ok philly was the best of the 6 shows so far this leg. with 3 more to go i have high hopes for toronto. but yeah. this was definitely the best.
first off, we headed to wachovia spectrum at eleven stopping for lunch by eastern state on the way. when we got to the arena at noon it didn’t look good for us getting into soundcheck – rumor was only about 50 people got let in each show. met a few cool people, all of which were going to wilkes-barre sunday too. since it seemed that people kept cutting into line the whole afternoon we made a deal that we’ll all try to get there at 9 tomorrow and whoever gets there first we can go in line with them. plus the one couple are staying across the street too so we’ll have a bathroom etc.
around 4 everyone got let into the arena for soundcheck, SCORE!! we were all seated in the back of the seats to wait for things to get set up. various band members came on stage and were doing their thing. aaron started playing “eye of the tiger” so everyone clapped, being in philadelphia and all haha. trent came out and it was just really really cool to see. cuz he was just walking around playing the guitar as opposed to performing (and it IS different). they started playing “dead souls”!! half way through they let us out of the seats and up front to the barrier. so friggen cool. from “dead souls” they went into “the frail/the wretched” which is always rocking whether the lights are on or off. then shock of shocks, they did “a request for this old classic”….deep!!! omg never expected that. very very cool. after trent commented to remind his light guy to fix the super mario look of the lighting. they finished up with “wish”. lemme tell you, soundcheck was just so cool. such a great thing to do for the people who have stuck around the last 5 years, and yeah. just in awe. trent was very humble, thanking everyone, and stating how doing soundcheck with everyone was much more intimidating with the lights on and them all exposed and naked on stage. and every girl and probably a lot of guys wished that was really so hahaha.
they had let a lot of people in for soundcheck, so there was no meet and greet. we were sent back to the seats to wait til 6:30 to go back on the floor again. let me tell you, philly was the most entertaining of shows. we had a couple sitting in front of us, who suddenly out of no where apparently started fighting (it was hard to tell) and the girl starts crying cuz the guy broke up with her. so then it was like an hour of her crying and asking why he was mad at her, and just really funny shit. the people behind us kept making cracks about their fight etc, which was hilarious. one of them and i both took the girls picture as she cried on our phone hahahaha. and trust me, it wasn’t mean. they were ridiculous. “i hate you so much i want you far far away from me i never want to see you again, i can’t believe you broke up with me at a nine inch nails concert.” haha
so finally we were let back onto the floor. they did it sort of disorganized like but it was ok. ended up…one back, aaron’s side haha. i mentioned after the show that we HAVE to go to jeordie’s side next show cuz i’m getting a stiff neck from looking in the same direction so many times. suffered through dfa1979 and the queens. i don’t know how i managed the first 3 times seeing them without ear plugs. wow i just so dislike them, almost to the point of hate. only 3 more times…
so nin was incredible. being crushed is seriously the only way to see a nin show. being up front and not getting crushed is nice but it really is not the way to experience the show. there’s nothing like it. opening was the same. but we got “something we can never have” again, plus “dead souls” for real which we weren’t expecting (they had done the song at NYC soundcheck but not at the show), and “even deeper”. no reptile, but that’s ok. i got drenched with water that trent threw at aaron. felt good that’s for sure.
1. pinion
2. love is not enough
3. you know what you are?
4. terrible lie
5. the line begins to blur
6. march of the pigs
7. something i can never have
8. the frail
9. the wretched
10. closer
11. burn
12. gave up
13. eraser
14. right where it belongs
15. beside you in time
16. the collector
17. wish
18. only
19. even deeper
20. dead souls
21. suck
22. hurt
23. the hand that feeds
24. head like a hole
there was this drug addict next to me before the show started, seriously he was on acid, who kept leaning on me cuz he couldn’t stand. i shoved him and told him to get the fuck off me, so he called me a bitch. well he got off me. then later i ended up behind this guy who was at barrier and didn’t move or do a damn thing the whole show. so i made it a point to try to hurt him as much as i could during “the hand that feeds” and i think i succeeded cuz he moved his hand to right where i was punching him in the kidney. ha score! my shoulder is way fucked up right now from the very last crowd surfer who came over during “head like a hole”. it hurts reaaaaaally bad, as does the side of my neck. it’s making me feel sick.
so the people of philly continued to be entertaining even as we left, as a car in the parking lot would only let us in front of them if adr2 sang with the song they were blasting…”jack and diane” LOL they let us in anyway.
so yeah. definitely best show so far. off to wilkes-barre now. more tomorrow!