marshall, a Baltimore native who was the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. In terms of passenger traffic, BWI is the 22nd busiest airport in the United States. As of calendar year 2014, BWI is the largest, by passenger count, of three major airports serving the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area. It is accessible by I-95 and the Baltimore–Washington Parkway via Interstate 195, the Baltimore Light Rail, and Amtrak and MARC Train at BWI Rail Station.


title: Baltimore

text: Baltimore is also served by Martin State Airport, a general aviation facility, to the northeast in Baltimore County. Martin State Airport is linked to downtown Baltimore by Maryland Route 150 (Eastern Avenue) and by MARC Train at its own station.


title: Baltimore

text: Baltimore has a comprehensive system of bicycle routes in the city. These routes are not numbered, but are typically denoted with green signs displaying a silhouette of a bicycle upon an outline of the city's border, and denote the distance to destinations, much like bicycle routes in the rest of the state. The roads carrying bicycle routes are also labelled with either bike lanes, sharrows, or Share the Road signs. Many of these routes pass through the downtown area. The network of bicycle lanes in the city continues to expand, with over added between 2006 and 2014. Alongside bike lanes, Baltimore has also built bike boulevards, starting with Guilford Avenue in 2012.


title: Baltimore

text: Baltimore currently has three major trail systems within the city. The Gwynns Falls Trail runs from the Inner Harbor to the I-70 Park and Ride, passing through Gwynns Falls Park and possessing numerous branches. There are also many pedestrian hiking trails traversing the park. The Jones Falls Trail currently runs from the Inner Harbor to the Cylburn Arboretum; however, it is currently undergoing expansion. Long-term plans call for it to extend to the Mount Washington Light Rail Stop, and possibly as far north as the Falls Road stop to connect to the Robert E. Lee boardwalk north of the city. It will also incorporate a spur alongside Western Run. The two aforementioned trails carry sections of the East Coast Greenway through the city. There is also the Herring Run Trail, which runs from Harford Road east to its end beyond Sinclair Lane, utilizing Herring Run Park; long-term plans also call for its extension to Morgan State University and north to points beyond. Other major bicycle projects include a protected cycle track installed on both Maryland Avenue and Mount Royal Avenue, expected to become the backbone of a downtown bicycle network. Installation for the cycletracks is expected in 2014 and 2016, respectively.


title: Baltimore

text: In addition to the bicycle trails and cycletracks, Baltimore has the Stony Run Trail, a walking path that will eventually connect from the Jones Falls north to Northern Parkway, utilizing much of the old Ma and Pa Railroad corridor inside the city. In 2011, the city undertook a campaign to reconstruct many sidewalk ramps in the city, coinciding with mass resurfacing of the city's streets. A 2011 study by Walk Score ranked Baltimore the 14th most walkable of fifty largest U.S. cities.


title: Baltimore

text: The port was founded in 1706, preceding the founding of Baltimore. The Maryland colonial legislature made the area near Locust Point as the port of entry for the tobacco trade with England. Fells Point, the deepest point in the natural harbor, soon became the colony's main ship building center, later on becoming leader in the construction of clipper ships.


title: Baltimore

text: After Baltimore's founding, mills were built behind the wharves. The California Gold Rush led to many orders for fast vessels; many overland pioneers also relied upon canned goods from Baltimore. After the Civil War, a coffee ship was designed here for trade with Brazil. At the end of the nineteenth century, European ship lines had terminals for immigrants. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad made the port a major transshipment point. Currently the port has major roll-on/roll-off facilities, as well as bulk facilities, especially steel handling.


title: Baltimore

text: Water taxis also operate in the Inner Harbor. Governor Ehrlich participated in naming the port after Helen Delich Bentley during the 300th anniversary of the port.


title: Baltimore

text: In 2007, Duke Realty Corporation began a new development near the Port of Baltimore, named the Chesapeake Commerce Center. This new industrial park is located on the site of a former General Motors plant. The total project comprises in eastern Baltimore City, and the site will yield of warehouse/distribution and office space. Chesapeake Commerce Center has direct access to two major Interstate highways (I-95 and I-895) and is located adjacent to two of the major Port of Baltimore terminals. The Port of Baltimore is one of two seaports on the U.S. East Coast with a dredge to accommodate the largest shipping vessels.


title: Baltimore

text: Along with cargo terminals, the port also has a passenger cruise terminal, which offers year-round trips on several lines, including Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas and Carnival's Pride. Overall five cruise lines have operated out of the port to the Bahamas and the Caribbean, while some ships traveled to New England and Canada. The terminal has become an embarkation point where passengers have the opportunity to park and board next to the ship visible from Interstate 95. Passengers from Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey make up a third of the volume, with travelers from Maryland, Virginia, the District and even Ohio and the Carolinas making up the rest.


title: Baltimore

text: Baltimore's Inner Harbor, known for its skyline waterscape and its tourist-friendly areas, was horribly polluted. The waterway was often filled with garbage after heavy rainstorms, failing its 2014 water quality report card. The Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore took steps to remediate the waterways, in hopes that the harbor would be fishable and swimmable once again.


title: Baltimore

text: Baltimore has four water wheel trash interceptors for removing garbage in area waterways. One is at the mouth of Jones Falls in Baltimore's Inner Harbor, dubbed "Mr. Trash Wheel." Another, "Professor Trash Wheel" was added at Harris Creek in the Canton neighborhood in 2016, with "Captain Trash Wheel" following at Mason Creek in 2018 and "Gwynnda, the Good Wheel of the West" at the mouth of the Gwynns Falls in 2021. A February 2015 agreement with a local waste-to-energy plant is believed to make Baltimore the first city to use reclaimed waterway debris to generate electricity.


title: Baltimore

text: In August 2010, the National Aquarium assembled, planted, and launched a floating wetland island designed by Biohabitats in Baltimore's Inner Harbor. Hundreds of years ago Baltimore's harbor shoreline would have been lined with tidal wetlands. Floating wetlands provide many environmental benefits to water quality and habitat enhancement, which is why the Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore has included them in their Healthy Harbor Initiative pilot projects. Biohabitats also developed a concept to transform a dilapidated wharf into a living pier that cleans Harbor water, provides habitat and is an aesthetic attraction. Currently under design, the top of the pier will become a constructed tidal wetland.


title: Baltimore

text: Other projects to improve water quality include the Blue Alleys project, expanded street sweeping, and stream restoration.


title: Baltimore

text: Baltimore's main media outlet since 2010 is Baltimore Brew, edited by Fern Shen and Mark Reutter, investigative journalists of the Washington Post and Baltimore Sun, respectively. "The Baltimore Sun" was sold by its Baltimore owners in 1986 to the Times Mirror Company, which was bought by the Tribune Company in 2000. Since the recent sale, The Baltimore Sun prints some local news along with regional and national articles. The "Baltimore News-American", another long-running paper that competed with the Sun, ceased publication in 1986.


title: Baltimore

text: The city is home to the Baltimore Afro-American, an influential African American newspaper founded in 1892.


title: Baltimore

text: In 2006, "The Baltimore Examiner" was launched to compete with "The Sun". It was part of a national chain that includes "The San Francisco Examiner" and "The Washington Examiner". In contrast to the paid subscription "Sun", "The Examiner" was a free newspaper funded solely by advertisements. Unable to turn a profit and facing a deep recession, "The Baltimore Examiner" ceased publication on February 15, 2009.


title: Baltimore

text: Despite being located 40 miles northeast of Washington, D.C., Baltimore is a major media market in its own right, with all major English language television networks represented in the city. WJZ-TV 13 is a CBS owned and operated station, and WBFF 45 (Fox) is the flagship of Sinclair Broadcast Group, the largest station owner in the country. Other major television stations in Baltimore include WMAR-TV 2 (ABC), WBAL-TV 11 (NBC), WUTB 24 (TBD), WBFF-DT2 45.2 (MyNetworkTV), WNUV 54 (CW), and WMPB 67 (PBS). Baltimore is also served by low-power station WMJF-CD 39 (Ion), which transmits from the campus of Towson University.


title: Baltimore

text: Nielsen ranked Baltimore as the 26th-largest television market for the 2008–2009 viewing season and the 27th-largest for 2009–2010. Arbitron's Fall 2010 rankings identified Baltimore as the 22nd largest radio market.


title: Baltimore

text: Baltimore's own Sister City Committees recognize eight of these sister cities, indicated above with a "B" notation.


title: Tool (band)

text: Tool is an American rock band from Los Angeles. Formed in 1990, the group's line-up includes vocalist Maynard James Keenan, guitarist Adam Jones and drummer Danny Carey. Justin Chancellor has been the band's bassist since 1995, replacing their original bassist Paul D'Amour. Tool has won four Grammy Awards, performed worldwide tours, and produced albums topping the charts in several countries.


title: Tool (band)

text: To date, the band has released five studio albums, one EP and one box set. They emerged with a heavy metal sound on their first studio album, "Undertow" (1993), and became a dominant act in the alternative metal movement with the release of their follow-up album "Ænima" in 1996. Their efforts to unify musical experimentation, visual arts, and a message of personal evolution continued with "Lateralus" (2001) and "10,000 Days" (2006), gaining critical acclaim and international commercial success. Their fifth studio album, "Fear Inoculum", was released on August 30, 2019, to widespread critical acclaim. Prior to its release, the band had sold more than 13 million albums in the US alone.


title: Tool (band)

text: Due to Tool's incorporation of visual arts and very long and complex releases, the band is generally described as a style-transcending act and part of progressive rock, psychedelic rock, and art rock. The relationship between the band and today's music industry is ambivalent, at times marked by censorship, and the band's insistence on privacy.


title: Tool (band)

text: During the 1980s, each of the future members of Tool moved to Los Angeles. Both Paul D'Amour and Adam Jones wanted to enter the film industry, while Maynard James Keenan, who had studied visual arts in Michigan, worked as a pet store remodeler. Danny Carey and Keenan performed for Green Jellÿ, and Carey played with Carole King and Pigmy Love Circus.


title: Tool (band)

text: Keenan and Jones met through a mutual friend in 1989. After Keenan played a tape recording for Jones of his previous band project, Jones was so impressed by his voice that he eventually talked his friend into forming a new band. They started jamming together while searching for a drummer and a bass player. Carey happened to live above Keenan and was introduced to Jones by Tom Morello, an old high school friend of Jones and former member of Electric Sheep. Carey began playing in their sessions because he "felt kinda sorry for them," as other invited musicians were not showing up. Tool's lineup was completed when a friend of Jones introduced them to bassist D'Amour. Early on, the band fabricated the story that they formed because of the pseudophilosophy "lachrymology". Although "lachrymology" was also cited as an inspiration for the band's name, Keenan later explained their intentions differently: "Tool is exactly what it sounds like: It's a big dick. It's a wrench. ... we are ... your tool; use us as a catalyst in your process of finding out whatever it is you need to find out, or whatever it is you're trying to achieve."


title: Tool (band)

text: After almost two years of practicing and performing locally in the Los Angeles area, the band was approached by record companies, and eventually signed a record deal with Zoo Entertainment. In March 1992, Zoo released the band's first effort, "Opiate". Described by the band as "slam and bang" heavy music and the "hardest sounding" six songs they had written to that point, the EP included the singles "Hush" and "Opiate". The band's first music video, "Hush", promoted their dissenting views about the then-prominent Parents Music Resource Center and its advocacy of the censorship of music. The video featured the band members naked with their genitalia covered by Parental Advisory stickers and their mouths covered by duct tape. The band began touring with Rollins Band, Fishbone, Rage Against the Machine, White Zombie, and Corrosion of Conformity, to positive responses, which Janiss Garza of "RIP Magazine" summarized in September 1992 as a "buzz" and "a strong start".


title: Tool (band)

text: The following year, at a time when alternative rock and grunge were at their height, Tool released their first full-length album, "Undertow" (1993). It expressed more diverse dynamics than "Opiate" and included songs the band had chosen not to publish on their previous release, when they had opted for a heavier sound. The band began touring again as planned, with an exception in May 1993. Tool was scheduled to play at the Garden Pavilion in Hollywood but learned at the last minute that the venue belonged to the Church of Scientology, which was perceived as a clash with "the band's ethics about how a person should not follow a belief system that constricts their development as a human being." Keenan "spent most of the show baa-ing like a sheep at the audience."


title: Tool (band)

text: Tool later played several concerts during the Lollapalooza festival tour, and were moved from the second stage to the main stage by their manager and the festival co-founder Ted Gardner. At the last concert of Lollapalooza in Tool's hometown Los Angeles, comedian Bill Hicks introduced the band. Hicks had become a friend of the band members and an influence on them after being mentioned in "Undertow"'s liner notes. He jokingly asked the audience of 10,000 people to stand still and help him look for a lost contact lens. The boost in popularity gained from these concerts helped "Undertow" to be certified gold by the RIAA in September 1993 and to achieve platinum status in 1995, despite being sold with censored album artwork by distributors such as Wal-Mart. The single "Sober" became a hit single by March 1994 and won the band Billboard's "Best Video by a New Artist" award for the accompanying stop motion music video.


title: Tool (band)

text: With the release of Tool's follow-up single "Prison Sex", the band again became the target of censorship. The song's lyrics and video dealt with child abuse, which sparked controversial reactions; Keenan's lyrics begin with: "It took so long to remember just what happened. I was so young and vestal then, you know it hurt me, but I'm breathing so I guess I'm still alive ... I've got my hands bound and my head down and my eyes closed and my throat wide open." The video was created primarily by guitarist Adam Jones, who saw it as his "surrealistic interpretation" of the subject matter. While some contemporary journalists praised the video and described the lyrics as "metaphoric", the American branch of MuchMusic (which asked Keenan to represent the band in a hearing) deemed the music video too graphic and obscene, and MTV stopped airing it after a few showings.


title: Tool (band)

text: In September 1995, the band started writing and recording their second studio album. At that time Tool experienced its only lineup change to date, with bassist D'Amour leaving the band amicably to pursue other projects. According to Carey, D'Amour left the band because he wanted to play guitar rather than bass. Justin Chancellor, a member of former tourmates Peach, eventually replaced D'Amour during the recording of the album, having been chosen over competitors such as Kyuss's Scott Reeder, Filter's Frank Cavanaugh, Pigmy Love Circus's E. Shepherd Stevenson, Jane's Addiction's Eric Avery and ZAUM's Marco Fox.


title: Tool (band)

text: On September 17, 1996, Tool released their second full-length album, "Ænima" ("ON-ima"). The band enlisted the help of producer David Bottrill, who had produced some of King Crimson's albums, while Jones collaborated with Cam de Leon to create "Ænima"s Grammy-nominated artwork. The album was dedicated to stand-up comedian Bill Hicks, who died two and a half years earlier. The band intended to raise awareness about Hicks's material and ideas, because they felt that Tool and Hicks "were resonating similar concepts". In particular, "Ænima"'s final track "Third Eye" is preceded by a clip of Hicks' performances, and the lenticular casing of the "Ænima" album packaging as well as the chorus of the title track "Ænema" make reference to a sketch from Hicks's "Arizona Bay", in which he contemplates the idea of Los Angeles falling into the Pacific Ocean.


title: Tool (band)

text: The first single, "Stinkfist", garnered limited airplay. It was shortened by radio programmers, MTV (U.S.) renamed the music video of "Stinkfist" to "Track No. 1" due to offensive connotations, and the lyrics of the song were altered. Responding to fan complaints about censorship, Matt Pinfield of MTV's "120 Minutes" expressed regret on air by waving his fist in front of his face while introducing the video and explaining the name change.


title: Tool (band)

text: A tour began in October 1996, two weeks after "Ænima"'s release. Following numerous appearances in the United States and Europe, Tool headed for Australia and New Zealand in late March 1997. Eventually returning to the United States, Tool appeared at Lollapalooza '97 in July, this time as a headliner, where they gained critical praise from "The New York Times". "Ænima" eventually matched Tool's successful debut album in sales, and the progressive-influenced album landed the band at the head of the alternative metal genre. It featured the Grammy Award-winning "Ænema" and appeared on several "Best Albums of 1996" lists, with notable examples being those of "Kerrang!" and "Terrorizer". It was eventually certified triple platinum by the RIAA on March 4, 2003. In 1998, Tool joined the Ozzfest tour in the United States as the co-headliner act before Ozzy Osbourne. The band accepted on the condition that Melvins had to join it as well because, as stated by its frontman Buzz Osborne, they "wanted at least one band on the tour that they liked", despite the dissuasions from the tour organizers.


title: Tool (band)

text: Two legal battles then began that interfered with the band's working on another release. Volcano Entertainment—the successor of Tool's by-then defunct label Zoo Entertainment—alleged contract violations by Tool and filed a lawsuit. According to Volcano, Tool had violated their contract when the band looked at offers from other record labels. After Tool filed a counter-suit stating that Volcano had failed to use a renewal option in their contract, the parties settled out of court. In December 1998 Tool agreed to a new contract, a three-record joint venture deal. Then in 2000, the band dismissed their long-time manager Ted Gardner, who then sued the band over his commission. During this time, Keenan joined the band A Perfect Circle, which was founded by long-time Tool guitar tech Billy Howerdel, while Jones joined The Melvins' Buzz Osborne and Carey drummed with Dead Kennedys' Jello Biafra on side projects. Although there were rumors that Tool was breaking up, Chancellor, Jones, and Carey were working on new material while waiting for Keenan to return. In 2000, the "Salival" box set (CD/VHS or CD/DVD) was released, effectively putting an end to the rumors. The CD contained one new original track, a cover of Led Zeppelin's "No Quarter", a live version of Peach's "You Lied", and revised versions of old songs. The VHS and the DVD each contained four music videos, plus a bonus music video for "Hush" on the DVD. Although "Salival" did not yield any singles, the hidden track "Maynard's Dick" (which dates back to the "Opiate" era) briefly found its way to FM radio when several DJs chose to play it on air under the title "Maynard's Dead".


title: Tool (band)

text: In January 2001, Tool announced a new album, "Systema Encéphale", along with a 12-song track list containing titles such as "Riverchrist", "Numbereft", "Encephatalis", "Musick", and "Coeliacus". File-sharing networks such as Napster were flooded with bogus files bearing the titles' names. A month later, the band revealed that the new album was actually titled "Lateralus"; the name "Systema Encéphale" and the track list had been a ruse. "Lateralus" and the corresponding tours would take Tool a step further toward art rock and progressive rock territory. "Rolling Stone" wrote in an attempt to summarize the album that "Drums, bass and guitars move in jarring cycles of hyperhowl and near-silent death march ... The prolonged running times of most of "Lateralus" thirteen tracks are misleading; the entire album rolls and stomps with suitelike purpose." Joshua Klein of "The A.V. Club" expressed his opinion that "Lateralus", with its 79 minutes and relatively complex and long songs—topped by the ten-and-a-half-minute music video for "Parabola"—posed a challenge to fans and music programming alike.


title: Tool (band)

text: The album became a worldwide success, reaching No.1 on the U.S. "Billboard" 200 albums chart in its debut week. Tool received their second Grammy Award for the best metal performance of 2001 for the song "Schism". During the band's acceptance speech, Carey stated that he would like to thank his parents (for putting up with him) and Satan, and bassist Chancellor concluded: "I want to thank my dad for doing my mom."


title: Tool (band)

text: Extensive touring throughout 2001 and 2002 supported "Lateralus" and included a personal highlight for the band: a 10-show joint mini-tour with King Crimson in August 2001. Comparisons between the two were made, MTV describing the bands as "the once and future kings of progressive rock". Keenan stated of the minitour: "For me, being on stage with King Crimson is like Lenny Kravitz playing with Led Zeppelin, or Britney Spears onstage with Debbie Gibson." Although the end of the tour in November 2002 seemed to signal the start of another hiatus for the band, they did not become completely inactive. While Keenan recorded and toured with A Perfect Circle, the other band members released an interview and a recording of new material, both exclusive to the fan club. The "double vinyl four-picture disc" edition of "Lateralus" was first released as a limited autographed edition exclusively available to fan club members and publicly released on August 23, 2005. On December 20 the two DVDs were released, one containing the single "Schism" and the other "Parabola", a remix by Lustmord, and a music video with commentary by David Yow and Jello Biafra.


title: Tool (band)

text: Fifteen years into the band's career, Tool had acquired what Dan Epstein of "Revolver" described as a devoted "cult" following, and as details about the band's next album emerged, such as the influence of "Lateralus" tourmates Fantômas and Meshuggah, controversy surrounding the new Tool album surfaced with speculation over song titles and pre-release rumors of leaked songs. Speculation over possible album titles was dismissed with a news item on the official Tool website, announcing that the new album's name was "10,000 Days". Nevertheless, speculation continued, with allegations that "10,000 Days" was merely a "decoy" album to fool audiences. The rumor was proven false when a leaked copy of the album was distributed via filesharing networks a week prior to its official release.


title: Tool (band)

text: The album opener, "Vicarious", premiered on U.S. radio stations on April 17, 2006. The album premiered on May 2 in the U.S. and debuted at the top spots of various international charts. "10,000 Days" sold 564,000 copies in its opening week in the U.S. and was number one on the "Billboard" 200 charts, doubling the sales of Pearl Jam's self-titled album, its closest competitor. However, "10,000 Days" was received less favorably by critics than its predecessor "Lateralus" had been.


title: Tool (band)

text: Prior to the release of "10,000 Days", a tour kicked off at Coachella on April 30. The touring schedule was similar to the "Lateralus" tour of 2001; supporting acts were Isis and Mastodon. During a short break early the next year, after touring Australia and New Zealand, drummer Carey suffered a biceps tear during a skirmish with his girlfriend's dog, casting uncertainty on the band's upcoming concerts in North America. Carey underwent surgery on February 21 and several performances had to be postponed. Back on tour by April, Tool appeared on June 15 as a headliner at the Bonnaroo Music Festival with a guest appearance from Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello on "Lateralus". Meanwhile, "Vicarious" was a nominee for Best Hard Rock Performance and "10,000 Days" won Best Recording Package at the 49th Grammy Awards. The music video for "Vicarious" was released on DVD on December 18. The band's 2009 summer tour began on July 18 in Commerce City, Colorado, at the Mile High Music Festival. They headlined Lollapalooza 2009 and a show on August 22 for the Epicenter Festival in Pomona, California.


title: Tool (band)

text: Their Tool Winter Tour played dates across the U.S. and Canada in January and February 2012. The band played at Ozzfest Japan on May 12, 2013. On July 15, 2014, Carey and Jones informed "Rolling Stone" that family commitments and an ongoing lawsuit are the key reasons for the delayed fifth album. Carey said to the music publication that one untitled track is "pretty much done". In March 2015, Jones revealed that the lawsuit had been settled in the band's favor, and as such, the band was turning their focus towards recording the album. He said that he hoped the album would be finished before the end of 2015 but emphasized that the band would not rush their work to meet an arbitrary deadline. In January 2016, Tool undertook a tour of the United States. While it was reported in February 2017 that Keenan had entered the studio to work on vocals for the fifth Tool album, it was later reported that the album was not scheduled for release in 2017. Still, the band announced a North American tour starting in May. A month later, Chancellor revealed that the new Tool album was "about 90-percent there", while Carey claimed in separate interviews that it would "definitely" be released in 2018. In February 2018, Jones revealed that Keenan was working on lyrics for the album, and that the band would begin recording in March. In June 2018, during his acceptance speech for the Icon Award at the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards, Keenan stated "I'll go on record now saying you're gonna see some new music next year."


title: Tool (band)

text: On September 11, 2018, Keenan announced via Twitter that production on the record was progressing and that vocals had been written, before suggesting a 2019 release. In January 2019, Keenan announced that he had completed recording his vocals for the album "months ago." While Carey mentioned aiming for a mid-April release date, Keenan later explained that between May and July was a more realistic time frame to wrap up production and release the album. On May 5, 2019, the band debuted two new songs live at the Welcome to Rockville Festival in Jacksonville, Florida called "Descending" and "Invincible". Three days later, it was confirmed that the band's new album is scheduled to be released on August 30, 2019. On July 29, 2019, Keenan confirmed the album would be titled "Fear Inoculum". The album's title track was released as a single on August 7, the band's first release in 13 years.


title: Tool (band)

text: On August 2, the entirety of Tool's discography (with the exception of "Salival") became available on digital streaming platforms. Tool was one of the last major holdouts to release their music digitally, as their record deal was signed before the rise in streaming and not revisited until before "Fear Inoculum". The release of the discography online resulted in every release re-charting on several international charts and the band breaking several "Billboard" chart records. "Fear Inoculum" was officially launched on August 30 and became their third U.S. number one.


title: Tool (band)

text: On January 26, 2020 the band won the Best Metal Performance for their song "7empest" at the 62nd Grammy Awards Their other nomination, the song "Fear Inoculum" lost the Best Rock Song category to Gary Clark Jr.


title: Tool (band)

text: In June 2020, the band announced that it will cancel its upcoming 2020 North American tour entirely, after initially postponing a handful of dates due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The following August, Carey noted that the band had entered a hiatus, but that he still hoped they would reconvene in the future to record an EP, which the band would have more freedom in releasing due to no longer being signed to a record label. On October 27, 2020, an instrumental song titled "The Witness" was released featuring Jones, Chancellor, and Carey, and featuring production from Barresi, though the song was credited to Jones, not the band itself.


title: Tool (band)

text: "Opiate" was re-recorded and released as "Opiate²" or "Opiate Squared" on March 1, 2022. It is almost twice as long as the original and includes the same lyrics as the live version, plus the extended instrumental midsection. A music video directed by Dominic Hailstone was released on March 18, 2022, to commemorate the EP's 30th anniversary. Carey mentioned in the same month that the band has been working on new material for their sixth studio album: "I'm sure it won't take us this long for the next one. We even had some stuff left over from the last one that we'll develop. We have head starts on three or four new songs."


title: Tool (band)

text: Tool's musical style has been described as alternative metal, art rock, post-metal, progressive rock, progressive metal, and heavy metal. Tool was described by Patrick Donovan of "The Age" as "the thinking person's metal band. Cerebral and visceral, soft and heavy, melodic and abrasive, tender and brutal, familiar and strange, western and eastern, beautiful and ugly, taut yet sprawling and epic, they are a tangle of contradictions." Tool has gained critical praise from the "International Herald Tribune"s C.B. Liddell for their complex and ever-evolving sound. Describing their general sound, AllMusic refers to them as "grinding, post-Jane's Addiction heavy metal", and "The New York Times" sees similarities to "Led Zeppelin's heaving, battering guitar riffs and Middle Eastern modes". Their 2001 work "Lateralus" was compared by Allmusic to Pink Floyd's "Meddle" (1971), but thirty years later and altered by "Tool's impulse to cram every inch of infinity with hard guitar meat and absolute dread". Tool had been labelled as post-metal in 1993 and 1996, as well as in 2006, after the term came into popularity. A component of Tool's song repertoire relies on the use of unusual time signatures. For instance, Chancellor describes the time signature employed on the first single from "Lateralus", "Schism", as "six" and "six-and-a-half" and that it later "goes into all kinds of other times". Further examples include the album's title track, which also displays shifting rhythms, as do "10,000 Days": "Wings for Marie (Pt 1)" and "10,000 Days (Wings Pt 2)"."


title: Tool (band)

text: Beyond this aspect of the band's sound, each band member experiments within his wide musical scope. "Bass Player" magazine described Chancellor's bass playing as having a "thick midrange tone, guitar-style techniques, and elastic versatility". As an example of this, the magazine mentioned the use of a wah effect by hammering "the notes with the left hand and using the bass's tone controls to get a tone sweep", such as on the song "The Patient", from "Lateralus".


title: Tool (band)

text: Completing the band's rhythm section, drummer Carey uses polyrhythms, tabla-style techniques, and the incorporation of custom electronic drum pads to trigger samples, such as prerecorded tabla and octoban sounds.


title: Tool (band)

text: Keenan's ability as a vocalist has been characterized more subjectively by the "Seattle Post-Intelligencer": After his performance during an Alice in Chains reunion concert in 2005, freelancer Travis Hay saw him as "a natural fit at replacing Layne Staley". Regarding his role in A Perfect Circle and Tool, "The New York Times" wrote that "both groups rely on Mr. Keenan's ability to dignify emotions like lust, anger and disgust, the honey in his voice adding a touch of profundity".


title: Tool (band)

text: According to "Guitar Player" magazine, Jones does not rely on any one particular guitar-playing technique but rather combines many techniques. For example, Allmusic wrote that he "alternately utiliz[es] power chords, scratchy noise, chiming arpeggios, and a quiet minimalism" in "Sober". Additionally, the band uses forms of instrumental experimentation, like the use of a "pipe bomb microphone" (a guitar pickup mounted inside a brass cylinder) and a talk box guitar solo on "Jambi".


title: Tool (band)

text: The band puts an emphasis on the sound of their songs and attempts to reduce the effect lyrics can have on the perception of songs by not releasing song lyrics with their albums, although they eventually released the lyrics for "Fear Inoculum" for that album's CD. Lyrical arrangements are often given special attention, such as in "Lateralus". The number of syllables per line in the lyrics to "Lateralus" correspond to an arrangement of the Fibonacci numbers and the song "Jambi" uses and makes a reference to the common metrical foot iamb. The lyrics on "Ænima" and "Lateralus" focus on philosophy and spirituality—specific subjects range from organized religion in "Opiate", to evolution and Jungian psychology in "Forty-Six & 2" and transcendence in "Lateralus". On "10,000 Days", Keenan wanted to explore issues more personal to him: the album name and title track refer to the twenty-seven years during which his mother suffered from complications of a stroke until her death in 2003.


title: Tool (band)

text: In 1997, Tool named King Crimson, Melvins, and Peter Gabriel's "Passion" as common influences on its development. In describing their wide range of styles, critics have noted that they are "influenced as much by Pink Floyd as by the Sex Pistols." In a 1993 interview, Adam Jones mentioned Joni Mitchell, King Crimson, Depeche Mode, and country music as being among their inspirations. In 1997, Maynard James Keenan named "Hejira" by Joni Mitchell, "Holy Money"/"Greed" by Swans, "Physical Graffiti" by Led Zeppelin, "Red" by King Crimson, and "Passion" by Peter Gabriel as his five favorite records. Danny Carey cited Bill Bruford and Alan White of Yes as his two biggest rock influences, in addition to Bruford's adventurousness in electronic drums. In the same way, Jones stated that Robert Fripp's performances with King Crimson caused him to "wake up" to music as a teen. Furthermore, he acknowledged the other King Crimson guitarists, Adrian Belew and Trey Gunn, along with Buzz Osborne from the Melvins, as his biggest influences.


title: Tool (band)

text: Tool have constantly expressed the massive impact that progressive rock pioneers King Crimson have had on their music; on a 2001 tour with them, Keenan joked: "Now you know who we ripped off. Just don't tell anyone, especially the members of King Crimson." Carey said that listening to the "Discipline" album upon its 1981 release "revolutionized" his musical perspective in terms of polyrhythms and the balance between the instruments. In 1997, Keenan explained how the composition process of Tool reflected that of King Crimson: "They're very much into listening to each other; even though they might have a basic structure that they're following, it's about fitting themselves in with each other." Contrary to these statements, longtime King Crimson member Robert Fripp has downplayed any influence his band had on Tool. In an interview, Fripp touched on how the two bands relate to each other, stating "Do you hear the influence? There's just one figure where I hear an influence, just one. It was a piece we were developing that we dropped. And it's almost exactly the same figure: three note arpeggio with a particular accent from the guitar. So I do not think you could have heard it. That's the only thing." He also said,


title: Tool (band)

text: The band's long build-ups of intensity were largely inspired by the Melvins. The latter's influence on Tool is most explicit in "Undertow", and some authors have described Tool's music as a progressive take on Melvins. On the other hand, Keenan's exotic modulations were influenced by world music; in his twenties, the singer was immersed in that type of music, thus when Peter Gabriel reunited several musicians whom Keenan already knew of for "The Last Temptation of Christ" soundtrack, which mixed their traditional styles with modern ambient music, it became a major revelation for him.


title: Tool (band)

text: Other reported influences of Tool include Fantômas, Devo, Bill Hicks, Rush, Helmet, Faith No More, Bauhaus, Meshuggah, David Bowie, Mike Patton, Dave Lombardo, and Jane's Addiction.


title: Tool (band)

text: Writers HP Newquist and Rich Maloof attribute to Tool an influence on modern metal in their book "The New Metal Masters". Sean Richardson of "The Boston Phoenix" sees System of a Down, Deftones, and Korn as examples of Tool's "towering influence" on the genre. Keenan's unique style of singing has been seen as heavily influencing artists such as Pete Loeffler of Chevelle, Benjamin Burnley of Breaking Benjamin, Will Martin of Earshot, and Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit.


title: Tool (band)

text: Part of Tool's work as a band is to incorporate influences of other works of art in their music videos, live shows, and album packaging. Adam Jones doubles as the band's art director and director of their music videos. Another expression of this is an official website "dedicated to the arts and influences" on the band.


title: Tool (band)

text: The band has released eight music videos but made personal appearances in only the first two, which the band states is to prevent people from "latching onto the personalities involved rather than listening to the music." With the exception of "Hush" and "Vicarious" all of Tool's music videos feature stop motion animation to some extent. The videos are created primarily by Adam Jones, often in collaboration with artists such as Chet Zar, Alex Grey, and Osseus Labyrint.


title: Tool (band)

text: The "Sober" music video in particular attracted much attention. Jones explained that it does not contain a storyline, but that his intentions were to summon personal emotions with its imagery. "Rolling Stone" described this imagery as "evil little men dwell in a dark dungeon with meat coursing through pipes in the wall" and called it a "groundbreaking", "epic" clip. "Billboard" voted it "Best Video by a New Artist".


title: Tool (band)

text: The video for "Vicarious" was released on DVD on December 18, 2007. The video is the first by Tool to be produced entirely through the use of CGI.


title: Tool (band)

text: Jones is responsible for most of the band's artwork concepts. Their album "Undertow" features a ribcage sculpture by Jones on its cover and photos contributed by the band members. Later albums included artwork by collaborating artists: "Ænima" and "Salival" featured works by Cam de Leon; "Lateralus" and "10,000 Days" were created with the help of Alex Grey. The releases garnered positive critical reception, with a music journalist of the Associated Press attributing to the band a reputation for innovative album packaging.


title: Tool (band)

text: Both "Ænima" and "10,000 Days" were nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Recording Package, but while the former failed to win in 1997, the latter did win in 2007. Jones created packaging for "10,000 Days" that features a pair of stereoscopic lenses for viewing 3-D artwork and photos. Jones, a lifelong fan of stereoscopic photography, wanted the packaging to be unique and to reflect the 1970s artwork he appreciates. The CD packaging for "Fear Inoculum" included a rechargeable 4 inch HD video screen and a speaker which played a hidden track along with a video when opened and also included a 36-page booklet.


title: Tool (band)

text: Following their first tours in the early 1990s, Tool has performed as a headline act in world tours and major festivals such as Lollapalooza (1997 and 2009), Coachella (1999 and 2006), Voodoo Fest (2001 and 2016), Download Festival (2006 and 2019), Roskilde (2001 and 2006), Big Day Out (2007 and 2011), Bonnaroo (2007 and 2022), All Points West Music & Arts Festival (2009), and Epicenter (2009). They have been joined on stage by numerous artists such as Buzz Osborne and Scott Reeder on several occasions; Tom Morello and Zack de la Rocha during their 1991 tour; Layne Staley in Hawaii, 1993; Tricky, Robert Fripp, Mike Patton, Dave Lombardo, Brann Dailor of Mastodon, and experimental arts duo Osseus Labyrint during their 2001–02 "Lateralus" tour; and Kirk Hammett, Phil Campbell, Serj Tankian, and Tom Morello during their 2006–07 tour. They have covered songs by Led Zeppelin, Ted Nugent, Peach, Kyuss, the Dead Kennedys, and the Ramones.


title: Tool (band)

text: Live shows on Tool's headline tour incorporate an unorthodox stage setting and video display. Keenan and Carey line up in the back on elevated platforms, while Jones and Chancellor stand in the front, toward the sides of the stage. Keenan often faces the backdrop or the sides of the stage rather than the audience. No followspots or live cameras are used; instead, the band employs extensive backlighting to direct the focus away from the band members and toward large screens in the back and the crowd. Breckinridge Haggerty, the band's live video designer, says that the resulting dark spaces on stage "are mostly for Maynard". He explains, "[a] lot of the songs are a personal journey for him and he has a hard time with the glare of the lights when he's trying to reproduce these emotions for the audience. He needs a bit of personal space, and he feels more comfortable in the shadows." The big screens are used to play back "looped clips that aren't tracked to a song like a music video. The band has never used any sort of timecode. They’ve always made sure the video can change on-the-fly, in a way that can be improvised. ... The show is never the same twice." During the "10,000 Days" tour, the video material consisted of over six hours of material, created by Jones, his wife Camella Grace, Chet Zar, Meats Meier, and Haggerty. Some of the material created by Zar has been released on his DVD "Disturb the Normal".


title: Luke Hemsworth

text: Luke Hemsworth (born 5 November 1980) is an Australian actor who is known for his roles as Nathan Tyson in the TV series "Neighbours" and as Ashley Stubbs in the HBO sci-fi series "Westworld".


title: Luke Hemsworth

text: Hemsworth was born in Melbourne, the eldest son of Leonie ("" van Os), an English teacher and Craig Hemsworth, a social services counselor. His younger brothers are actors Chris and Liam Hemsworth. His maternal grandfather is a Dutch immigrant and his other ancestry is English, Irish, Scottish and German.


title: Luke Hemsworth

text: Hemsworth trained in acting at the National Institute of Dramatic Art. In 2001, he started his career on the Australian soap opera "Neighbours" as Nathan Tyson. Mainly a television actor, Hemsworth has appeared in TV series such as "The Saddle Club", "Blue Heelers", "Last Man Standing", "All Saints", "Satisfaction" and "Westworld." In 2012, he starred in the six part miniseries "" as Gregory "Shadow" Campbell. He is set to star in the upcoming Australian war film "The 34th Battalion" as Robinson. He played the character Caleb Duran in the 2019 film "Crypto", which follows the life of a family that gets embroiled in a crypto conspiracy involving Russian mafia.


title: The Grand Budapest Hotel

text: The Grand Budapest Hotel is a 2014 comedy-drama film written and directed by Wes Anderson. Ralph Fiennes leads a seventeen-actor ensemble cast as Monsieur Gustave H., famed concierge of a twentieth-century mountainside resort in the fictional Eastern European country of Zubrowka. When Gustave is framed for the murder of a wealthy dowager (Tilda Swinton), he and his recently befriended protégé Zero (Tony Revolori) embark on a quest for fortune and a priceless Renaissance painting amidst the backdrop of an encroaching fascist regime. Anderson's American Empirical Pictures produced the film in association with Studio Babelsberg, Fox Searchlight Pictures, and Indian Paintbrush's Scott Rudin and Steven Rales. Fox Searchlight supervised the commercial distribution, and "The Grand Budapest Hotel"s funding was sourced through Indian Paintbrush and German government-funded tax rebates.


title: The Grand Budapest Hotel

text: Anderson and longtime collaborator Hugo Guinness conceived "The Grand Budapest Hotel" as a fragmented tale following a character inspired by a common friend. They initially struggled in their brainstorming, but the experience touring Europe and researching the literature of Austrian novelist Stefan Zweig shaped their vision for the film. "The Grand Budapest Hotel" draws visually from Europe-set mid-century Hollywood films and the Library of Congress's photochrom print collection of alpine resorts. Filming took place in eastern Germany from January to March 2013. French composer Alexandre Desplat composed the symphonic, Russian folk-inspired score, which expanded on his early work with Anderson. The film explores themes of fascism, nostalgia, friendship, and loyalty, and further studies emphasize the function of color as an important storytelling device.


title: The Grand Budapest Hotel

text: "The Grand Budapest Hotel" premiered in competition at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival on February 6, 2014. The French theatrical release on February 26 preceded the film's global rollout, followed by releases in Germany, North America, and the United Kingdom on March 6–7. "The Grand Budapest Hotel" received widespread critical acclaim for its craftsmanship, acting, cinematography, editing, costumes, makeup, production design, direction, musical score, visuals, screenplay and comedy; occasional criticism centered on the film's approach to the subject matter, fragmented storytelling, and characterization. It earned $172.9 million in box office revenue worldwide, Anderson's highest-grossing feature to date. The film was nominated for nine awards at the 87th Academy Awards, winning four, and received numerous other accolades.


title: The Grand Budapest Hotel

text: In a cemetery in the former nation of Zubrowka, a young woman visits the shrine of a renowned writer, known simply as "Author", reading his most-cherished book: "The Grand Budapest Hotel". The book, written in 1985, recounts his 1968 vacation at the once-grand, then-drab hotel. There, he meets its owner, Zero Moustafa, who at dinner tells his rags to riches story.


title: The Grand Budapest Hotel

text: In 1932, Zero is the newly hired lobby boy at the prestigious Grand Budapest Hotel. Monsieur Gustave H., the hotel's fastidious concierge, seduces old, wealthy clients, including the 84-year-old dowager Madame D., with whom he has had a nearly two-decade affair. She mysteriously dies a month after her last hotel visit. Gustave and Zero visit Madame's Schloss Lutz estate, where they encounter surviving relatives for the reading of her will by her attorney Deputy Vilmos Kovacs. Kovacs announces a recent codicil to the will which bequeaths "Boy with Apple", a priceless Renaissance painting, to Gustave. Madame D's son, Dmitri, is outraged and demands Gustave's arrest. Gustave and Zero leave, absconding with the painting, hiding it within the Grand Budapest.


title: The Grand Budapest Hotel

text: Gustave is later arrested by Inspector Henckels under the suspicion of Madame D's murder. He befriends a gang during his imprisonment and provides them with pastry from Mendl's, a well known bakery. One day, one of Gustave's cellmates, Ludwig, tells Gustave and the rest of the prisoners about his deep knowledge of the prison and how to exploit its weaknesses to escape, namely via a storm-drain sewage system. Gustave is then convinced to join the prison break. Gustave has Zero place hammers, chisels and sawblades inside pastries made by Agatha, an apprentice baker at Mendl's and Zero's fiancée. Because the pastries from Mendl’s are well-known work-of-art, the guard who is in charge of checking outside foods for contraband is unable to bring himself to break open the pastries to check for content, enabling the pastries to pass through security check.


title: The Grand Budapest Hotel

text: During the process of escaping, Gustave and the convicts stumble upon a group of guards secretly gambling during the night. Günther, one of the escape party, is able to kill them all with a shiv but loses his life in the process. In the end, the rest of the group manages to escape and disperse. When Zero and Gustave are reunited, they set out to prove Gustave's innocence with the assistance of a fraternity of concierges known as 'the Society of the Crossed Keys'. They learn that Madame D had a missing second will which would only take effect should she be murdered. Dmitri's hired assassin J. G. Jopling trails their whereabouts, murdering Kovacs, Madame D.'s butler Serge X, and Serge X's sister in his pursuit to kill Gustave. Following a chase, Zero pushes Jopling off a cliff to save Gustave, and the two men continue their escape from swarming Zubrowkan troops led by Henckels.


title: The Grand Budapest Hotel

text: Gustave, Zero, and Agatha arrive back at the Grand Budapest to find it converted into a military headquarters following the outbreak of war. Agatha sneaks in to retrieve "Boy with Apple," but is spotted with the painting by Dmitri. Gustave and Zero rush to save Agatha from harm as she flees from Dmitri. He shoots at them and initiates a melee with Zubrowkan troops, which Henckels stops. Agatha's attempt to escape leaves her and Zero hanging from a balcony before safely falling into the van of pastries in which they came.


title: The Grand Budapest Hotel

text: Madame D's second will, making Gustave the beneficiary of her fortune, is found attached to the back of "Boy with Apple"; he succeeds her as owner of the Grand Budapest Hotel, and becomes one of the wealthiest Zubrowkans. He travels by train with the now-wed Zero and Agatha to celebrate, before encountering hostile soldiers that destroy Zero's refugee documents. Gustave tries to fend off the soldiers but is killed. Zero inherits his fortune and maintains the Grand Budapest in memory of Agatha, who died of flu with their infant son.


title: The Grand Budapest Hotel

text: Other cast members included Larry Pine as Mr. Mosher, Milton Welsh as Franz Müller, Giselda Volodi as Serge's sister, Wolfram Nielacny as Herr Becker, Florian Lukas as Pinky, Karl Markovics as Wolf, Volker Michalowski as Günther, Neal Huff as Lieutenant, Bob Balaban as M. Martin, Fisher Stevens as M. Robin, Wallace Wolodarsky as M. Georges, Waris Ahluwalia as M. Dino, Jella Niemann as the young woman, and Lucas Hedges as a pump attendant.