Met the band last night in Chicago! It was awesome!! Hugged Trent and Justin it was orgasmic haha! I posted more details of my experience in the previous shows link for Chicago, bottom of pg. 5. I just don't feel like rewriting it again. Lots of good close up pics and I can die happy now my dream has come true!

Great pics!!! ^^^^

Incredible experience.Robin tried to give me bunny ears but by the time they took the pic he said "oh well" and just leaned in.I'll spare you every little detail of every word uttered to or by a band member but myself and Robin agreed that we miss his site,Justin was incredibly personable,Ilan promised to melt my face off,and Trent said that he "threw us a curve ball" to all the fans that were accustomed to waiting 5 years in between records and tours.I thanked him and told him that the past few years have been especially exciting and rewarding to be a NIN fan and he thanked me for the support.Here are my pics from soundcheck and from the show.
NIN Soundcheck 5/29/09
NIN Wave Goodbye 5/29/09



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/30/2009 10:32PM by futant.

futant - Great pics! I take it you're a Robin fan? Haha.

Nick - Great story, man!

NickAcosta posted:

INDIANA SHOW

got there at 2
waited, waited, waited

got in at 4
waited, waited, waited

i was like the twentieth person to meet the band
i had the wave goodbye poster in a poster tube

i handed it to Ilan to sign first
Brett Bachemin was right behind him and said "Nice Tube" to me
i replied, "Yeah, I gotta a real thick one"
Ilan laughed and said, "How does one get such a large tube?" to which I said,
"It just comes naturally."
Brett said "God you re a dirty son of a bitch."

Then I met and shook hands with Trent
While he was signing my poster, I said,
"Thanks for making this a great week, I m get to meet you guys and then Coldplay is coming this Friday!"
Trent said, "Be careful, a hear their pit is a little rough, I don t want you to get hurt."
By this time JMJ had already signed my poster.
Robin was sick and was not at the M&G

Then I took a picture with the band.
When I walked up there, Trent said
"Lets make this a 'tough guy' pose"
Then JMJ saw me and said
"Oh, this is the Coldplay guy" and put his arm around my shoulder.

After I took the picture I eventually got into soundcheck, front and center!
The played the Frail and the Wretched
The girl I was standing next to was bawling her eyes out "THIS IS MY FAVORITE SONG! SERIOUSLY!"

Then they played LITS
Trent starting singing the song really low for some reason and had to stop cause he fucked it all up.
Robin played some of it on the guitar and Trent goes, "That didnt help at all"
Eventually they got it.

Then Robin sneezed, I yelled "Bless You, Robin!" And the played non-entity.

Then I watch SSSC's soundcheck and ate spicy curry chicken backstage.

After watching SSSC actual set I went backstage again and was told we would be able to listen to 4 songs from the side of the stage.

The group that I was with went to the side of the stage first. It was about this time that the spicy chicken started to do its number on my stomach. I took plenty of pictures that I will post SOON. I got one of Leo and he seemed kinda pissed cause of the flash. I saw Home 1,000,000, Discipline, MOTP, and Piggy. I know that 5 not 4 but i was going to stay until they kicked me out.

Before MOTP Justin came to the side of the stage and I gave him a high five.

Then I had to go back to my seat. GREAT SHOW

LOL that is awesome. Very detailed haha

-I really want them to sign my scritti politti CD Provision but I don't want to get my ass kicked HAHA

This post is about our $1200 VIP experience in Noblesville, Indiana. It includes the good and the bad. All of this seems to be in transition from show to show, so the bugs we had may get worked out for YOUR experience, but this is how it went down with a huge group of donors:

We got there at 3:00. There may have been over 300 vip donors total, about 120 at the $1000 level (or 60, each with a guest). We were very happy to have the opportunity. Start doing the math and you'll be impressed with just how much was raised for EDLC in just one show. With that many donors, parts of the package were bound to drop out or undergo changes out of necessity (including the almost last-minute email asking donors to show up an hour earlier than previously scheduled - a panicky moment if you are driving long distance from a different time zone and will be losing an hour along the way, six hours after getting home from the Chicago show).

I will tell you that the NIN staff were polite and calm and kept smiles on their faces the whole day and night. So did the fans - what a great and devoted group of people, we loved talking to everyone around us, esp. finding out how many of us had traveled to Vegas for the final LITS show. And Trent and the band - gracious the whole day. They spent a significant part of their day just doing autographs and pics. After a somewhat long check-in process due to the sheer volume of donors, the band started M&G around 4:00. About 90 mins later we still weren't through the line and it was time for soundcheck so staff came through and numbered our hands with sharpie markers so we could all go over for soundcheck, then come back to line up in order for the rest of MG.

Robin was sick and wasn't around for MG but did appear for SC with hot tea and a white towel tied around his head. SC was brilliant (Frail, Wretched, LITS, Non-Entity, and Burn were played). Trent was chatty and cracking jokes, there was a nice breeze blowing through the pavillion, the sun was shining, birds were chirping. It was the perfect crowd and you could hear the music so well without anyone talking. Everyone resisted any urges to call out requests or say anything cute - did I mention how everyone, the staff, the band, and the fans, were totally great?

160 or so of us went back to line up for M&G again. Someone drove Mari by on a golf cart and some fans (most of us in awe, she looked simply _stunning_)said hi as she went by. We were allowed to have one item signed, no pics during autographs, and we were asked to hurry it along by some staff as the clock was ticking. We were in the last group to take pics,and didn't finish until just after 7:30 (and the band was on stage like 45 minutes later, don't know if they ever had time to catch dinner). It started to sprinkle and Trent told my husband and I we'd better hurry or it was going to turn into a wet t-shirt contest. We ate dinner quickly with other 1K donors (good catering) and lined back up to get our stage rotation assignments. We were written on again, this time in aqua sharpie, 4 different groups, left or right side of the stage. We were in group 3R. We were told to report during Gave Up and that we would be onstage for four songs. We went to our seats and it was about 10 minutes before NIN was on. Gave Up was the 8th song in. We reported quickly but were held backstage for about 7 minutes before we were taken on, someone was changing or something. This made some of us 3R's anxious, as the 3L's were already onstage. 3R was right behind Robin and a smoke machine, so we were on the back of the state, not the side of the stage. It was cool as hell to be up there, also a little difficult to see (lots of smoke) and difficult to hear the songs clearly because we were so close to Ilan (most of the drums drowned out Trent's singing from my vantage point). You could feel the bass and drums reverberating throughout the floor. It was very close quarters and perhaps 15 of us were crowded into a 5 foot square area - no room to move, dance, etc, and I felt sorry for the people in back who didn't get a good view. Lots of people had their cameras out and we hadn't discussed rotating so that the people in back could move up and get a good look - that might be an idea for some of you with upcoming VIP experiences that are also packed with so many donors. I think my group only got 3.5 songs instead of 4, and dammit, we were pulled off during Physical. Missed almost the whole song exiting and walking back around to our seats. Once we left stage, our VIP experience was over. We waited a lot in lines through the day but met nice people, got an autograph, a picture with Trent/Justin/Ilan, had about 90 seconds of one-on-one time with Trent, saw Rob Sheridan, Mari, Tom Morello and Boots, had a good dinner, were on the back of the stage for 3.5 songs, and got a nifty little backstage sticker.

So, now for the not-so-good: we bought the package that included tickets and were delayed entrance into the M&G line until tickets were found for us (we already had our official VIP patch at this point but had to have a ticket). There were about 20 of us in this situation and we were in the back of every line all day - for sound check, autographs, pictures, dinner, getting on stage for four songs. We missed SSSC sound check. We missed SSSC on the stage. For those of you with VIP packages for upcoming shows, I think I would advise avoiding the back of the line if at all possible. If you bought the $1200 package, be prepared to wait for entrance tickets while the rest of the group goes to M & G. Perhaps this bug will be worked out though by the time you go. We got to meet Trent, Justin, and Ilan, but missed all of Street Sweeper to do that. The 1K donors did not get any extra time with the band or after-show perks. Those fans who were part of the first VIP experiences in CA were so lucky! When the Chicago packages were closed early, I figured Noblesville would absorb some of the overflow of people who hadn't purchased yet. I bet the rest of the shows will have group sizes such as this one.

Although it was mostly sunny during the day, about halfway through the set it started raining. We got wet going walking back from our onstage time but we had lightening for Hurt and that was COOL. You could turn around and see all the lighters/cell phone in the audience and see the clouds lighting up. Trent said something about it feeling like the right place and the right time, and thanked us. Said he would get sad if he said it was the last tour so he just wasn't going to say that.

Other random tidbits: the backstage dinner was very tasty, this is probably up to the venue. There were good vegetarian and vegan options (including a black bean and tempeh polenta) that were clearly labeled. The special backstage patch/sticker given to 1K donors is pretty cool. We bought the messenger bag. More tears when NIN left the stage, more tears on the drive back to Illinois, and more than a bit of sadness today that it is over. Just want to send all our love out to Eric, Trent, the staff who helped run everything, and the fans we spent over 9 hours with. It was a memorable ending, and you have to take the good and bad aspects of it all, that's how life is. Eric will get a shot at living, even that's not guaranteed despite all of our efforts. I'll be trying to get over my last-concert funk and send some of those positive thoughts Eric's way. Good luck to all of you who have yet to experience your VIP package. Please post so we can all share in the fun. And thank you Jeff, Kim, Cassie and Bill for hanging out with us!

Just a couple of questions

1. With all the big groups and them putting certain groups on the stage at different times at shows what happens after you leave the stage can you go watch the rest of the show from the crowd pit etc or do they rotate you to a diff side of the stage?

2. I know in most cases if not all we have to get off stage for Jane's are we in seats at that point?

3. What time do people recommend getting there if you have the 1200$ package?

4. 1200$ Donors Are they Definitely getting pictures with the band and Trent ?

5. Also are we allowed backstage after the show still i know in most cases people with passes are allowed to hang around in private areas after the show is over bar drinks etc no guarantees that the band will be there but the donors other pass holders can mingle etc.?

Thanks in advance for any answers.





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/31/2009 09:09PM by emorency.

Great stories, guys!

reznerd - Great tips for future VIPs. And whatever your avatar is, it's adorable!

senate - I love what you got signed!

In another thread, someone said the only photo op for Chicago was with Justin on the stage and the entire group with him on the stage; and that they couldn't get a personal pic with the band. Is this true, or have people been able to get one-on-one photos with members of the band at every show so far?

VIP experience from Detroit was great. Trent was in good mood, wearing a Star Trek t-shirt from Altru (can be found @ Urban Outfitters). He's just great!

We were 38 $1000 donors and we could enjoy the show from stage, talk to Justin, Ilan and Rob backstage (Trent tried to be there as much as possible, Robin was sick and needed the rest). Overall an experience that I will remember forever. Thank you!

The staff and the band are doing their best to give us an unique experience and were very positive about it, and that is probably what I will remember the most.

Here is what I got signed:

For those of you who were able to get a Wave Goodbye poster signed, did you have the poster before you went to the show? Or did the give you a chance to buy the poster before the signing?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/01/2009 03:36PM by ozzfan84.

Dingerz, love your pics! :-)

LBoogie posted:

Here is my husband and I from the Clarkston, MI show:



I was so nervous I couldn't speak. I had a perma-smile on my face and I think it was creeping Trent out a bit :-). I asked for a hug and he said, "Do you always talk without moving your mouth?" or something like that- the whole thing was a blur. Then I got all flustered and said something like "I'm sorry I'm so nervous bahhahahah". I got my hugs from all of them though so that's all that matters.

I must say the whole thing was run very efficiently. I have absolutely no complaints. What an awesome opportunity! One of the best nights of my life thus far.

lol! Funny story and I like your photo a lot. It looks like you guys were all out camping

merlyntemple - yes, hanging out with you guys made it all the better. I'll take a look at your pics when we hit up a net cafe in Germany.

Still no Robin at the M&G?