Just days after two TOOL tour dates appeared and then mysteriously vanished on Ticketmaster’s web site, the band has officially unveiled the first batch of shows for a 2012 winter tour. The dates begin on January 14 in Reno, Nevada, with 11 more shows confirmed so far. It is unknown how long the tour will run for, since singer Maynard James Keenan starts another trek with his musical lounge act PUSCIFER on February 23rd in Austin, Texas.

TOOL last hit the road in mid-2010 for a short run of summer gigs.

The band has reportedly been writing material for its long-awaited new album, which would follow up 2006’s “10,000 Days”.

A report that they had entered the studio to begin recording turned out to be a joke on the part of the group’s webmaster. The recording was actually being done for a side project of drummer Danny Carey.

Keenan has been touring with PUSCIFER behind its second album, “Conditions Of My Parole”, and also did some shows with A PERFECT CIRCLE in the past year.

While he enjoys performing, Keenan told The Pulse Of Radio not long ago that he’s not into the travel. “If I could do something that would get the music out there and get the performances out there in a way that didn’t require me leaving home, I would for sure do it,” he said. “Soon as they invent an affordable holographic projection of touring, I’m all over it (laughs). A simultaneous performance all across the country, one night, but you stay in one spot and it’s holographic — I’m in.”

Newly announced TOOL tour dates (subject to change):

Jan. 14 – Reno, NV – Reno Events Center

Jan. 15 – Las Vegas, NV – Mandalay Bay Events Center
Jan. 17 – Tucson, AZ – Tucson Arena

Jan. 18 – Albuquerque, NM – Tingley Coliseum

Jan. 20 – Grand Prairie, TX – Verizon Theatre

Jan. 24 – Toledo, OH – Huntington Center

Jan. 25 – Toronto, ON – Air Canada Centre

Jan. 26 – London, ON – John Labatt Centre

Jan. 28 – Boston, MA – TD Garden

Jan. 29 – Camden, NJ – Susquehanna Bank Center

Jan. 31 – Uncasville, CT – Mohegan Sun Arena

Feb. 08 – Duluth, GA – Gwinnett Arena

Source: www.blabbermouth.net