memories of 5 years touring….1 year later

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a year ago today was my last nine inch nails show. having met a new nin-friend at work, i’ve been thinking and talking about nin alot lately, and i thought i should get my favourite memories down somewhere. 51 shows later, here’s what i remember…

2000

fragility toronto – i wish i could remember more about this show, but it WAS 10 years ago…it was the most beautiful stage show ever. perfect visuals, great setlist, and i remember trent coming on stage and thinking this was the most beautiful man in the world. black lipstick all over his face and everything 🙂

2005

reno – i invited a virtual stranger to go across the country with me to see our favourite band. and she turned into one of my best friends ever. we had amazing line conversations with awesome people, and “new” guitarist aaron north walked by us with a pizza and we didn’t know who he was. too hyped up to go to bed we drove around reno and got lost in the never ending suburb from hell LOL.

toronto club shows 1 & 2 – still top my list as the best shows i’ve seen. everything about them, from having to get back in line cuz i had the wrong ticket, but still getting to the rail, the crush, the heat, the injuries, being at a 45 degree angle but still not falling down…it was what nin shows should be. only days after With Teeth was released, everyone knew the words, club shows mean true fans in attendance. adrienne2 got hit in the head with a tambourine, and we didn’t see any tambourines again until much later in the year haha

philadelphia club shows 1 & 2 – after the first 2 club shows, we couldn’t NOT go to philly. scalped tickets on ebay, drove to the show. too injured from the week before we rocked out at the soundboard both nights. people stared as we were the only ones who knew the lyrics to “home”. amazing aftershow conversation about why the band ended the set early, to go to see the new star wars (which turned out to be true!), and a 2 hour search for a hotel room (not fun!). and a trent freakout because his guitar stopped working (“something’s gonna get broken!!”)

philly/wilkes-barre – en route after the philly show to wilkes-barre for the next show, we accidentally left bliss at the gas station. good thing we were only driving across the parking lot to the convenience store! adr2 and bliss met cassie and beth, who became line buddies the following spring.

toronto – everyone assumed this was our last show. trent wasn’t known for touring for years anymore. we joked around that we had to go to all the shows we could, because it would be another 5 years before trent put out another album, and by then i’d be 30 and who knows where i’d be (LOL!)…little did we know.

san luis obispo – yes i flew across country, spent more time en route than actually IN california, huge delays in Dallas/Ft Worth because it “snowed”, and missing my connection, greaaaat… but a spur of the moment “club” show, couldn’t miss it. again, assumed it to be my last show.

2006

cincinatti – what else is there to be said about this show except adrienne2 caught aaron’s guitar. 🙂

erie – pilgrimage to Mercer! met sarah for the first time, though we didn’t really know it, and it was the only show i got pulled from the crowd.

rochester – i know that the only people who believe me when i say this are adrienne1, adrienne2, amira, cassie and maybe eric….but…trent played this show TO us. the only show where all of us were at the rail directly in front of trent. the whole show he gave us so much attention, including my one and only “piggy” moment. trent came off the stage directly to me, grabbed my hand and for the rest of the song i had my face smooshed up against his stomach. i was not complaining. “the wretched” was a highlight, and then of course “everyday is exactly the same”, trent came to the edge of the stage and threw the tambourine directly to me. not lying or exaggerating, it was not even a throw, it was a lob, right to me. there was no way anyone else could have even tried to get it, it was that direct to me. adr2 threw me over the rail so i wouldn’t get beat up and the guard looked completely confused as to why i’d want to leave. amazing. top of the list of shows for sure.

las vegas – again, supposed to be my last show.

summer ampitheatres – too hot, too much driving, great setlists. the smallest pit ever in saratoga, and my birthday show in columbus.

2007

flying to europe, sitting in JFK with alex watching “beside you in time” on my laptop. awesome.

london – “year zero” listening party complete with tea and crumpets. getting the first half of The Downward Spiral in order. awesome awesome setlists with songs i never thought i’d hear.

brussels – at my 33rd show i finally met trent reznor. the “spiral line” was invited into the venue for sound check followed by a meet and greet. nervous as hell i managed not to throw up on trent, actually speak to him, and get a hug. i do admit tho i had to go to the bar next door after and do some shots hahaha.

2008

strangely i don’t have alot of memories about the Lights In The Sky tour…

toledo – the show was in a convention center, and all the stage equipment didn’t fit so we got a slightly different show than the others of the tour.

atlantic city – another club show? hell yes. i refunded my ticket to the rescheduled worchester ma show to be able to go to atlantic city, and i had to go by myself but a stripped down small show is always worth it. while we didn’t get anything strange or acoustic like people were expecting, we did get special guest Peter Murphy on “reptile”, and during the course of the show Trent’s security dude stuck a tambourine in my hand for no reason LOL i asked him about it in hamilton, and he said people were fighting for it when trent threw it, so he took it away from them and decided to give it to someone he had seen before.

2009

toronto (again) – a duck ate my muffin. i finally got to see “the fragile” live, which was more than appropriate for ending my nin touring. this was my last show

except it wasn’t – pittsburgh – last minute decision to get lawn seats, which we found out we could upgrade once we got in for $10, score. really, my last show.

except it still wasn’t – trent unhappy with his last shows being during the day light as an opener for jane’s addiction (DUH!!!!!!!) he added a series of “wave goodbye” club shows. i tried to get tickets for NYC, the bowery being a 400 person club, but i had to settle for Chicago. still pretty awesome. invited Sarah to go along with me. she fiiiiiinallly got to see “the wretched” so it was all worth it. super long sets, with special guest Peter Murphy (again) which I could have done without. still pissed off about how badly he screwed up “reptile” since it’s the last time i’ll ever see it. really, seriously, my last 2 shows.

so like some nin fans, i can’t say that he “saved my life” as i was never holding the proverbial gun to my head, but he certainly changed it. i’ve met some of my best friends ever in the queue, i’ve traveled places i never would have, had amazing conversations and had some seriously good times. there is no where else i feel as at home, and as much “myself” as at a show with other people who “get it”. some people think i’m nuts to have gone to so many shows, and sometimes i agree, but in the end there is nothing else i would have rather done.

Posted in: Concerts, Nine Inch Nails, Personal \ Tagged: ,

dream

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dream: nine inch nails had performed on the daily show years ago, it was to introduce twiggy as bass player to the world, but robin was still in the band too. don’t know which song they played but by the end of it they were covered in soap suds and robin looked really cute. then jon stewart comes out to remind the world they have a cd out…a cd titled “we just got engaged” by phil collins and nine inch nails….which was actually part of one of the nin hotline’s april fools day pranks (tho not in real life, who would ever believe nin plus phil collins LOL).

Posted in: Dreams \ Tagged: ,

nin tour song stats

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there exists a site (nintourhistory.com) that makes counting how many times i saw certain nin songs alot easier than me going through all my setlists. so this didn’t cut and paste very well but here it is. btw, i changed 2 of them because the site has the Erie setlist wrong, they list march of the pigs twice instead of mr.self destruct so i fixed those 2 numbers.

Total Shows Attended 51
Total Unique Songs Seen Performed 97
Total Songs Seen Performed 1181

1 Ghosts I 2
1,000,000 11
17 Ghosts II 3
19 Ghosts III 7
21 Ghosts III 1
25 Ghosts III 1
31 Ghosts IV 7
5 Ghosts I 6
6 Ghosts I 1
8 Ghosts I 2
999,999 8
Atmosphere (Joy Division cover) 1
Banged And Blown Through (Saul Williams cover) 1
Beside You In Time 17
Burn 39
Closer 48
Complication 1
Corona Radiata 1
Dead Souls 13
Deep 2
Discipline 11
Down In It 9
Echoplex 10
Eraser 26
Even Deeper 12
Every Day Is Exactly The Same 7
Final Solution (Pere Ubu cover) 2
Gave Up 48
Get Down, Make Love 2
Getting Smaller 2
God Given 8
Gone, Still 2
Head Down 9
Head Like A Hole 51
Help Me I Am In Hell 15
Heresy 8
Home 6
Hurt 50
I Do Not Want This 3
I’m Afraid Of Americans (David Bowie cover) 3
In This Twilight 7
Into The Void 9
Just Like You Imaged 1
Kick In The Eye (Bauhaus cover) 1
La Mer 12
Last 7
Letting You 10
Lights In The Sky 1
Love Is Not Enough 17
March of the Pigs 51
Me, I’m Not 2
Meet Your Master 1
Metal 3
Mr. Self Destruct 10
No, You Don’t 8
Non-Entity 7
Now I’m Nothing 1
Only 40
Piggy 23
Pilgrimage 4
Pinion 27
Please 1
Reptile 22
Right Where It Belongs 15
Right Where It Belongs V2 1
Ruiner 4
Sin 13
Something I Can Never Have 20
Somewhat Damaged 11
Starfuckers, Inc. 8
Strange Kind Of Love (Peter Murphy cover) 1
Suck 33
Survivalism 22
Terrible Lie 44
The Becoming 3
The Beginning Of The End 7
The Big Come Down 17
The Collector 8
The Day The World Went Away 7
The Downward Spiral 2
The Fragile 3
The Frail 32
The Good Soldier 6
The Great Below 1
The Great Destroyer 3
The Greater Good 7
The Hand That Feeds 48
The Line Begins To Blur 23
The Mark Has Been Made 1
The New Flesh / Pinion 3
The Warning 6
The Way Out Is Through 2
The Wretched 25
Vessel 5
Wish 51
With Teeth 5
You Know What You Are? 23

Wish and March of the Pigs was played at every show, Hurt at all but one.

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NIN Chicago – waving goodbye

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i swear my 2nd to last nin show ever….

sarah and i got to the venue around noon, finding it with no problem because it really was right next to the red line. made friends with the people around us in line, none of whom were actually from chicago. it was unreal how many people were from out of town. the venue was an old theatre/ballroom that had a pretty excellent decor – super gaudy castle looking. it was awesome.

mew opened. i guess they are from denmark. the music was sometimes alright but the vocals were not. overall not the worst opener trent has had, but i’d never listen to them.

nin…rail on the far right side, didn’t get touched the whole time, and had a nice view. they had a crew video taping the show. opened with pinion into wish into last. woo! once again during wish it hit me how awesome and powerful it is and how much i am going to miss that. it was great to hear last (at least) one more time, this time with robin playing. at this point i realized that david, who was in the mezzanine, was seeing a completely different band from the one he saw when we were in europe and that amused me haha. i can’t remember what was really played, the only nin song i hadn’t seen before was lights in the sky. they also played Saul Williams’ “banged and blown through”, which was really cool. then later in the set peter murphy made an apperance and from one of the balcony boxes sang a song i didn’t know which was apparently joy division. he then came down on stage for dead souls followed by one of peter’s songs. sometimes i enjoy peter sometimes not. i don’t really like hearing him sing nin songs, but the other songs are fine and fun. he looked awful though, too much makeup made him look like a clown. i was thankful that he didn’t sing reptile, because i’d rather not have my last time seeing reptile be with him singing it. we got full version of la mer, and the downward spiral was so kick ass again. it almost scared me when it kicked in. i did not cry at the fragile, but it kills me that trent has to collect himself before that song. long set with no encore, closed with hurt. blah. haha

Pinion
Wish
Last
Discipline
March
Something I Can Never Have
Frail
The Wretched
Closer
Terrible Lie
Head Down
Banged and Blown Through
Burn
Gave Up
La Mer
The Fragile
Non-Entity
Gone, Still
Lights In The Sky
Eraser
Downward Spiral
1000000
Letting You
Survivalism
Down In It
Atmosphere (Joy Division cover w/Peter Murphy)
Dead Souls w/Peter Murphy (he actually was good on this) Kick in the Eye (Bauhaus cover)
Hand That Feeds
Head Like A Hole
Hurt

last nin show ever…

i was in the exact same spot as friday lol. this show had more assholes in the crowd but it still wasn’t bad by me until the calm person next to me left the rail and this psycho jumper filled the spot. thankfully it was for only 5 songs or so. this time they opened with home, and played a completely different set. we got ruiner, which…holy crap robin!! robin is amazing. got metal, i’m afraid of americans, i do not want this, and the way out is through like the JA tour. peter murphy joined the band yet again, and destroyed reptile. that’s destroyed in a bad way. he started singing too soon, sang the same line twice, couldn’t hear him other parts, the whole thing was full of suck i couldn’t even get into the music which is a shame. when trent returns in 5 years he needs to stop playing reptile in chicago cuz it always sucks. the worst version of reptile ever was chicago oct 05, and this one was 2nd worse. peter murphy also sang a bauhaus song i didn’t know which went into bela lugosi’s dead, which at some point included trent playing a see through red recorder haha. and then they did final solution. (an aside there are constantly police/ambulance sirens going off in chicago). another long set, and closed with hurt again. i really didn’t want my last song to see to be hurt, but oh well. ppl seem to like that one 😛

Home
The Beginning of the End
Survivalism
Heresy
March of the Pigs
Piggy
Metal
Ruiner
I’m Afraid of Americans
Burn
Gave Up
La Mer
The Frail
I Do Not Want This
Gone, Still
Right Where it Belongs (v2)
The Way Out is Through
Wish
Mr. Self Destruct
Suck
Echoplex
The Good Soldier
Dead Souls
Reptile(w/ Peter Murphy)
Strange Kind of Love (with Peter Murphy)
Final Solution (with Peter Murphy)
The Hand That Feeds
Head Like a Hole
Hurt

i’m sadly not really in the mood to review the show. that’s all i can think of to say. too preoccupied with being pissed off at airlines charging me to get home early for mike’s wake. i don’t care if my ticket was purchased on priceline and has a non refundable policy, there should be some fucking exceptions.

i did enjoy both shows tho, despite STILL not seeing “physical”, it really was my last realistic request. trent seemed really happy, and at the 2nd show he stated they were not quitting making music, that all of them combined and on their own would have more projects that he’d keep everyone updated on, and to not kill ourselves yet hahahahah. oddly in a way, i think the song i’m going to miss the most is “wish”. it is just soooo powerful live, such a great feeling. *sigh* thank you trent. it’s been a great ride.

*edit* i don’t remember “gone, still” in either set hahah

Posted in: Concerts, Nine Inch Nails \ Tagged: ,

wave goodbye

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08.22.09 – new york, ny – bowery ballroom (capacity 550)
08.23.09 – new york, ny – webster hall (capacity 1400-2500)
08.25.09 – new york, ny – terminal 5 (capacity 3000)
08.26.09 – new york, ny – terminal 5
08.28.09 – chicago, il – aragon ballroom
08.29.09 – chicago, il – aragon ballroom
09.02.09 – los angeles, ca – hollywood palladium
09.03.09 – los angeles, ca – henry fonda theater
09.05.09 – los angeles, ca – wiltern theatre
09.06.09 – los angeles, ca – echoplex

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dreams

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had multiple dreams about robin finck ha. first one he was working at hot topic during the down time when nin and gnr weren’t doing anything (most of the time ha) and we were talking and he was a tattoo artist (because hot topic was offering tattoos and piercings). we realized he was the one who tattooed me years ago in a detroit hot topic haha. we were going to go out for drink when he was done at work and i left to walk around the mall. when i got back to the store we were sleeping on one of the tester temperpedic beds out in the mall concourse (cuz apparently there were 2 of me). 2nd dream, robin was my date to the worlds largest disco which he was enjoying way too much, dancing to YMCA etc. during a break in music we were walking around and saw all these preppy people from high school, and i wanted to go walk by and talk to them to show them how awesome robin and i were. he was all excited about showing off hah

Posted in: Dreams \ Tagged: ,

NIN Pittsburgh 09

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my last nin show. no seriously it really really is. the last nin show in the US is tomorrow in NC and there’s no way I can make that.

adr2 bliss and i left for pittsburgh around 10:30, stopped at a mall in erie to get bliss some boots cuz she forgot hers (we all forgot a ton of stuff it seemed haha), and made it to bliss’s house to get her sister. adr2 and i stopped at a whole foods to get something to eat quick, back to get the girls, and off to the venue. we had lawn tickets and were paranoid about it raining (it was forecast to storm all day). while i was walking the line looking for sarah and jory, i ended up at the front not finding them (nin presale was already inside) and i asked a guard what the difference was between the 3 lines that were formed, and he said nothing, you can start another one right here. so i got the girls, and went back and started a brand new line. we got dirty looks, and it’s like, woah chill we have freaking LAWN tickets idiots. and you too could have started a new line…oddly, no one else followed us into this new line.

when doors finally opened, and we were one of the first in, i noticed a table set up next to a merch booth that was offering ticket upgrades (first come first serve). i went over and asked, for $10 each you could upgrade from lawn to a seating section, and they had various ones to choose from. we said, hell yes, and got 4 tickets together in section 6 row h, which turned out to be the equivalent of the front of the 200 section at most ampitheatres. we ended up behind the “box” seats, pretty much half way between the stage and the lawn where we would have been, and almost center. sweet!! quite an upgrade.

i counted this time, and street sweeper social club said their name, or that they were not a band but a social club, 21 times. TWENTY ONE, and they played a half hour. ridiculous.

the crowd filled in once nin came on, and opened with “home”…sort of a weird opener, but it was good. i’m glad i went, purely because we got to hear “somewhat damaged” one more time 🙂 sweet. that song is so powerful live. a few changes from the toronto set, but the middle set “rare” stuff was mostly the same. sadly we didn’t get “last” or “physical” because they did a single song (hurt) encore again. suck. as the instrumental, we got “the downward spiral” which was surprisingly kickass. the loud part was totally loud, and it just hit you with this wall of sound, it was pretty awesome. it was unexpected, because i really don’t think much about that song. when he introduced “the fragile” trent said, “pretend it’s dark out, this song works better in the dark”. and he paused and said he needed to get his head together. it was cute, and sad (to me, because of my relationship with that song). i said i wouldn’t cry again, and i didn’t, but that almost got me before the song even started lol.

Home
Somewhat Damaged
Terrible Lie
Discipline
March Of The Pigs
The Frail
Metal
I’m Afraid of Americans
The Becoming
Burn
Gave Up
The Fragile
I Do Not Want This
The Downward Spiral
Wish
Survivalism
Echoplex
The Hand That Feeds
Head Like a Hole
Hurt

jane’s was boring to me again. i sat through it, and the seat next to me was filled by this hippy kid. he bought me a beer for holding his seat for him…i told him i didn’t want it but he bought it anyway, and those things were expensive so i felt forced to drink some of it lol. later on he asked me why i wasn’t rockin out, and i said i didn’t like jane’s, he replied with oh you were here for nine inch nails, they’re like, heavy maaaaaan. LOL then some other guy who wasn’t sitting near us, asked me if i worked at children’s hospital…um no i live in buffalo, and he just stared at me and was like, oh you look like someone i know who works at children’s hospital. really? i’d never have guessed that.

and thank god we upgraded our tickets, because it pooooured during jane’s, and we would have been soaked and miserable.

now i didn’t get all emotional like some people *wink* that this was the last show, and it was all ending. but it did hit me during “Terrible Lie” that i was really really going to miss it. when i start having bad angsty shit happen in life, i’ll really really really miss it and be depressed. let’s just hope my life continues drama free. trent won’t be gone forever. i guess he recently said there will be new nin records in the next few years, just no tours. i am happy with nin records. we used to wait 5 years between albums/tours. i don’t expect him to stay “retired” more than 5 years. whether he comes out as nin or as himself or as something else, it is still trent reznor, and in the end, that’s why we were all here.

Posted in: Concerts, Nine Inch Nails \ Tagged: ,

NIN Toronto 09

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nin toronto, my last pit show, possibly ever (silly trent “retiring”)

drove up to molson ampitheatre with sarah, and with adr2 and bliss on our heels on the highway. the nin.com line wasn’t very long and we picked our seat along the water just like last time. the only notable happening of the queue were the geese/ducks/birds…a friendly little girl duck decided to play homeless person and go up and down the line begging for food. i happened to be eating a muffin so i threw a few crumbs. it wasn’t afraid of people because it stood there right in front of me waiting for more. then it decided to just take more itself and ended up pulling the whole muffin right out of my hand hahaha. duck stole my muffin!!

once inside, one back from rail slightly left of center. now that there are only 4 members in nin the stage set up is a bit different and “trent’s junk” ended up being right in front of us. not bad! i didn’t really want to be up front because i had a headache and didn’t want to deal with it but sure glad adr2 and bliss talked me into it. killer setlist. the surprises were ruined for me once again thanks to the photo blog, but no matter. they had been changing the sets enough that you still couldn’t tell what you’d get. there were really 2 songs that i wanted, and if i didn’t get, i’d be mad. and it turned out pretty good…”metal”, “i’m afraid of americans”, “the becoming”, “i do not want this” and really my ultimate, “the fragile”…the song that basically started it all 10 years ago, fitting that i finally see it at my last pit show. and i am lame and i started to cry. the one song i wanted and didn’t get was “physical”. they had been doing it in the encore, but for some reason instead of a 3 song encore it was just one, and of course, it was “hurt”…just my luck! 😛 and oh yeah, trent tripped and fell on the stage carpeting during survivalism (pretty sure), but kept singing, and then was SUPER PISSED OFF and screamed at his tech (wasn’t his fault trent was clumsy haha) anger carried into mr self destruct and he knocked all his shit over haha.

i will find the full setlist once the cable comes back on (it has gone out once again, jerks)

Now I’m Nothing
Terrible Lie
1,000,000
Heresy
March of the Pigs
Metal
The Becoming
I’m Afraid of Americans
Burn
Gave Up
I Do Not Want This
The Fragile
The Way Out Is Through
Wish
Survivalism
Mr. Self-Destruct
Hand That Feeds
Head Like a Hole
Hurt

and oh yeah, street sweeper social club, aka tom morello’s new band. i didn’t think it was bad, it just sounded like rage and audioslave, because that’s the sound of tom morello. i’d say they were better than alot of other nin openers, but i wouldn’t seek them out ever. then after nin was jane’s addiction. and holy wow it was not at all what i expected. i left the front and hung out in the very back of the pit. i had no idea that they were a chill mellow stoner band. i really thought it was all going to be up beat and rocking like “been caught stealing” (one of three JA songs i know ha). sadly i was really bored, and actually glad they were “headlining” because if i had to sit through that in order to get to nin, that would have been tough.

so i keep saying “last pit show” instead of just last show, cuz as i posted right before this, i am going to pittsburgh afterall. i need to hear “physical” and if they don’t play it there i’m gonna punch someone. i’d like to hear “last” one more time as well. i don’t really have any more requests though. i think pittsburgh will make it 48 shows including fragility, and i’ve pretty much heard all i could want to hear by now.

it’s been a great 5 years.

*edit* i forgot to mention the girl who showed up to talk to the skivy security guard holding a bunch of plush monkey backpacks, with scary “trent” faces on them. they had to have been trent faces, but they were horrible hideous and frightening. security called someone who came and gave her and her friends wristbands. wtf. i so expected a photo of them to show up on the photoblog if they ended up getting into the nin camp, but no luck.

Posted in: Concerts, Nine Inch Nails \ Tagged: ,