Wave Goodbye - Nine Inch Nails Live in Noblesville, IN

A few friends and I went to Noblesville, Indiana last Saturday to catch Nine Inch Nails play one of the shows on their last tour for a very long time. NIN has been my favorite band for awhile, so I had mixed feelings about this possibly being the last time I would ever see Trent Reznor and co. perform live. Sadly I could only make it to one show on the tour, but at least I'd get to see them one more time.

The North American leg of NIN's Wave Goodbye tour was also dubbed the NIN|JA 2009 tour because NIN was co-headlining with Jane's Addiction (with Jane's Addiction playing last). Opening of both bands was Street Sweeper Social Club, the new Tom Morello project, and they did not disappoint. Singer Boots Riley comes across less angry, but just as socially conscious, as Rage Against the Machine singer Zach de la Rocha. Boots did well, but Morello was easily the star of their performance. The man puts on quite a show; if you ever have a chance to see him perform live I highly recommend it. SSSC played through a handful of original songs and a great cover of M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" before their set ended with the Jane's Addiction members crashing the stage with birthday cake to wish Morello a happy birthday.

One of the best parts of the show was the location of our seats. I knew were in the front-left section, on the inside aisle of row J. What I did not know is that row J was the fifth row from the stage. We had unbelievable seats, and since NIN was allowing nearly all cameras into the show, it meant I had the possibility to take some amazing pictures. These really are some of the best pictures I've ever done. The people in front of us were mostly a bunch of Jane's Addiction fans who thankfully got bored of NIN after a few songs and left their seats, giving us a mostly-unobstructed view of the stage. I couldn't believe our luck.

I've now seen Nine Inch Nails in concert six times, but this was easily the best performance of the bunch. If this is indeed the last NIN tour ever, then Trent Reznor is going out guns-blazing. Instead of playing a greatest-hits type set list to appeal to the more casual fans or people there to see Jane's Addiction, NIN played through a blistering set of deep cuts and rare songs. "I Do Not Want This," "Mr. Self-Destruct," and "Physical" were loud, raw, and angry. "Metal" was a huge highlight, as was the instrumental version of "The Downward Spiral"--I never would have picked either of those for good live songs and they were fantastic. The "Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)" remix was cool to see and "The Fragile" was incredible.

The weather turned crazy a few songs into NIN's set, with pouring rain, thunder and lightning, and even tornado warning sirens. Apparently the sirens were going off during most of "Metal", but I was so close to the stage I couldn't hear anything else. We didn't even realize it was raining until I felt a mist blowing on me, and turned around to see the poor suckers on the lawn getting drenched. Kudos to those who stuck it out (and there were many).

New drummer Ilan Rubin had some big shoes to fill by taking over for Josh Freese and he was more than up to the task. Ilan absolutely destroyed every song. The biggest highlight for him was a pummeling finish to "Wish"; I've seen that song six times, and this was easily the best performance of it. In fact, all the old songs seemed fresh and energetic. "The Hand That Feeds" and "Head Like a Hole"--while way too overplayed on the radio--are still the perfect one-two punch for closing NIN shows. The energy during both those songs was unbelievable. Even "Survivalism" was great, and I'd really grown tired of seeing that one live.

Without a doubt, the perfect way to close the show was with "Hurt". Encores have been rare for this tour, so I really thought the show was over after "Head Like a Hole". However, Trent had made several comments about how great the audience was, and he rewarded the fans by returning for an encore. Once again, this was one of the best performances of "Hurt" I've seen. It was moving and emotional, and it was a song that got everyone involved. The one thing I wish I'd been able to take a picture of was when I turned around during "Hurt" and saw the entire amphitheater lit up in a sea of lighters and cell phones. It was an incredible sight. Then the song ended and we got one final wave goodbye.

I was not at all pleased that Jane's would be the last band performing each night--I'm not a big Jane's Addiction fan--but I thought they were entertaining to watch. They are certainly skilled musicians, although singer Perry Farrell feels the need to make the dumbest comments in between songs ("I sing with my balls!" Yes, he actually said that) and guitarist Dave Navarro can't perform unless he's strutting around shirtless, striking iconic rock-star poses every five seconds. I didn't mind watching them, but I ended up leaving after five songs because everyone I was with hated them. In the end I'm glad we left early because a section of I-74 was closed on the way home, and our trip took much longer than it should have.

I've already uploaded some of my pictures, and there are even more that I'd like to post on this blog, but I don't want to get too carried away. What I'd like to ask you to do is please go view them all on my flickr page (shameless plug, I know). These are really some of the best photos I've ever taken and I'm very proud of them. I don't say this to pat myself on the back--a lot of it was pure luck, and I had to ask the advice of two friends to see what settings to use--but I couldn't have asked for better results. There are few things that make me happier than the combination of an amazing concert and some awesome photos.


Set:

Home
1,000,000
Discipline
March Of The Pigs
Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)
Metal
Meet Your Master
Head Down
I Do Not Want This
Gave Up
The Fragile
The Downward Spiral
Wish
Survivalism
Mr. Self-Destruct
Physical (You're So)
The Good Soldier
The Hand That Feeds
Head Like A Hole

(encore)
Hurt

Street Sweeper Social Club

Jane's Addiction

A Million Miles Away

I Would Keep Myself

The 2008 Davie Awards

We are now a month into 2009, and I still haven't gotten around to posting the annual Davie Awards for 2008. I wanted to write up some good summaries for everything, but I've put that off for so long that I decided just to throw the lists online and be done with it.


Favorite Album

1. Nine Inch Nails - The Slip
2. The Gutter Twins - Saturnalia
3. Boris - Smile
4. Mogwai - The Hawk is Howling
5. Portishead - Third
6. Eagles of Death Metal - Heart On
7. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
8. Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I-IV
9. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Lie Down in the Light
10. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
11. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
12. Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan - Sunday at Devil Dirt
13. Sigur Rós - Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust
14. Beck - Modern Guilt
15. TV on the Radio - Dear Science

Honorable Mention: Earth - The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull; Lindstrøm - Where You Go I Go Too; Brian Eno & David Byrne - Everything That Happens Will Happen Today; Squarepusher - Just a Souvenir; Oasis - Dig Out Your Soul; Deerhunter - Microcastle; Kings of Leon - Only By the Night

Favorite Concert:
Nine Inch Nails in Cleveland, OH

Runners-up: Nine Inch Nails in Lexington, KY; Radiohead in Indianapolis, IN;
NIN in Columbus, OH; The Gutter Twins in Newport, KY.

Favorite Movie

1. The Wrestler
2. Slumdog Millionaire
3. WALL-E
4. The Dark Knight
5. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
6. Taken
   
7. Frost/Nixon
8. Kung-Fu Panda
9. Defiance
10. Gran Torino

Honorable Mention: In Bruges, Burn After Reading, Revolutionary Road, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Pineapple Express, Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, Iron Man, Bank Job

Favorite TV Show
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Runners-up: Top Gear, The Office, South Park

Favorite Game
Left 4 Dead

Runners-up: Rock Band 2, STALKER: Clear Sky, Peggle 2: Peggle Nights, Civilization IV: Colonization

just slowly fade away

A handful of us headed up to Columbus a couple weeks ago to see Nine Inch Nails play at the Schottenstein center. Unfortunately on the way we hit a snow storm which slowed us down and caused us to miss Boris, the opening band, which was disappointing. But NIN played another fantastic show. We were a lot further back on the floor for a change which allowed us to take in a lot more of the visuals without everyone bumping into us. The new visuals for Closer and Ghosts 31 were highlights, as was Trent chucking a microphone stand through the screen during Echoplex. My only gripe was the lack of variation in the set list from the Cleveland and Lexington shows, although we did get a great version of The Good Soldier. All in all it was another awesome concert. Thanks to Jake for editing the pictures for me.


999,999
1,000,000
Letting You
Discipline
March of the Pigs
Head Down
The Frail
Closer
Gave Up
The Warning
The Great Destroyer
Ghosts 5
Ghosts 17
Ghosts 19
Piggy (Ghosts version)
The Greater Good
Pnion
Wish
Terrible Lie
Survivalism
Ghosts 31
Only
The Hand That Feeds
Head Like a Hole

(encore)
Echoplex
The Good Soldier
Hurt
In This Twilight

1,000,000

March of the Pigs

Closer

Gave Up

Wish

Ghosts 31

Ghosts 31

The Good Soldier

In This Twilight

In This Twilight

the sky is filled with light

Justin, Perry, Daniel and I headed up to Lexington last Sunday night for my second (and unless someone commits to going to one of the November shows with me, probably last) show of Nine Inch Nail's Lights in the Sky 2008 tour. Great show; right up there with the Cleveland one. The crowd was a little mellower than in Cleveland, which makes it strange that I got much clearer shots at that show. While Perry and I ended up a little closer to the stage than Jon and I had been at the first show, we also ended up on the right side of the stage (which you can clearly see from the pictures).

The band was on top of things yet again. A lot of the same great songs from the first show were just as good this time--"Head Down," "Reptile," "The Warning," and "God Given" especially. As always "Terrible Lie" was another highlight of the night. After playing it for twenty years, Trent Reznor still pours everything into it. I couldn't believe we got to hear "The Great Destroyer"--best song of the night; "The Beginning of the End" and "Ghosts 14" were two new standouts as well. In fact, I liked the whole "Ghosts" mini-set even better this time. The only real disappoint was not only did we get "The Frail" without "The Wretched" but the exclusion of "The Big Come Down" left us without any real songs from The Fragile. Overall it was another unbelievable show and it left me eager for November. Seriously. Any takers?

All my photos from the concert can be viewed at my flickr page.


999,999
1,000,000
Letting You
Discipline
March Of The Pigs
Head Down
The Frail
Reptile
Closer
Gave Up
The Warning
The Great Destroyer
Ghosts 21
Ghosts 14
Ghosts 19
Piggy (Ghosts version)
The Greater Good
Pinion
Wish
Terrible Lie
Survivalism
Ghosts 31
Only
The Hand That Feeds
Head Like A Hole

(encore)
Echoplex
The Beginning Of The End
God Given
Hurt
In This Twilight

Discipline

Closer

The Warning

The Great Destroyer

Wish

The Hand That Feeds

not a single thing here i can recognize

NIN have already announced a fall leg to their North American summer tour (which is separated by a short jaunt to Central and South Americas). They'll be hitting this area in mid-November; the closest date is Columbus on November 17th, but the presale already started an hour ago, so that makes that show less likely (that's also Jess' birthday, but I was given the green light for the concert because she has class all day). So it might be better to either hit the Fort Wayne show the next night (Nov. 18th), which would be about four hours each way. Or maybe people would rather go to the Grand Rapids on Nov. 15th, which is a Saturday, so we could either take our time with the six-hour drive back or get a hotel and not have a crappy day at work the next day (since that would be a Sunday). Or maybe no one else but me really has any interest in seeing them again so soon...

If people want to go to the Columbus show they'll have to let me know very soon. Plus, I don't have the funds to buy tickets at the moment, so someone else would need to pay for those tickets. Please let me know soon if you're interested so I can make plans.

NIN Lights in the Sky 2008 Tour Dates.

Directions to Fort Wayne.

Directions to Grand Rapids.

really all that there ever was?

More pictures and video from the concert; the videos aren't mine--I took them from Youtube.

Vessel

Ghosts 5

Head Like a Hole

Echoplex

God Given

In This Twilight

Piggy

Wish

The Big Come Down

Only


Reptile


God Given

nothing can stop me now

I headed up to Cleveland with a few people yesterday to see Nine Inch Nails at Quicken Loans Arena for the first of two shows I'll be seeing this tour. Jon and I had general admission floor tickets, and we started with decent spots dead center in the middle, and about thirty feet from the rail. The opener--a local named Nicholas Megalis--started around 7:15, and NIN started playing around 8:30 (which was a welcome surprise, I was expecting them to start around 9).

NIN always puts on a great light show, and this one was the best I've seen yet. I was glad I took my camera; surprisingly I got some decent pictures and managed to avoid having my camera destroyed. I tried getting a picture during every song, but it just wasn't possible during ones like "March of the Pigs" and "Gave Up". I wasn't willing to risk having my camera broken while being shoved around.

Musically the band was tight and energetic. Trent Reznor was fantastic as always--though his reported throat problems were evident a couple times--while Josh Freese and Robin Fincke were especially amazing. There wasn't a dull song in the whole two hours of the show. Even staples like "Wish" and "Terrible Lie" were fantastic. They ended up playing mostly songs from The Slip and Year Zero, which sounded great, with a handful of older classics thrown in. I was really glad they incorporated a mini Ghosts set. It was great getting a couple less popular Downward Spiral songs like "Piggy"--which had a different feel from the album version--and "Reptile". Jon and I managed to slip to within ten feet of the front of the stage during "Wish". I'd have to say my own highlights were "Head Down," "Vessel," "Terrible Lie," "Echoplex," "Reptile," and "God Given". Oh, and Freese's drum solo on "Piggy". This also had to be the best engineered concert I've ever been to. The sound mixing was perfect; no overpowering bass, no ear-splitting highs, no vocals being drowned out by the music. At times it sounded like an actual live album mixed by an engineer in the studio. My hat goes off to the stage and sound crew.

Fantastic show by the best band out there right now. Can't wait till the Lexington show. Hopefully Trent's strained voice will hold up.


999,999
1,000,000
Letting You
Discipline
March of the Pigs
Head Down
The Frail
Closer
Gave Up
Warning
Vessel
Ghosts 5
Ghosts 25
Ghosts 19
Piggy (Ghosts version)
The Greater Good
Pinion
Wish
Terrible Lie
Survivalism
The Big Come Down
Ghosts 31
Only
Head Like a Hole

(encore)
Echoplex
Reptile
God Given
Hurt
In This Twilight

Head Down

The Warning

Ghosts 25

The Greater Good

Terrible Lie

Echoplex

In This Twilight

All of my NIN pictures can be found here.

a siren singing you to shipwreck

"If you're looking for Kid Rock you're in the wrong place." - Thom Yorke

Robby and I traveled to Indianapolis Sunday night to see Radiohead at the Verizon Wireless Music Center. We had lawn tickets, but still had a good view of the stage since the Verizon amphitheater is laid out much better than Riverbend here in Cincinnati.

I'll keep this brief; but the band was fantastic. Awesome light show, great set list. The band played for slightly over two hours, blowing through all of In Rainbows, along with a good peppering of songs from Hail to the Thief, Amnesiac, Kid A, and OK Computer. While there wasn't a bad song among them, I'd say my personal highlights included "How To Disappear Completely," "Idioteque," "There There," and all three cuts from OK Computer.

I have to again mention how cool the stage setup was. With the exception of my second Nine Inch Nails show--which was at this same venue, coincidently enough--I haven't seen a better light show. Check out these awesome pictures from Keith Klenowski to get a good idea of what I mean (although even they don't do it justice).

It was an awesome show, and I wouldn't hesitate to see Radiohead again.


01. 15 Step
02. Bodysnatchers
03. There There
04. All I Need
05. Pyramid Song
06. Nude
07. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
08. The Gloaming
09. Climbing Up The Walls
10. Faust Arp
11. Videotape
12. Morning Bell
13. Idioteque
14. Reckoner
15. Everything in its Right Place
16. Just
17. How To Disappear Completely

Encore 1
18. You and Whose Army?
19. Bangers and Mash
20. Exit Music (For A Film)
21. Jigsaw Falling Into Place
22. Karma Police

Encore 2
23. House of Cards
24. The National Anthem
25. Street Spirit

That ends the first of my three big concerts in August. Next up: Nine Inch Nails in Cleveland on August 22...

keeps coming from the inside

Start clearing out your calendars folks, because the first batch of dates for the Nine Inch Nails 2008 tour have been announced! There are only two so far that are anywhere close to the tristate area:

August 22 Cleveland OH Quicken Loans Arena
August 31 Lexington KY Rupp Arena

Let me know who wants to go, because I plan to be at both shows. No announcement on when tickets go on sale yet.

blind with my eyes wide open

I've been long overdue for an update, but things have been busy lately. I've been working a decent amount have been trying to get something worthwhile accomplished on my days off. The birthday went well, but I'm currently fighting off my second cold in the past two weeks.

Doug and I saw The Gutter Twins at the Southgate House in Newport last week. Great show. I finally got to see Mark Lanegan perform live, and the man did not disappoint. His vocals have always had an intimidating feel to them, an image that carries over to his live performances, as he stood on stage brooding all night with a death grip on the microphone stage. The man only said two sentences in between songs all night; one to introduce his counterpart Greg Dulli, and the other a threatening response to a heckler in the audience. Dulli, on the other hand, was the outgoing one of the pair. It was a hometown reunion for him--he is originally from Hamilton--and he seemed to enjoy being back in the tri-state. Dulli was hamming it up with the audience all night and continually talking to his mother and sister in the audience. The band played most of their debut album Saturnalia, along with some of Lanegan's solo tracks and a few from Dulli's Twilight Singers band. I thought they put on a great show, and this was hopefully the first of many good 2008 concerts (still hoping for more from Radiohead, NIN, and Tom Waits).

I'll leave you with a shot from the other day:

an occupation to stand alone

Mark Lanegan--the grunge legend of The Screaming Trees and his own solo career--is commencing a tour in support of his newest act, the Gutter Twins in March. Lanegan is probably one of my all time favorite singers (we'll call him a poor man's Tom Waits, but that doesn't quite do him justice), and it was just announced that the closest he'll be to Cincinnati is in Chicago on March 7th and Cleveland on the 12th. Who wants to go to one of those shows with me? I'd really love to see Mark in concert at some point. We'll call it a birthday present to me if you come along with me (and no, I'm not asking anyone to pay for me and I'll drive). Considering the obscurity of the band, I'm not expecting tickets to cost too much.

**Never mind, if I could read I'd see that the closest he'll be will be the Southgate House in Newport on March 11th. I'm totally going, even if it is by myself. Now you don't even have to commit to a road trip to go along with me.

***Yep, tickets are $15. I'm there.

keep on playing our favorite song

What should have been a short Saturday night trip to Columbus to see Queens of the Stone Age turned into a crazy weekend adventure for Daniel and I. Upon arriving in Columbus about half an hour before the doors opened, the parking lot attendant asked us what we were there for that night. When he informed him, he told us that show has been postponed, to which Daniel responded "You're joking, right?" He was not. It turned out that the show was to be delayed until Sunday night due to "illness." Needless to say, we were not too thrilled to hear this.

We quickly decided that we weren't going to let this trip go to waste and just go home, and since I knew Austin was in nearby Circleville for the annual Pumpkin Show, I decided to give him a call. After confirming that we could spend the night at Jon Brown's house there, we set off for Circleville. The problem was that the timing of our departure had us passing right down the center of Columbus at the same time that the Ohio State football game was ending, meaning that the streets were packed. What should have been a forty-five minute drive was doubled by all the traffic. It was nice to hang out with Austin, Dan Ebert, CJ, and Jon, but we were hardly in a mood to enjoy the Pumpkin Show after all the driving and the uncertainty over the concert's status. Jon's parents were very gracious in letting us stay over, and while the attic we slept in was actually fairly comfortable, I can't say I got much sleep that night.

Daniel and I headed back into Columbus on Sunday morning, but not before we had a brief scare leaving Circleville: when I got in my car, I realized that the headlights were still switched on from the previous night. The strange thing was that the headlights weren't visibly on from the outside and the car started just fine (I wonder if locking the car with my key chain remote turned the lights off, but I really don't know).

Not having eaten that morning, we decided to drive back into Columbus and eat there. Once again the trip was no where near as simple as it should have been. When we got back into town we discovered that there was a marathon being staged exactly where we needed to be. The entire downtown area that we were trying to get to was one huge cluster of traffic jams, cops poorly directing said traffic, and very slow runners. After spending over an hour literally going in circles around the same five-mile radius of town trying to get to the parking lot for the show, we finally found a way there. Once again, what should have been a simple trip ended up taking over two long, hungry hours.

Having finally parked, and after learning that the status of the show was still up in the air for the night, we decided to finally get something to eat. It just so happened that the cursed marathon would continue to haunt us, as the area we were in was serving as the finish line for the race, and thus was inundated with a flood of runners and their families. [On a side note, can someone tell me why runners wrap themselves in sheets of reflective tinfoil-looking stuff after they finish?] Nevertheless, we waded through the horde to the nearest restaurant, which was inexplicably closed at one o'clock on a Sunday. As was the next one. And the next. And the next (lousy Chipotle). Finally we found some German beer garden to collapse in (which actually turned out to be pretty good). We returned to the concert venue again, where they finally gave us confirmation that the band was on their way in. To make an already too long story a little shorter, we killed the next five or six hours walking around Columbus, exploring their children's museum, and watching football.

Since I'm getting tired of being so long-winded, and I need to catch up on some more lost sleep, I'll cut to the chase: in the end, the concert was still worth the hassle. It turned out to be a very good, solid show. We arrived in line early, and actually ended up in the front row on the left side (actually, Daniel was in the front on the rail and I was right behind him). I'm not sure what Josh Homme's "illness" was, but he seemed just fine. The band played a fantastic set. Even the two opening bands were pretty entertaining. They apologized for the delay and played a slightly longer set. The pit got a little rough, and there were some very annoying people in it, but nothing bad enough to detract from the overall experience. I wish I hadn't been so worn out by the time it started, but there was nothing to do about that. This was also the first concert I've worn earplugs at, and I think it is something I will continue to do. After it ended, we managed to make it home somehow, completely exhausted, smelly, dirty, and hungry. It felt great to get out of the same clothes I'd been wearing for two days, remove my contacts for the first time since Saturday morning, shower, and sleep. It was a very bizarre weekend, but we were treated to a great show.

(set)
Burn the Witch
Misfit Love
In My Head
Into The Hollow
Run Pig Run
Leg of Lamb
Little Sister
Battery Acid
In the Fade
Turning on the Screw
Make It Wit Chu
Sick Sick Sick
Do It Again
Avon
Mexicola
3s & 7s
Go With the Flow
(encore)
You Can't Quit Me, Baby
No One Knows
Infinity
No One Knows (reprise)
Song For the Dead

i'm a lot like you are

Pitchfork Media reports that Neil Young will be launching a fall tour in support of his new album Chrome Dreams II. Ohio got the short end of the stick, but he'll be a mere 4 and 1/2 hours away when he hits Detroit on November 10th (a Saturday) and Chicago on November 12 & 13 (Monday and Tuesday). Chicago tickets go on sale this Saturday. No announcement for Detroit yet.

...It looks like the starting price for tickets is $57. That probably kills that idea. :(

edit: Looks like Bob Dylan will be at the Taft Theater on October 15. Tickets also start at $57 for that.