Nine Inch Nails Concert Review

[eheiney]

What an amazing preformance.

I left yesterday at about 11:30 to stop at the ATM for some cash for merchandise and then filled up the gas tank before getting on I-94. The trip was pretty easy up until I hit the Illinois border, major constuction projects were going on. I arrived at the amphitheater around 2:30, then drove around to find a place to eat. Burger King provided the meal but their service was shitty. They completely skipped my order, having to make it again after the rest of the crowd dispersed.

After eating I headed back to the main enterance to see the gate open but with a security guard right there. I almost drove straight through, when he asked for my pass. "Pass? Oh, the ticket?" "Oh, you're here to see the show. Sorry buddy, the gates don't open for another hour or so. You'll have to pull around here and come back." I turned around where he stopped me again and asked if I was in the fan club. "Of course," I said, lying. "Well can I see the ticket?" "Don't we get them inside?" "You're not in the fan club, are you?" "No," I laugh. "I thought so, can't blame you for trying though." So I drive around the corner and pull over to the side to wait, what else was I to do?

The time finally comes so I pull into the parking lot and begin the walk to the end of the line. Not realizing that I was in the line for The Spiral, I keep moving forward with everyone else. A gal comes up with a megaphone and announces that this was was the line for the fanclub, I hang my head and decide to walk back to my car. I sit there for another half hour before heading back to Gate 5. As the line divides into male and female I'm starting to get really excited. After the preliminary pat-down I'm finally inside. I headed straight to the concert gear booth to pick up a lithograph (no rubberbands?) and then moved to my left for a bottle of water ($3.75 and I don't even get the bottle, they just poured it in a cup).

After settling down in my seat I thought I'd have a smoke while waiting for the show to start. I hadn't even took one puff before security asked me to put it out. "It's an amphitheater," I thought. "It's open, outside. What does it matter?" I complied, but then somehow forgot once the show got started.

Peaches was a very interesting act, one hell of a preformance. I had never heard any of her material, but read that she's dirty and raunchy. That's one hell of an understatement, I would have been offended if I hadn't been laughing so much. All in all a very nice choice for an opener. Bauhaus was next with a rather dull set. I hadn't heard any of their stuff either, and I think I could have gone without ever hearing them. The songs seemed very long, it felt like torture. The band would probably be pretty good if it weren't for Peter Murphy, his voice is like a trainwreck with those wails he was spewing out. And what was that dancing he was doing?

Nine Inch Nails were fantastic, the best show of the three that I've seen. I was glad to see Hurt finished out this time (unlike when in Grand Rapids the show was ended early), and very pleased to see so much of The Fragile. The highlights for me were Something I Can Never Have, Even Deeper, Wish, Into The Void, The Big Come Down, and Down In It.

The set list was as follows:

Somewhat Damaged
You Know What You Are?
Sin
Terrible Lie
March Of The Pigs
Something I Can Never Have
Closer
Burn
Gave Up
Help Me I Am In Hell
Even Deeper
Only
Wish
La Mer
Into The Void
The Big Come Down
Suck
Down In It
Hurt
Final Solution (cover of Peter Murphy, from Bauhaus; featuring Peter Murphy)
The Hand That Feeds
Head Like a Hole

Finally, here's a few pictures of the merchandise. The hat is sweet, my third of NIN. I'm a big fan of hats. The lithographs I framed myself for just under $32. The first one on the left is from my first NIN show in Chicago on Oct. 7, 2005. The middle one is from Grand Rapids on Feb. 20, 2006. The final and newest one on the right is from last night in Chicago, July 1, 2006.