It's been over a week, I can't put it off anymore. I'm in NIN withdrawal, and I have to cope with my look back at the show.

I typed a few things out when I got to the apartment after the show, but I know I probably forgot a lot of stuff.

My trip to Chicago started off rocky. Bus from Buffalo to Cleveland was packed so much I had to have my bags between my feet, while some lady slept against me. Put on Ghosts and tried to sleep, got an hour or so. Cleveland to Chicago bus filled up with reboarding passengers, so they were going to send an express bus "as soon as the bus pulls out". 45 minutes later, a bus pulls in, 10 minues later, we get on, 20 minutes later, we finally leave for Chicago. Somehow we made up time, and then some, as I woke up a few minutes before we got to the Chicago exit, around 9.
So, not too bad so far. Plus, a couple on the bus were NIN fans and jealous that I was going to the shows. But then, oh god.
Got to the train station, planning on buying a 3-day pass for $14. Didn't realize you can't buy them at the train stations (wtf, can't buy a train pass at the train station!) I could only put money on a card. Sure, that'd be ok, if I had anything less than a $20 on me. So after what felt like a half hour of freaking out trying to get change for a $20 (somehow nobody had any money, according to them) I finally got change from a parking garage. Woo!
I figured out the bus lines, and the map, and successfully traveled 2 lines and walked a few blocks to my friend's aunt's apartment. My awesome friend. My totally BFF. Like, totally.
So we head out, on our GRAND ADVENTURE TO GO SEE NIN! Ok, less grand adventure, and more train to the venue.

I remember a few things from waiting in line. Like our friends behind us that went to the "hot dog" vendor across the street and came back with two cups. "They're not hot dogs." Oh god, corn in a cup. It was VERY interesting. For those of you who did not try this either night, it goes as follows:
spatula of butter-like-spread
ear of corn cut off the cob
squeeze of butter-like-squeeze-stuff
sprinkle of what looked like some kind of weird cheese
an inconsistent sprinkle cyan pepper (mine had twice as much as my friend's)
$1.75

I put on my corn starch a bit early the first night, as some of it had already come off by the time we went in.
We got to see a live episode of cops across the street, but they let them go. Booo!

So, we get in, and the girl infront of me feeds me this line how she was there in line since 4 yesterday. Now, the person in the front of the nin.com presale line told us they were there at, I think it was 7? Anyhow, nowhere near 4. So yeah, you didn't have to lie about being there when nobody was there. You also didn't have to threaten everyone around you that they'd be in some serious pain if they try to get your rail. And glare at everyone as if we were plotting to push you out of the way and make out with the rail where you're standing, just to piss you off. But the girl next to her, with the pink/purple hair, you were cool. You like a band's art director a bit much, but you were cool.
Mew was... interesting? Not really my style, and from my perspective nobody really got into them at all. Visuals were trippy surreal through, I did love that. Cats playing violins running toward bears playing violins and tigers in dresses. Sad to say, more interesting than watching the band.

Fast-forward to NIN, becuase that's what the 11 hour bus trip and 6-7 hours of sitting outside was for.
Pinion, Wish, LAST. Holy fuck, everyone swore "this is it, we're getting Broken!" If only. Happiness in Slavery is one of my very favorite songs. Not going to complain though, I got to see Last, and it was fucking killer!
Oh. My. God. When they started playing The Frail, I was so nervous. Now, people, keep in mind: I have heard The Frail 2 times before. First time, into Closer. Which I half expected, because he did that almost every time on LITS tour. Then, NIN|JA, I got so excited, but then it went into Metal. The Wretched is my #1 favorite song, I connect to it, it's my fucking s/n just about everywhere (starting with The Spiral/nin.com). As Trent played the last notes, so slowly, I got so excited. Maybe I'll finally get to see it. I heard Ilan counting down with his sticks (I think that's what I heard) and I KNEW I'd finally get The Wretched. It was beautiful. I sang and screamed along, I probably cried. It was the most epic thing I had ever experienced. I could die happy. Someone could kill me right then and there and I'd be happy. But the list of awesomeness was not over, and a few songs later, Banged and Blown Through. If only Saul had come out to join, but it was still wonderful. Non-Entity was another great high point. I saw it on the summer WT tour, but I only got one show, and I was in a seat. I just can't feel the song in a seat the way I can on the floor. It was beautiful. Robin, thank you. You made that song so much better. And into Gone, Still? Then Lights In The Sky?! This kind of stuff makes me long for a Still-esque tour so bad. Eraser into Downward Spiral was so great, even though I had heard them both before, the chills...
Down In It. Fuck yes Down In It. Felt like NIN came full-circle. Back to where it all began for the last shows.
But then... then HE showed up. I didn't care as much because they did Dead Souls, he didn't ruin it. Still, I love Dead Souls, and would have much rather they played that before Peter "SURPRISED" everyone and joined them on stage. I must say, as soon as Trent introduced him, my boner went away. And as much as I love a good scream-and-thrash during THTF/HLAH, that boner just couldn't get back up.
FYI, I lost it during Hurt, and cried. I'll admit it.

I am excited about this footage, because not only will I get to re-live my last 2 shows, but Robin's camera guy kept pointing the camera at me. I hope they release the raw footage.

After the show, we stopped at Burrito Mexicano (I think that's what it was called, right below the red line) and got THE BEST burrito I've ever had.

Finally got some video up:

Terrible Lie [HD]

This is when Trent chucked his guitar to the back of the stage at the end.

More videos to come.

I found a Blackberry on the floor of the pit after this show. After waiting around 10 minutes holding it up in the air, then trying to find somebody responsible at the venue to give it to (with no luck), today I got it to come back to life just enough to see a name on it. Robyn H(xxxxx)n. Please reply via PM and we'll get this back to you.

Suffering from the NINflu- the NINblues, and general NIN withdrawal...

Is there any good audio/mp3s of this show around?

tx

awesome thanks--will try it when I get home. At work now--shhhhhhhhh

hey does anybody have the set list for MEW? I really got into them. I even bought their cd that was there.

Has any one formatted a complete show into a DVD yet to download like RyanJ did for the May show? I'm looking for Friday and Saturdays shows.... I've already downloaded the full audio for both shows. Very nice

Thanks,
Kevin



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/11/2009 06:34PM by steadyhaste.

wakeb791 posted:

To anyone that has pictures of the show, post some links to your albums! I didn't bring my camera, since I knew I'd have to be extra careful with a poster, so I'm dyin to get as many pictures as I can. I've got the ones posted in here so far.

[s254.photobucket.com]

Here you go! forgive me for some pics if they are blurry. x.x i just nit-picked through the best ones. and i feel your pain! i was holding onto a tour shirt, my camera, and my poster that has some battle damage due to the pit... T-T



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/12/2009 08:40PM by xEvenxDeeperx.

The galleries are now open, the code for this show is ninpeag3b1ucv

Images: [beta.media.nin.com]

Videos: [beta.media.nin.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/13/2009 05:16PM by SwimFin.

I've got a couple extra of the "tour" poster. I'm looking to TRADE for an XL shirt from the Saturday show OR a Chicago "Aragon" show poster.

PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU HAVE EITHER OF THESE AND WANT TO TRADE

Thanks!
Kevin

Does anyone have a higher resolution picture of the aragon poster (not general tour poster) I want to set it as my wallpaper but all I can find are these smaller pics off of ebay. . .

Here's my Video of Head like a hole... I tried doing something a little different.

Not just a straight up shot of the band... YOU may be in it!

Damage_Addict posted:

Here's my Video of Head like a hole... I tried doing something a little different.

Not just a straight up shot of the band... YOU may be in it!

I've gotta tell ya I LOVED what you did with your video! I haven't seen many that showed how impressive the Aragon was, the ceiling and all. I haven't been back to the forums since the last show, and I just might have seen myself in yours! It still amazes me that so many people were just "there". Hell, that one guy was YAWNING for petes sake! I haven't put away my shirt, my wristband or the ticket we got as nin.com tic holders. They're still lying on the dining room table. I've got pics and videos all over the place and I can't wait for the DVD. Withdrawl is going to be a long drawn out process, I fear.

Thanks!

I can’t believe that I haven’t commented on this show - Oh well, I’ll do it NOW!

This was one of my favorite cities to visit. Minus the fiasco at the airport and the fact that my hotel room flooded it was AWESOME! I had a blast from the very start. It was great to hang out with some of the people that I had met over the past couple of shows and I couldn’t think of a better way to spend the time away than with pizza and conversation. The fact that I got us lost along the way to find the restaurant worked out in our favor too! I got to see some of the lake at night…and Ash got attacked by a dog, ankle biter. Haha. However, the owner was then nice enough to point us in the right direction and there was no holes in Ash’s shoes, so it all worked out. The trip back to the restaurant was a blast and I can’t remember having more fun wandering about a city at night. The pizza was good too!

The rain was incredible and forced us to come back to the line the next day, which was alright. We still managed a great spot in line and a lot of my friends were there as well. It was great to get to see you guys again and I had a wonderful time harassing the security…behind their backs of course. Kept me entertained for hours - except when it irritated me. I still don’t know why we weren’t allowed to take our NIN bags in and we were able to at every other show. Oh well, thanks to a friend’s mother we were able to put them in their vehicle. Thanks again for that! Also, a thanks should go out for the Starbucks - I really enjoyed the frappuccinos that we got each day! They are my favorite thing that contains coffee…even if I shouldn’t drink the stuff…yeah.

As far as the show goes, we ended up in perfect position! At the corner of the T, on JMJ’s side. It was a great show and ranks among my favorites still, although the second Aragon kicked its ass. I vividly remember “Burn.” Somehow Ash ended up with two high powered cameras…and not a damn picture was taken! Some of my favorite highlights of the night include “Terrible Lie,” “Closer,” “Last,” “DOWN IN IT,” and “Atmosphere.” They were all great…yes, I know I say it every time. What can I say, there isn’t really a song I hate. Also, I was looking forward to seeing Murphy once again and somehow I enjoyed him even more at these shows! He is such a nice guy when you meet him in person.

Best part - Ash came away beaming with a souvenir (I really should have taken a picture!) Later that night, I stole acquired it! I do love it!!

Here are some of the pictures of the night!

Sofuckingadorable…


Some more:












A selection of them will be tagged to appear in the image section under Ash's profile (aden410), but more can be found HERE



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/03/2009 01:04PM by roarbitz.

Yeah, we were right on the rail!

I haven't had time to frame mine either, but it is on my "things to do" list...which is currently huge! I'm still trying to get caught up with the first round of NINJA/Wave Goodbye photos, somehow not every show has been sorted, tagged, and made available. Now only if I didn't have homework - life would be so much easier.