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While I posted before about how stupendous this show was, now that I’ve been to the 2nd Terminal 5 show, I need to reiterate that it wasn’t just an amazing show, it was one of the best shows I’ve attended in my 35 years or so of fairly steady concert going. I’ve heard a lot of wonderful music and enjoyed many great shows (9 of them other NIN shows) but every now and then, there is a show that is an category of its own where you know that it will be something you remember for a long time.
In 1979 I went to see a band called the Gang of 4 at a tiny club in Toronto called the Edge. They had just released or were about to release their first LP. Punk was relatively new. The anger, the rage, the fact of a mosh pit, the type of music, the lyrics, the attitude and the performance – all were unique at that time. I knew I was experiencing one of the most transformative gigs ever – not just for me but for the direction that music was going to take. I will never forget the expression on Andy Gill’s face, Jon King’s vocals, or the pogo thrashing/dancing in the pit. It didn’t hurt that Gill was a dead ringer for James Dean. I saw Gang of 4 again, but nothing rivaled that show. At the opposite extreme, and as another example, I attended my first (and only) festival in 1980 in a parched and dusty field, and at one point Talking Heads came onto the stage with a whole new lineup including Nona Hendryx and Adrian Belew and played Remain in Light before anyone had heard it – and the crowd of 80,000 was silent because they wanted to hear every word and every note. And then there was last Sunday at Webster. Thanks to wise ticketing policies, everyone there was a true fan desperate to be there. And everything clicked – not automatically, but because it was clear all involved poured heart and energy and skill into it. And even the songs I’d heard and enjoyed before were crisper somehow and more passionate.
TR has asked how the paperless ticketing worked (I’ll limit myself here to how it worked in terms of the night of show, not as to obtaining tix) and I’ll say that it was great. I was extra grateful at the release of the few tickets last week as that’s how I got a ticket.
Thank you to the band for a truly memorable experience.
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