A few months back, in September, NIN released a new album, Hesitation Marks. It took me awhile to get into because it's quite different from their other stuff in a few ways. After listening to it over and over and over, I started getting into it. I also had a hard time listening to the whole album because by the time I got to the fourth song, "Find My Way", I had to listen to that song for the entire day and the many days after it. That is still my favorite song on the album and definitely one of my top favorites of all NIN songs. [I still listen to it many times in one sitting]. A couple months before the album came out I bought VIP tickets to the concert that I will describe to you. So knowing I will see them and listening to the album gave it a special feeling. Even some of the songs I couldn't get into as quickly I was excited to see them play it live.
When the concert came, I was pretty sure that my tickets were on willcall, but I didn't really double check. Because they were VIP tickets there was an early and immediate entry for VIP tickets. We didn't get there too early but I had a near panic as we lined up at the venue, afraid that I needed to print something out for my tickets, but then that was not the issue and we got our tickets along with immediate entry. Outside the venue there was a digital screen saying that the band Explosions in the Sky were opening for NIN. I had not heard anything about who was opening for them until that moment. I still wasn't totally sure if that was the case, but it was. I was really excited to see Explosions in the Sky but I could tell that a majority of the crowd was bored and unaware who the band was. My friend and I had pit tickets and stood at the back while the opening band played. We went to get drinks which ended up being overpriced margaritas that were too sour for our taste. Walking down the stairs toward the pit, there was a dark spot on a section of stairs and I couldn't see them. I missed a step and fell right on my ass. I twisted my ankle and luckily a gentleman nearby turned his phone light on so I could see. We made our way to the back of the pit, just drinking our sour margaritas. Out of nowhere, a man crashed right into my back, causing my drink to fly into my face, my eyes, on my hair, chest, and arm. I looked up briefly and saw a security guard attacking the man, but then the alcohol reacted in my eyes. It burned like hell. I couldn't open my eyes and what scared me most was that I was wearing fake red contacts in one eye. My friend didn't really know what was going on with me but tried to move me out of the way before the guys ran into me again. She thought the contact popped out but in reality I had never had alcohol in my eyes before. We went to the bathroom so I could clean my make up and all the sticky margarita off me. And all this happened before NIN was even on stage! What makes it funnier was that the pit was calm, and that I didn't spill a drop of my drink when I fell down the stairs. I couldn't even finish the damn margarita. Luckily, once NIN did come on stage, everything became better and no more incidents happened to me.
I knew prior to the show that some older NIN members came for the tour, including Alessandro Cortini and Robin Finck, which was really awesome. In addition, about halfway through the show they had two female backup singers that stayed on stage for the rest of the set, which was different and really cool to watch. They had amazing voices and sang solo at some parts. Everyone on the stage wore black.
The visuals were beyond astonishing, really really impressive. They were actually the best I'd ever seen. I didn't even dance at some points and just watched. This was a show where I didn't need anything to drink, I was drunk off of everything I could see and hear. Below are some pictures of the show, you can't see much but I merely took them to remember the visuals, the colors.
The setlist is as follows:
1.Copy of A
2.1,000,000
3. Terrible Lie
4. March of the Pigs
5. Piggy
6. All Time Low
7. Disappointed
8. Came Back Haunted
9. Find My Way
10. Various Methods of Escape
11. Sanctified
12. The Frail
13. The Wretched
14. In Two
15. Survivalism
16. Running
17. A Warm Place
18. Somewhat Damaged
19. Wish
20. The Hand That Feeds
21. Head Like a Hole
And the encore:
22. All the Love in the World
23. Even Deeper
24. While I'm Still Here
25. Black Noise
26. Hurt
They played for two solid hours. I appreciated each and every song. I knew they would end on "Hurt". And I was thoroughly glad they played "Find My Way". That song, when I listened to it over and over once the album came out, it would make me cry constantly because it resonates with me and is absolutely beautiful. I cried when they played it live. It had the same effect and the visuals couldn't have been any more perfect.
Everyone stayed still but Trent Reznor during that song. As the song gets more intense he was doing these motions with his arms that I can't quite describe in writing but it made it all the more emotional for me. For the first time, during this song, the way the light shinned on him, he looked old and almost skeletal to me. Here's a clearer picture I found online of the same visuals except the backup singers weren't on stage. Not only was Trent moving his arms during that particular part of the song but the blue background started to move like smoke, like a blue fire. It was gorgeous.
I plan to make a playlist of the setlist and listen to it again on my own. I did, of course, cry during the last song, "Hurt". The whole experience was overwhelming and inspiring that I couldn't sleep that night despite my utter exhaustion. Again, I wore the wristband after the show, for a week. At the end they had even more beautiful visuals and one of the backup singers sang this beautiful almost animalistic tune. The overhead lights would come lower every now and then and shine various types of lights. Towards the end of the show, they created the effect of stars, amazing.
At some point the crowd lifted their lighters and phones. I've seen this before but given the utter darkness of the venue and the way the photos turned out on my phone it was incredible.
With the exception of going to Coachella in 2006 to see Tool, this was the most expensive tickets I had purchased and well worth every damn penny and more. What also added to the experience was the crowd. It was not harsh at all considering I was in the pit. I had plenty of space to move and dance and could see well enough.
Despite the farewell tour NIN had a couple years ago, I knew they were not done. Definitely not.
I wish I can say more about this concert, but I just can't. It stays in my head and my heart.
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