Last week Will, my sister and I went to the Nine Inch Nails concert. I have been a fan of NIN since I was about 13, which is the same age that I was when I started my "i love live music" kick. Who knows how many hundreds (possibly thousands?) of dollars were spent on me going to concerts all through middle and high school You name it, I was there... several Music Midtowns and 99x Big Day Outs (where I saw many more people than I could possibly name), Metallica, Nine Inch Nails, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Bush, No Doubt, Smashing Pumpkins, Willie Nelson, BB King, Marc Anthony, even NSync (most expensive tickets to date - 75 each for the last row of Phillips arena - but not because I wanted to.)
It kinda stopped when I got to Tech, for many reasons I guess. The prices kept going up and I was always so busy that I didn't hear about concerts, much less make such an effort to keep tabs on music. The few that I did go to (Live, Fuel, Ludacris) were all free. There were several that I wanted to see, but the cost was ridiculous (and prohibitive?) so I just skipped those.
At one point a few months ago, though, I decided that I wasn't going to continue missing concerts of my favorites because of money. Just a short while after I said that, NIN announced another show (they played one last year that I skipped) so Will and I bought tickets almost immediately. I love that they cost just as much as they did the last time I went to a show (some 6 years ago), but these were the best seats I'd ever gotten.
So we headed to HiFi Buys. I was tempted to wear my pink shirt and floral skirt, but I didn't . We were pretty early and sat through the Bauhaus set. I remember why I am the exception, not the rule, to your general NIN fans. It really was as if all of these people had been frozen in time. We were hugely entertained by what some people think is appropriate to wear to a concert. Perhaps I should've asked to borrow Kristy's corset... although I'd probably be pushed to find fishnets and tacky boots on such short notice.
The music was, as always, amazing. Trent Reznor (whom I was infatuated with when I was younger) has aged more gracefully than his fans. He was sporting a new Will cut (buzz cut) as opposed to the JT cut (shaggy, but short). And he obviously had been to the gun show. They played a good range of all their songs. The show seemed a little short though (just under 2 hours) and they gave no encore. Weird... first concert I've ever been to without the whole encore thing.
I thought I heard a new song somewhere in the middle, or at least one that I'm not familiar with (the only one, possibly, although I admit I'm not up to date on my obsession). I distinctly remember him singing lines having to do with being rejected by the whole world, etc (as usual... definitely a recurring theme in his work). That kind of rubbed me the wrong way. I mean, isn't thousands of people paying $50 each to see you proof of just the opposite? But then again, it is the formula that worked for him for so long, and the majority of his audience is still extremely angry (just asked the guy in the row in front of us... screaming his head off and gesturing... and all of his feelings multiplied by the astounding amount of pot he consumed in such a short amount of time). But, what about growing, maturing, trying something new? NIN spans several decades and generations now, the creator is in his 40s. I'd like to see some evolution. What about taking all that anger and making it productive? Or political? He is from New Orleans, and I know he hates "the man." I'd love to see him take it in that direction.
This desire of mine made me feel like I'd outgrown the whole experience. Will and I certainly stood out like sore thumbs, and while I enjoyed hearing all those songs that I know so well and that brought back so many memories, somewhere in the past few years I grew past identifying with them. And with sitting in between chain smokers just to catch an in-person glimpse of the person who creates the music that I admire so much.
But I don't know that I can ever outgrow enjoying live music, of any kind.
It kinda stopped when I got to Tech, for many reasons I guess. The prices kept going up and I was always so busy that I didn't hear about concerts, much less make such an effort to keep tabs on music. The few that I did go to (Live, Fuel, Ludacris) were all free. There were several that I wanted to see, but the cost was ridiculous (and prohibitive?) so I just skipped those.
At one point a few months ago, though, I decided that I wasn't going to continue missing concerts of my favorites because of money. Just a short while after I said that, NIN announced another show (they played one last year that I skipped) so Will and I bought tickets almost immediately. I love that they cost just as much as they did the last time I went to a show (some 6 years ago), but these were the best seats I'd ever gotten.
So we headed to HiFi Buys. I was tempted to wear my pink shirt and floral skirt, but I didn't . We were pretty early and sat through the Bauhaus set. I remember why I am the exception, not the rule, to your general NIN fans. It really was as if all of these people had been frozen in time. We were hugely entertained by what some people think is appropriate to wear to a concert. Perhaps I should've asked to borrow Kristy's corset... although I'd probably be pushed to find fishnets and tacky boots on such short notice.
The music was, as always, amazing. Trent Reznor (whom I was infatuated with when I was younger) has aged more gracefully than his fans. He was sporting a new Will cut (buzz cut) as opposed to the JT cut (shaggy, but short). And he obviously had been to the gun show. They played a good range of all their songs. The show seemed a little short though (just under 2 hours) and they gave no encore. Weird... first concert I've ever been to without the whole encore thing.
One very noticeable change from 6 years ago was the integration of new technology into the show. It was more visual than ever before. The last time featured the band up against a backdrop that played visualizations. This time that same background was there, but had a noticeably higher resolution. In addition to that they dropped a screen of little led lights in front of the band from time to time and used that as well. At one point it was very matrix like, at another it looked like floating blood cells but then morphed into carbonation bubbles. Very cool. The show ended (somewhat abruptly, in my opinion) with this on the led screen: 
I thought I heard a new song somewhere in the middle, or at least one that I'm not familiar with (the only one, possibly, although I admit I'm not up to date on my obsession). I distinctly remember him singing lines having to do with being rejected by the whole world, etc (as usual... definitely a recurring theme in his work). That kind of rubbed me the wrong way. I mean, isn't thousands of people paying $50 each to see you proof of just the opposite? But then again, it is the formula that worked for him for so long, and the majority of his audience is still extremely angry (just asked the guy in the row in front of us... screaming his head off and gesturing... and all of his feelings multiplied by the astounding amount of pot he consumed in such a short amount of time). But, what about growing, maturing, trying something new? NIN spans several decades and generations now, the creator is in his 40s. I'd like to see some evolution. What about taking all that anger and making it productive? Or political? He is from New Orleans, and I know he hates "the man." I'd love to see him take it in that direction.
This desire of mine made me feel like I'd outgrown the whole experience. Will and I certainly stood out like sore thumbs, and while I enjoyed hearing all those songs that I know so well and that brought back so many memories, somewhere in the past few years I grew past identifying with them. And with sitting in between chain smokers just to catch an in-person glimpse of the person who creates the music that I admire so much.
But I don't know that I can ever outgrow enjoying live music, of any kind.
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