Perfect Little Dream

{subject artist: Nine Inch Nails song: Gave Up}

So many people have asked how I enjoyed the NIN show. Where to begin? Trent Rocks!!! Ok…..wait…..back up.
I’ll start with a before-the-show pic and then move forward through the night.











{damn! would it hurt me to smile!}





Scott had school and was joining us later so I met up with my friend Shawn for the opening band (Deerhunter). Great sound! But really - - - I could barely contain my excitement about the act I really came to see. Scott showed up at 9:05pm and we found a perfect spot in the dead center of the floor but back slightly by where the sound set is. It was a great vantage point since there was a small platform that you could stand on that put you about a foot higher (which my 5’6” height needed) and allowed a great view of the stage as well as the swarming hive of bodies moving with anticipation.

At 9:15pm the lights went down and the “hive” erupted with a buzz that was almost deafening! The energy was high and I was about to blow up with excitement if Trent didn’t start singing within seconds of that moment!! I was like a kid at the gates of an amusement park - staring in with mounting suspense at the ride I was about to go on! And then - - - ***BAM*** - - - the music roars across the speakers! Almost overwhelming if it hadn’t matched my anticipation and building energy! And at that moment, I started jumping up and down. Back to the amusement park analogy…..I probably looked like a game of wack-a-mole, popping up and down and up and down, but I just couldn’t stop my body from letting the music consume it and move it! And in true NIN-fashion, the lights were swingin’, the music was blaring, and Trent was spitting his emotion into every rhythm and every lyric as he whipped the crowd into frenzy!
And then I did it – just got too out of control throwing my body around - I hit my hand against the corner of a pole so hard that I had to check for blood. Once it was determine that it didn’t break skin (maybe just bone), I ignored the pain and kept right on a rockin’!

At this point I can only thank Scott and Shawn for being the type of people that did not get embarrassed by the fact that I was dancing as if I wasn’t 35 any more, but was 18 instead (or maybe they were but at least didn't say anything). Crowd be damned – neighbors be damned – I was gonna dance and I didn’t care what anyone else thought of it!

Then it came….the song “Gave Up”….. and I knew that I couldn’t stand back any longer. I HAD to hit the mosh pit!!!! I politely excused myself and pushed up as close to the stage as I could get. And as Trent screamed out, “smashed up my sanity……gonna smash myself to pieces”, I thrashed around with the rest of the crowd, moving around like a woman possessed! The same thing happened when he played “Wish” (“I’m the one without a soul”….extensive moshing ensued). You’d have thought I had just jumped into the water by the way I was sweating after that. After those songs, with beads pouring off of my forehead and a grin on my face, I headed back to meet up with Scott and Shawn. It wasn’t the last time I made my way into the pit and every time was awesome! Oh, did I mention that somewhere along the way I apparently lost part of a toenail. Ick! Guess that moshin’ took a toll but I was too excited to notice it. Oh well.

As always, Trent delivered not just a concert, but a show. It’s hard to even describe it but he puts so much into the show – with screens displaying images, synchronized actions from the band members to go along with the images, and a light show that is out of this world! Shawn has been a fan of his music but this was his first NIN concert. He said that it is the best performance he’s ever seen – not just by a band but in general it was just an amazing show. I agree.

The band played for over 2 hours and so at 11:30 the music came to an end. I was on such a natural high and still so pumped up from the evening that even after I got home, I could not fall asleep until 2am. Man! It was so awesome but it’s sad that it is over now. Well……at least I have a Collective Soul concert this weekend to look forward to. Not quite the showmanship that NIN pulls off (really though – I doubt anyone could top it) but I love their music and it’s always a fun concert!

Ok – so this was a long post. If you’ve made it this far, congratulations! Ha! :-) Here are some pics of the evening…… (P.S. My finger still hurts like the dickens but I’m pretty sure I didn’t break it. Whew!)……


















Rock on, Brother Trent!

















It's hard to see how truly brilliant this screen was. Amazing!
As he walked around, the dark portion followed him.

My camera didn't like capturing one bright spot amongst all the dark. Drat!
















And last but not least, here's a video you can watch if ya want to. The sound reeeaaally sucks! My camera didn't caputure it well at all! Granted, the song is meant to be one of instrument- distortion but my camera turned it from brilliant to crap. Still, it gives you an idea of the screen movement (again, this doesn't do it justice)! Oh....and the tilt of the camera at the end, is because a guy just spilled beer down the front of my shirt!