rusty_halo (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rusty_halo) wrote2005-11-07 02:49 pm
rusty_halo) wrote2005-11-07 02:49 pm
NIN in Philadelphia
I am exhausted.
Saturday I got up at 5am, took a bunch of trains, and by noon I was standing in line outside of the Wachovia Spectrum in Philadelphia.
After lots of confusion, about 300 people were let in to the NIN soundcheck at around 4pm. They played 5 songs (not including Aaron playing "Eye of the Tiger" before it started) and Trent was surprisingly chatty. He said the soundcheck was much scarier for them than the show, because all the lights were on and they were exposed. Seeing a NIN soundcheck... pretty damn cool experience.
They kept us inside after that. I had a Luna Bar and some orange juice, as my only food since 5am breakfast, and I was starving. They had food and drinks inside but wouldn't sell them to us. Lame. :(
Did I mention how chaotic it was? We kept getting sorted and reordered randomly, so that people who got there at 3pm were ahead of people who got there at 5am.
I was supposed to go with my friend Mike, but he didn't show up until 7pm, so I had to leave his ticket at Will Call for him to pick up without me. I love Mike, but I was really pissed off about this. Next time I invite someone to go to a show with me and get them a premium ticket, they had better actually go to the show with me. I was really upset about having to go alone--I'd been looking forward to having company at a concert for once.
Anyway. So they kept us in a seated section until at 6:45, when they let the GA people onto the floor. Once again, this was pure chaos, and where you ended up was determined largely by how pushy you were and how fast you ran. I ran pretty damn fast, and ended up IN THE FRONT ROW, left side, directly in front of Jeordie.
Two opening bands is two much. Death from Above 1979 is all headache-inducing drums, with a singer who sounds like a dying cat. *shudders* Queens of the Stone Age are quite good, but I was tired. I was so exhausted, and thirsty, and had such a headache, that it was really hard to enjoy myself.
Then NIN came on. And the crowd sucked. Let me reiterate--I was in the front row of a Nine Inch Nails concert, directly in front of Jeordie White, and NO ONE EVEN PUSHED ME. What the fuck was this? I mean, it's nice not to have to worry about bruised ribs, but a little shoving livens things up nicely. The crowd was practically dead. NIN fans must be getting old, or something.
I finally cracked and begged a guard for a water bottle (actually the nice lady two people over asked for me), and that was perhaps the best drink of water I've ever had in my life. The girl next to me was really nice, too--a fellow Jeordie fan. (For many years, Jeordie was Marilyn Manson's ultra-hot second-in-command, Twiggy Ramirez. I still think of him as Twiggy in my head--sorry.)
Anyway, so it was pretty much the best view imaginable. No one blocking me, no one pushing me. I didn't have much energy to move, though, and my voice was so dead that I could barely manage to mouth the lyrics, let alone sing. (Perhaps I shouldn't have used up all my energy jumping around and screaming every lyric to every song at the MSG show.) Still, I'm making it sound bad, and it wasn't--it was really cool to see them so close. Jeordie has such a cool stage persona, and is always doing little things that make him fun to watch (making faces at the crowd, tossing us water, etc.) I ended up with two Jeordie guitar picks.
Trent... well, "Right Where it Belongs" and "Hurt" were wonderful. As were "March of the Pigs" and "Burn." "Something I Can Never Have" was also really emotional. There were too many "With Teeth" songs, though. The setlist was very similar to that of the MSG show, although this time they played "Dead Souls" (way cool). Trent was quite chatty and kept saying thank you, more than I've ever heard him do. The crowd was disappointing, though--the arena wasn't sold out, and a lot of people were sitting. The mosh pit was at least moving somewhat, closer to the center, but not near me.
I had the horrible thought that this was like being at a Buffy convention--Reznor even resembles Marsters, now, with his bulky body and shaved head, mid-life crisis in action. And his lyrics have about the same level of emotional maturity, sadly. (Though I do not deny that Reznor is a *brilliant* songwriter when it comes to music.) And the crowd--the fan club thing, maybe, is the problem. Older women who follow him around to multiple shows, taking pictures of every angle, gossiping about who grabbed his ass at the last meet-n-greet, and a fan club that gives you custom NIN membership cards with your name on them. It's not NIN ten years ago, raw and hungry and real. It's NIN as an institution, the NIN sideshow. NIN is not subversive anymore, NIN is the mainstream. They start with "Pinion," dirty and evil and awesome, but 12 year old girls and 40 year old women scream in excitement, and then they go into "All the Love in the World" or whatever that boring thing is, and it just kills it. I don't know, I shouldn't be so negative, the atmosphere was just depressing.
I found Mike afterward, and he was with Joe and another friend. I gave Joe a huge hug--it was so good to see him again. It's been two years, maybe. He looks like a real adult, now. It scares me. We're getting old. Danielle and her sister Melissa were there, too--we said a brief "hi"--but they left right away, while I was talking to Joe. Whatever.
Mike drove me, Joe, and his other friend back to NJ. (I slept over at my parents' house, because I'd missed the last train to NY, and I was so exhausted.) We played with Joe's GPS tracking system thingy (freaky! it talks to you and gives you directions) and stopped at a 7-11 (best Terra Chips I've ever eaten). The fog was crazy--it took a really long time to get back because we were driving through clouds in the middle of the night with like 10-foot visibility.
So I got to my parents' house around 4am, slept deeper than I've slept in a long time, but had to get up early to take the train back to NYC for a bunch of roommate meetings.
Oh yeah--I didn't take any photos, but someone else took one with my head in the shot. It's here (I have the red hair and the barrette):
http://img373.imageshack.us/img373/7285/nin122nt.jpg
After the roommate showings on Sunday, I collapsed with fresh food, water, and a comfy couch. You wouldn't believe how nice that feels after nearly 24 hours awake and traveling.
*sigh*
I'm getting old. :(
Saturday I got up at 5am, took a bunch of trains, and by noon I was standing in line outside of the Wachovia Spectrum in Philadelphia.
After lots of confusion, about 300 people were let in to the NIN soundcheck at around 4pm. They played 5 songs (not including Aaron playing "Eye of the Tiger" before it started) and Trent was surprisingly chatty. He said the soundcheck was much scarier for them than the show, because all the lights were on and they were exposed. Seeing a NIN soundcheck... pretty damn cool experience.
They kept us inside after that. I had a Luna Bar and some orange juice, as my only food since 5am breakfast, and I was starving. They had food and drinks inside but wouldn't sell them to us. Lame. :(
Did I mention how chaotic it was? We kept getting sorted and reordered randomly, so that people who got there at 3pm were ahead of people who got there at 5am.
I was supposed to go with my friend Mike, but he didn't show up until 7pm, so I had to leave his ticket at Will Call for him to pick up without me. I love Mike, but I was really pissed off about this. Next time I invite someone to go to a show with me and get them a premium ticket, they had better actually go to the show with me. I was really upset about having to go alone--I'd been looking forward to having company at a concert for once.
Anyway. So they kept us in a seated section until at 6:45, when they let the GA people onto the floor. Once again, this was pure chaos, and where you ended up was determined largely by how pushy you were and how fast you ran. I ran pretty damn fast, and ended up IN THE FRONT ROW, left side, directly in front of Jeordie.
Two opening bands is two much. Death from Above 1979 is all headache-inducing drums, with a singer who sounds like a dying cat. *shudders* Queens of the Stone Age are quite good, but I was tired. I was so exhausted, and thirsty, and had such a headache, that it was really hard to enjoy myself.
Then NIN came on. And the crowd sucked. Let me reiterate--I was in the front row of a Nine Inch Nails concert, directly in front of Jeordie White, and NO ONE EVEN PUSHED ME. What the fuck was this? I mean, it's nice not to have to worry about bruised ribs, but a little shoving livens things up nicely. The crowd was practically dead. NIN fans must be getting old, or something.
I finally cracked and begged a guard for a water bottle (actually the nice lady two people over asked for me), and that was perhaps the best drink of water I've ever had in my life. The girl next to me was really nice, too--a fellow Jeordie fan. (For many years, Jeordie was Marilyn Manson's ultra-hot second-in-command, Twiggy Ramirez. I still think of him as Twiggy in my head--sorry.)
Anyway, so it was pretty much the best view imaginable. No one blocking me, no one pushing me. I didn't have much energy to move, though, and my voice was so dead that I could barely manage to mouth the lyrics, let alone sing. (Perhaps I shouldn't have used up all my energy jumping around and screaming every lyric to every song at the MSG show.) Still, I'm making it sound bad, and it wasn't--it was really cool to see them so close. Jeordie has such a cool stage persona, and is always doing little things that make him fun to watch (making faces at the crowd, tossing us water, etc.) I ended up with two Jeordie guitar picks.
Trent... well, "Right Where it Belongs" and "Hurt" were wonderful. As were "March of the Pigs" and "Burn." "Something I Can Never Have" was also really emotional. There were too many "With Teeth" songs, though. The setlist was very similar to that of the MSG show, although this time they played "Dead Souls" (way cool). Trent was quite chatty and kept saying thank you, more than I've ever heard him do. The crowd was disappointing, though--the arena wasn't sold out, and a lot of people were sitting. The mosh pit was at least moving somewhat, closer to the center, but not near me.
I had the horrible thought that this was like being at a Buffy convention--Reznor even resembles Marsters, now, with his bulky body and shaved head, mid-life crisis in action. And his lyrics have about the same level of emotional maturity, sadly. (Though I do not deny that Reznor is a *brilliant* songwriter when it comes to music.) And the crowd--the fan club thing, maybe, is the problem. Older women who follow him around to multiple shows, taking pictures of every angle, gossiping about who grabbed his ass at the last meet-n-greet, and a fan club that gives you custom NIN membership cards with your name on them. It's not NIN ten years ago, raw and hungry and real. It's NIN as an institution, the NIN sideshow. NIN is not subversive anymore, NIN is the mainstream. They start with "Pinion," dirty and evil and awesome, but 12 year old girls and 40 year old women scream in excitement, and then they go into "All the Love in the World" or whatever that boring thing is, and it just kills it. I don't know, I shouldn't be so negative, the atmosphere was just depressing.
I found Mike afterward, and he was with Joe and another friend. I gave Joe a huge hug--it was so good to see him again. It's been two years, maybe. He looks like a real adult, now. It scares me. We're getting old. Danielle and her sister Melissa were there, too--we said a brief "hi"--but they left right away, while I was talking to Joe. Whatever.
Mike drove me, Joe, and his other friend back to NJ. (I slept over at my parents' house, because I'd missed the last train to NY, and I was so exhausted.) We played with Joe's GPS tracking system thingy (freaky! it talks to you and gives you directions) and stopped at a 7-11 (best Terra Chips I've ever eaten). The fog was crazy--it took a really long time to get back because we were driving through clouds in the middle of the night with like 10-foot visibility.
So I got to my parents' house around 4am, slept deeper than I've slept in a long time, but had to get up early to take the train back to NYC for a bunch of roommate meetings.
Oh yeah--I didn't take any photos, but someone else took one with my head in the shot. It's here (I have the red hair and the barrette):
http://img373.imageshack.us/img373/7285/nin122nt.jpg
After the roommate showings on Sunday, I collapsed with fresh food, water, and a comfy couch. You wouldn't believe how nice that feels after nearly 24 hours awake and traveling.
*sigh*
I'm getting old. :(
no subject
Actually, sounds like a sort of freakish trippy AU sort of post concert thing going on.
But, AWESOME about the sound check.
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Sound check was very cool. :)
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I know! WTF, man, that's like a once in a lifetime experience.
That's so funny that I was standing next to your friend... really cool how that works out. :)
NIN
I'm looking forward to the show on the 26th. It should be interesting since there are a million bands. I also know that I can go out and come back - I made sure of that [the show starts at 12PM and ends at... who knows?! NIN is due onstage at 2AM. I'll remember to bring water and something to eat. No early admitance for us here though. Unfortunately.
Hope the roommate thing is not being too stressful. Oh, and don't freak if I IM you - I have a new toy that does it from here to your phone there. :) If your phone can receive photos let me know? I can send you pics from the show.
Re: NIN
Er, I don't know if my phone can receive photos. I think probably, but I'm pretty clueless. Try it and see?
Oh yeah, I was going to tell you which NIN songs you should listen to. Do you have any of their albums already? Are you listening to albums or downloading songs? Anyway, I'd say their albums probably rank like this:
1) The Downward Spiral (absolutely essential, his classic, sort of encompasses everything he's capable of)
2) The Fragile (it's epic and beautiful, but he's only playing two songs from it on this tour)
3) Broken (the ultimate in nihilistic anger--there's nothing better for when you're in a bad mood)
4) Pretty Hate Machine (his first album--kind of 80s/dancey/poppy, some catchy songs)
5) With Teeth (more like generic rock music--though it has some good songs, and is the most heavily represented on the new tour)
So I'd mostly recommend TDS and The Fragile, as just really awesome albums, but on this tour, the songs he's playing most are from With Teeth, TDS, and Broken.
As far as individual songs, he's pretty much guaranteed to play the following good songs: Head Like a Hole, Terrible Lie, Pinion, Wish, Gave Up, Burn, March of the Pigs, Closer, Hurt, The Hand That Feeds, Only, Right Where it Belongs. So if you were familiar with those you'd be well prepared. Want me to upload any?
Re: NIN
I'll add Head Like a Hole, Terrible Lie, Only, Right Where it Belongs, Wish and Gave Up to the list.
I don't think I can do the whole 14 hours of it, but I'll do my best. I'm not going alone and that helps. But I *am* going with the teen and she can be a pain. She's going for Good Charlotte.
Re: NIN
I think "The Fragile" might be the album you'd like best. You should download "The Great Below," even though they're not going to play it, because it's really wonderful.
BTW, if you want to find any of the lyrics, go to this site. They're accurate, easily searchable, and have no pop-up ads.
Good Charlotte--see, I'm old. I have no clue who that is.
no subject
it was really cool having someone to talk with between sets and I'm SO jealous that you got two of jeordie's picks! I got one but still hahaha. and the pit was my semi-complaint as well, like it was great to not be shoved around and to actually enjoy the show but at the same time I think I almost missed the crush.
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It was definitely cool to have someone to talk to between sets. I kind of halfway missed saying goodbye to you because I was begging the guard to give me a pick. (I'm sorry about that.) It was nice of him to give it to me, though. Then as I was leaving I saw another on the floor and grabbed it. It's got a footprint on it, but whatever. :)
It was nice not to get too beat up, but more energy would have helped. The ideal is sort of when the whole pit is moving, and you almost become one organism, everyone moving together. You feed off of other people's energy. Otherwise why not just watch it on DVD? It's the whole interactive experience that makes a concert wonderful.
Anyway... once again, it was way cool to meet you! :)
no subject
I know exactly what you mean, in a way it almost didn't feel like NIN, and I didn't have any cool bruises to show off afterwards *except the one on my side from some girl's arm which stayed there the entire set* it's probably my fault the show wasn't so crazy, I kept telling people "if I don't come home with broken ribs I'll be shocked!" and well, nothing happened haha.
very nice to meet you as well! have fun at depeche mode *is still jealous*