Two Nine Inch Nails Concerts To End My Summer

Does It Offend You, Yeah? opened for both show. It seems they have mixing issues as the first night the drums were basically non-existant and the second night the sinth overpowered everything else. Regardless of these issues I really enjoyed them both nights and hope to see them again someday. Their setlist to the best of my terrible memory followed by some pics from the second night in Philly:

Weird Science
Doomed Now
Battle Royal
With A Heavy Heart (I Regret to Inform You)
Let's Make Out
Dawn of the Dead
We Are Rockstars


If you haven't heard of them I strongly urge you to check them out. They put on a fun live show which has an epic  cowbell solo. Their first album is entitled "You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into".

Nine Inch Nails of course was up next. I'll try to break it all down song by song because when I think of it all I get emotional overload.

The second I heard 999,999 start playing over the speakers I turned into a little screaming fanboy. That moment is better then sex. Knowing that your favorite band is about to appear mere feet in front of you. Eeeep! I was excited.

Then just as 999,999 peaked we were into 1,000,000. Definitely one of my favorite tracks off The Slip. It really kicked major ass live. Perfect song to bring NIN's intensity out to the entire arena.

Next up was Letting You. I've never really been a fan of the song on album, but live the song's intensity really translated. It definitely is the modern reincarnation of You Know What You Are. In a perfect location on the setlist.
Next up was NIN's latest single, Discipline. While no where near as intense as the first two songs, it still translated amazingly live. The wall of lights behind the band became more active as we reached this point.
Once Trent finally did stop himself from playing The Slip, we got thrown back into some good old kick ass, NIN. And "Those Fucking Pigs" definitely did march tonight. March of the Pigs was back to bring the intesity up yet another level.

Just when I was worried we had left The Slip behind, my favority track, Head Down, began. I cannot explain how amazing this track is live. The conflcit between intensity and sorrow really create a beautiful and strong song. The lighting once again took a step up as suddenly the logo for Head Down was glowing behind the band.
The Frail was up next. A beautiful piano piece that usually gave a stunning intro to The Wretched.
But there would be no Wretched tonight. Instead we fell into the bubbly synth intro on Reptile. I definitely had a huge fanboy moment as I did not expect to hear this great track off The Downward Spiral. Reptile grinds along filled with green lights that went perfectly with the song.
Next up the trip down memory lane continued with Closer. As one of the more sexy songs in history, (Described by some crazy folks) and a huge fan favorite the crowd was completely hypnotized. The lighting for the song was a step down from the last time I saw it played, but in no way was the song a let down.
  Suddenly we fell even further back into NIN history with Gave Up. The flashing pink and blue lights at more then one occassion made me feel almost dizzy. The intensity of the first part of the show was just blowing away most of the crowd. You just knew that NIN was on fire tonight.
As Gave Up was concluding, a large black wall came down in front of the band leaving only the lead guitarist Robin Fink finishing off the song. We sat there listening to a droning bass line for a few seconds when suddenly the wall lit up revealing the band and the next song, The Warning. During the song the band stood infront of what was at first orange glowing blobs that would reacted with the band as the song was being played. As the song went the orange would give away to several other colors. It definitely was one of the more mind blowing moments of the show. The song which always sat on the edge of being a great song in my mind, definitely was moved into that category by the live performance. Simply amazing.
But those visuals were nothing compared to what NIN had up their sleeve next. Vessel blew me out of the water as the dark screen suddenly would erupt into intense red. The song translated incredible live and just left my jaw on the floor.
The intensity of the song left a lasting impression on the crowd as the song once again gave way to one remaining note hissing through the crowd. The band once again scurried back behind the wall only to be revealed a moment later carrying a brand new set of instruments that one would think had no place at a NIN show. The band started with 5 Ghosts I, off their recent insturmental album Ghosts I-IV. The lighting for the song fit the songs perfectly. Less flashy and loud as other songs, but just as beautiful.
The Ghosts section continued next with 17 Ghosts II. Watching these songs really proved how amazing these musicians are. Trent Reznor was no longer playing a guitar or singing. He stood on the side playing a xylophone. The visuals once again were beautiful as we traveled from a desert to a tree filled swamp.
Next up was 19 Ghosts III. This song was introduced by the lighting turning into a rain storm. Within moments the band was consumed by the rain and was not visible anymore, only moments later the storm opened up revealing the band playing this powerful track.    
As the song ended a familiar drum beat began. Little did the crowd know what that beat was until the words "Hey Pig" were sung. Piggy was played in a more beautiful stripped down way. The lighting once again matched the songs beauty as the band now stood in what looked like blue flames that would react with the song.
 
As Piggy concluded the screen filled with a slightly moving blue light. The Greater Good began and the visuals completely amazed the crowd. The first half of the song people wondered what they were looking at only to realize that Trents mouth was appearing and singing the song live on the screen. Trent would wonder out infront of the blue screen to the crowd's delight.

After the song faded away, a security guard came onto the stage and with a flash light removed the lighting from the screen as the familiar chords of Pinion began. Soon enough the stage exploded in a wave of white light and Wish had begun.
Wish gave way to another old favorite, Terrible Lie. This song is always an intense track usually played at the beginning of the concert, but tonight it was used as a continuance of the intensity. The lighting was beautiful for this song too. Two Red Screens showed a distorted image of the band as they played.
Next we returned back to Year Zero as Survivalism provided me with one of the most epic moments of my life. If you follow the story of year zero, the crowd, along with locations around the venue were under surveilence. As the band played live streaming videos from cameras was being displayed on the screen. Little did I know or notice before that that camera (shown in the image for Discipline at Justins feet) would be displaying my sister and I live to the crowd. I'm still giddy over this moment. It was insanely awesome.
Keeping the high of that moment going was The Big Comedown. This was my sister's favorite song of the night as the lighting took another step up as the two screens filled with while light were joined by ropes of lights hanging down and swinging as the band played.
We recieved another track off Ghosts next, 31 Ghosts IV. This track is another instrumental that caries it's power in the synth and guitar parts instead of the lyrics. It was joined with a beautiful flowing blue screen.

Next was a track off With Teeth, Only. The song was as intense as I've ever heard and joined with an awesome display of static that interacted with Trent as the song played. It was probably my favorite lighting of the night as I still can't figure out how they can do this every night and pull it off so seemlessly.
The Hand That Feeds Continued the With Teeth portion of the night. Not one of my favorite songs by Nine Inch Nails, but it really does kick ass live. The stage returned back to it's original format with maily blue lights flashing for this song.
And lastly was Head Like a Hole. I have no doubt this song is as intense as it was the first time it was played live over 20 years ago. The stage was once again flowing with white light this time overtaking the crowd in its brightness too. This song which has been used for several years now as the show ender did it's job of peaking the crowds intensity once again. 
 
Of course there would be an encore tonight. The screen with the NIN logo was the only light in the arena until it raised back up and revealed this:
Josh Freese the drummer walked up to the screen and started tapping boxes on the screen which activated drum notes. Eventually the beat would come through and another track off The Slip, Echoplex, began. This is my second favorite track off their latest cd and really shined on the live stage. The track ended in a floaty guitar solo that makes the song actually sound more complete then the album version.
Trent then did something he rarely does. He stopped the show to speak a bit to the crowd about how he was excited for this show and really wanted to blow our minds (mission accomplished). He introduced the band and then moved on to the next song.

We returned next to Year Zero with God Given. This track usually gets skipped by me when I listen to it on the cd, but live it felt much different. I really enjoyed the intensity giving away to Robin speaking "I would never tell you anything that wasn't absolutely true that hadn't come right from his mouth and wants me to tell you".
He continued next with The Good Soldier. The more Year Zero I got to hear the better!

Trent did something even more uncharacteristic here. He spoke again! He was really enjoying how he felt the crowd wasn't just hearing his music, they were relating to it.

Next up is the ever powerful and emotional, Hurt. Whenever NIN plays this song live the arena becomes a different place. For the duration of the song the entire crowd and the band are one. We all know how Trent felt when writing this song. It's truely a special moment. 

And the last song of this amazing night is another of my favorites, In This Twilight. This beautiful song was backed by a image of a city at war. As the song ended each member of the band made their exits from the stage, one by one, leaving only Trent on the piano playing a mixture of several NIN songs. Some people mention hearing Zero Sum in it. I know I heard La Mer in it on this night. It's a beautiful moment where Trent is saying goodbye to the crowd and giving them one last moment of what is the beauty of Nine Inch Nails. With all the crazy epic lighting that night I still consider those final notes the most beautiful moment of the show. 



The second night of NIN was in Philadelphia, PA on the 29th of September. It featured many of the same songs, but many new ones too. In continuing with the new tradition:

Here's some of the awesome moments from this night.

The Frail actually did lead into The Wretched. I remember rooting for the song during the end of The Frail. I was really hoping to hear it. It's such an intense song.

It was awesome hearing and seeing Me, I'm Not live. I LOVE this song and when I saw it being played in Europe I was so jelous.

I said before either concert that I hope I get to see them play The Great Destroyer. They didn't the first night but the on the second I heard the opening notes and went crazy. It was awesome. The way the band played to opening infront of the screen that was completely white then when the song went crazy the screen did too. I loved seeing the Blue Screen of Death up there for those fraction of a seconds. Made me laugh.

8 Ghosts I was pretty cool to hear. I think this is the second time it has been played live. It was nice hearing a different track then 31 ghosts IV.

Down In It was epic! I heard this song back in 2006 at Jones Beach but being in the GA section for it was crazy. The crowd was totally into this song.


Trent's speach again the second night and the laughter over the bra.

Hearing Reptile again was awesome.
After the concert I waited around in the rain outside the tour buses to see if anyone felt like saying hi. No one did, but it was awesome just recovering out there and meeting some awesome people while waiting.

And that is my recap of those two awesome nights. Thanks to my sister, Kristen, for coming along, taking pictures and some videos.