Inspiration

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Originally uploaded by d1g1t1ze

I originally posted this in my personal LiveJournal, but I want to share my experience with you, as well as introduce you, if you haven’t been introduced before, to the music of Nine Inch Nails.  They have some really intensely beautiful pieces in their newest 4 albums, so if you haven’t heard of them since “Closer” came out on The Downward Spiral, I heartily recommend that you take a listen to the newer stuff.

I’m still absolutely in the thrall of NIN. Everything about their stage show entrances me – the excellent quality of the music and lyrics, the groundbreaking lighting design that pushes the boundary between lights and sets, and the consummate performers that all of the musicians are.

We prepped well with our gel insoles, earplugs, and bottles of water. There were several points where I forgot I was wearing the earplugs, panicked slightly, then was overwhelmingly relieved that I was indeed wearing them. It was so loud and the bass so deep that the tiny hairs on my face could feel the bass drums. Going from sound to silence and back into the song was a physical thing, a pop of air in my face, a rumble in my chest. It’s quite possibly the best thing ever.

The opening band wasn’t great. I think they would be quite good in the right venue, but sleepy psychedelic jam wasn’t a good warmup for the onslaught of NIN.

The setlist was great. A good mixture of songs from all the albums, and the pacing was excellent. If they’d played everything from Broken all at once, I probably would have gotten kicked in the face more than once, and you KNOW how that pisses me off. The interlude from Ghosts was pure magic.

I still have “In This Twilight” stuck in my head. They’ve gotten the whole sticky sweet hook over rhythmic industrial noise thing down to a science and I love it. It’s like a lullaby for rivetheads.

Which is making it hard to wake up this morning. But that’s ok. Today’s going to be a good day.