ETS Tour Journal

Just got back to StL after an amazing show. Will post further once I sleep.

I just got back home in Topeka from Columbia (came across a wicked auto accident involving a van that caught fire).

My girlfriend came with me and has never really listened to NIN before. Her favorite musician is Bob Dylan, so hearing some industrial noise was a challenge for her (especially Boris). I couldn't really stand Boris much myself, but tried to make a drinking game out of their show ("Take a drink every time he says "Wooooo!").

NIN gave a stellar performance. I only wish my pre-sale tickets I spent good money on had given me seats that were a little more in direct line of sight of the whole stage, instead of having lighting racks block the view. It also partially ruined the effect of the stealth screens. I didn't bother to look at seating charts when ordering tickets, but I heard several people around me say things like, "On the Internet, they show this section as being over there (points to the area behind the sound and lighting control area)."

Funniest moment of the night:

During The Greater Good (which my girlfriend thought was really weird and creepy) she told me after the show that she thought Trent was saying:

Breath my skin
Smelly, smelly

I bust up laughing every time I think about her first impression of that song. "It's smelly....smelly" Hilarious!

This was the first time I had ever heard Trent introduce the other band members by name on stage. At past shows it seemed like Trent would avoid these semi-candid moments. Anything beyond a "Thanks" before the very last song seemed rare. But if you ask me, I think he left someone out: The guy who ran the audio mixer in the control area who seemed to be getting into the music more than anyone else in the entire building, including Trent. It's a wonder he didn't push his mixer across the floor and up to the stage to join the rest of the band.

Well that's about all I can say about it for now. Look forward to reading further posts in this thread from others who went. (I'd really love to come across a bootleg audio recording of the show too. I love the piano piece Trent played to end the show).

Setlist!

999,999
1,000,000
Letting You
Discipline
March of The Pigs
Head Down
The Frail
The Wretched
Closer
Gave Up

Me, I'm Not
The Great Destroyer

5 Ghosts I
17 Ghosts II
19 Ghosts III
Ghosts Piggy

The Greater Good

Wish
Terrible Lie
Survivalism
31 Ghosts IV
Only
The Hand That Feeds
Head Like a Hole

Encore:
Echoplex
The Good Soldier
Hurt
In This Twilight

Awesome, AWESOME show. The extra video effects in Closer have made that song much more enjoyable. Shame that they didn't play The Big Come Down but it was made up for with The Good Soldier.

i was lucky enough to be front and center on the rail....... so worth standing in like for about six hours.

The face-cam was cool. I think this was during discipline? (30 mins into the show)

yeah the audio mixer guy rocks out in every show, I would kill to have a job that i loved that much. rock on audio mixer guy

NotApplicable wrote:The face-cam was cool. I think this was during discipline? (30 mins into the show)

it was during Closer.

nkohler wrote:yeah the audio mixer guy rocks out in every show, I would kill to have a job that i loved that much. rock on audio mixer guy

That guy's actually the lighting dude.

orestes wrote:Just got back to StL after an amazing show. Will post further once I sleep.

Well if I would have known you would have been there I would have tried to meet up and say hi.

Great show. Loved "The Good Soldier." Laughed my head off when Trent mentioned something about calling Justin, Jeordie.

The presales were pretty direct on the sides so it was tough seeing some of the videos, but we were close enough to make eye contact and see the band's facial expressions so I think it was a decent trade. I still think the presales are a nice little treat for the hardcore fans.

I had seats for the first time in years and I was so missing the pit! Looked like a blast. Seats were great though, barely off the floor, right of stage.
I have to be honest - I think it's been a long time since I've seen Reznor give us that much high energy, it was fun to watch, he was chatty, it was honestly like he and the band were having fun. I went to StL which was great - but this was awesome. It was one of the best shows I have seen in a long time. Setlist was great, the frat boys around us were big into YZ, knew every word.
I looked back at all my stubs, and I think unless I have missed something (entirely possible) this was my 20th show. I was surprised by that - took my sister and it was her first.
Strict fucking venue. Is this a college campus thing?
Boris gets a meh from me. So loud. The drummer was hilarious!

Boris' drummer was hilarious! It seemed like most people around me were gritting their teeth most of the way through their set. But I couldn't help but laugh and laugh. Especially when he stood up on top of his trap set with his arms raised to a still mostly empty arena. I was surprised to see so many skipped the opening act but I can't say they should regret it. In the end, I give Boris an A for effort.

I was on the rail just to the left of Trent. It was a really good show.

Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/30182335@N ... 689540067/

Videos of me, i'm not 17 ghosts and speech later today

It's the day after the show. I feel much better after getting some much needed sleep.

My wife and I drove from Kansas City to see the show. It was of course well worth the 2 hour drive.

Pre-sale line organization at this show=WAY better than when NIN went through STL back in August. That was a nightmare.

I really really liked Boris. Granted, the drummer was comical, and I think double necked guitars are one of the dumbest inventions ever, their sound was really huge. Instrumentally it reminded me of a mix between The Smashing Pumpkins and My Bloody Valentine. Really cool.

The venue was a lot smaller than I thought it would be. The floor was roughly half the size of big arenas, and there weren't as many seat sections. Surprisingly though, there still weren't a lot of people at this show. It's probably because they just came to MO 3 months ago. But the floor was full. Most of the bottom seats were too.

-------NIN-------

They sounded awesome. This version of the band has really grown by leaps and bounds since the last time I saw them 3 months ago. Notably, Justin is fitting in a lot better now. His energy on stage is a lot more involved and in sync with the rest of the band.

In the middle of the set Trent talked to the audience. He didn't know where he was. "Where are we? Missouri? Is there a lot to do here? A nice place to live? I grew up in a place where there was NOTHING to do." He introduced the band, then started joking with Justin: "What did I used to call you when you first joined? I used to use a wrong name. Jeordie White?" That was hilarious.

The set was virtually the same as in St. Louis, with the addition of The Good Soldier, minus God Given, and the ghosts songs were different too I think.

Notable songs:

The Good Soldier: I wanted to here this in STL, so I was very happy to hear it this time around. Robin's solo was great. He really is an integral part of this band live. Trent sang and played the bells at the same time. That's quite impressive.

Piggy (ghosty)-always a treat. The lights were amazing. Josh is percussive perfection.

Ghosts-all of the ghosts songs have come off really well live. They also provide a nice break from being crushed. We were maybe 3 people away from the stage, center.

The Frail/The wretched-fuck yeah. Glad to hear at least SOME fragile.

The camera effects during Closer and The Greater Good were pretty sweet. They weren't working last time.

Terrible Lie, survivalism, Discipline, Head like a hole, Wish, Head Down, Letting You=pure awesomeness.

Ending with In This Twilight, of course, was great. That song is just awesome.

This is the 6th time I've seen NIN, and I've yet to hear Down In It. That sucks.

All in all, it was a great time.

Leviathant wrote:

nkohler wrote:yeah the audio mixer guy rocks out in every show, I would kill to have a job that i loved that much. rock on audio mixer guy

That guy's actually the lighting dude.

my bad, but the fact remains

KninS wrote: This is the 6th time I've seen NIN, and I've yet to hear Down In It. That sucks.

I was really hoping for Down in it. Its my 4th time seeing NIN since 2000 and I too have yet to see Down in it.

Leviathant wrote:

nkohler wrote:yeah the audio mixer guy rocks out in every show, I would kill to have a job that i loved that much. rock on audio mixer guy

That guy's actually the lighting dude.

And he'll rip your fucking face off!


Here are some of my better shots from the night -

31 Ghosts IV


Me, I'm Not (Which is now my new wallpaper)


Closer


The Wretched

Fantastic show. Simply fantastic. I think I enjoyed myself more last night than I did three months ago in STL. That might have been because I was on the floor, back by the sound/light booth, and while there were a fair amount of people in front of me just bobbing their heads and taking photos, we more than made up for the small lack of energy that was going on. The new Closer visuals are awesome, and I don't remember the smoke effect for Ghosts 31 that they used last night from other shows. Hearing The Good Soldier was great, and Trent's chattiness was fantastic as well, especially the comments about Justin and about the guy who needed to update his iPhone so it could scroll faster.

Simply fantastic show. I hope that they come back to Columbia next tour, whenever that is. I've got photos but haven't had a chance to go through them and upload them, but once I do, I'll make sure to post a link.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the iPhone comment Trent made. Someone in the audience was apparently using their iPhone to type a message and have it scroll on the screen so Trent could see it. While Trent was introducing the band he noticed it and said "...what's that say? Theeeee.....Biiiiiigg....Cooooome.......Doooooow......you know, if you get the knew update for that it will scroll faster." Of course everybody laughed. It was a very candid, borderline nerdy comment. He almost sounded like an Apple 'genius'.

I have to admit that I was a little bummed out that we missed an extended encore, like in Saint Louis where Reptile. God Given and The Big Comedown were played. That said, I thought the dynamic and intensity of the show were a little more strong in Columbia over Saint Louis. Kiel/Savvis/Scottrade Center is pretty big, and with a sparse crowd, the intensity just wasn't there. The size of the Mizzou Arena (smaller than Scottrade,) and with the stage pushed forward, being on the floor towards the back was closer than where we stood in StL. It also could have been the many beers I downed during the show. But I digress...

The crowd size was disappointing for a college town - I guess with the state of the economy and the state of music today, people just aren't going to concerts anymore. What's great about a NIN show is that Trent still puts on the same show for a smaller group as he would for a larger one. That's awesome.

Highlights for me were The Frail leading into a killer version of The Wretched. It was nice to see the visuals with close up camera working (wasn't working in StL,) and the addition of the camera for Closer really added to that experience.

Pinion-Wish-Terrible Lie was really awesome. I think at this point I was pretty much out of control (not as much as the lighting guy or the dude in front of me who was all over the place.)

I've never been a really big fan of Letting You, but I've come around on that one. I was pretty impressed with it this time around. And I'm thinking that 999,999 almost is a better intro song than Pinion. Never thought I'd hear myself say that, but that has really grown on me.

As an aside - I noticed the lighting guy in StL - he had a camera on him during Survivalism. He totally gets into it, and yes, as someone alluded to earlier, he'll definitely kick your ass if you're not careful. Speaking of Survivalism - one of the cameras was facing the back of the crowd and there were two bizarre people staring at the camera - perfectly still - during the entire song. They were by my friend, and I noticed them maybe 3/4 of the way through. It may have been the beer, in fact, I know it was the beer, but I felt the need to tell one of them, after the song, "That was really awesome." She smiled at me, probably whispered something like, "What a fucking idiot," and then they quickly took off. Not sure if they were planted there or what. I'm assuming so.

Fuck Mizzou.

I'm diabetic, so I carry a little fanny pack (don't laugh) to concerts to keep glucose in. The fucking venue took it and wouldn't give it back. I wish I'd have passed out so I could sue those motherfuckers.

Chino wrote:Fuck Mizzou.

I'm diabetic, so I carry a little fanny pack (don't laugh) to concerts to keep glucose in. The fucking venue took it and wouldn't give it back. I wish I'd have passed out so I could sue those motherfuckers.

yeah security was stupid there. i mean its neat that they were making it so safe. but they were confiscating peoples wallets if it had a chain attached to it. stupid!

RichardP wrote:

Chino wrote:Fuck Mizzou.

I'm diabetic, so I carry a little fanny pack (don't laugh) to concerts to keep glucose in. The fucking venue took it and wouldn't give it back. I wish I'd have passed out so I could sue those motherfuckers.

yeah security was stupid there. i mean its neat that they were making it so safe. but they were confiscating peoples wallets if it had a chain attached to it. stupid!

Well - that's small town politics for you. Using metal detecting wands? Are we in the airport, or are going to see a NIN show? I recall getting patted down a little at the StL show (actually - it was a little uncomfortable because the dude grabbed my junk,) but nothing like what they were doing at Mizzou. One chick was wearing christmas lights and they wouldn't let her in with them on.

Another great show despite the fact that my presale seats sucked. We were close but probably too close since I couldn't see Alessandro or Josh for the light panels hanging on the sides of the stage. JMJ and Robin teamed up several times to jam together on the "fan club" side which was very cool. And I finally got to hear "The Good Soldier" live and it was all that I'd hoped it would be...Trent singing, playing the glockenspiel and shaking the tamborine. That takes coordination!

Chino, sorry to hear that security was a bitch for you. They all seemed to be 60 and over, you'd think they'd have consideration for medical needs. I'm surprised though, when I went through the lady was so distracted by my iPod touch, she totally missed the fact that I had a camera in my messenger bag....the camera was bigger than the iPod!

I got a few photos up on Flickr if anyone is interested.

This was my first show since Philly in August and I have to say, that despite the naysayers, the band is even better now than they were back at the start of the tour. I dare say that the Mizzou performance was better overall than the Philly setlist. (Aside from mini-EYB, hehe.)

Lt. Randazzo and Hudson Tiger were my (dance) partners in crime this night and the show wouldn't have been nearly as fun without them, especially when we were all singing the "la la la las" in unison during Echoplex.

The smaller venue afforded for a much more intimate experience and choice spots in front of the soundboard offered us prime viewing spots throughout the concert.

I think Lt. Randazzo and HT pretty much covered what I would have expressed, so I'm just going to go through my personal highlights of the show.

*The little flourishes of improvisation during and between songs, especially near the beginning of the setlist, made the standard setlist unexpectant and curious to see what was next.
*The Wretched--Alessandro busting out his Kaoss pad
*Closer--the new screen treatment makes the song creepy as fuck.
*Me I'm Not/The Great Destroyer--Besides the Ghosts section of the setlist, I could watch them perform glitch on touchscreens all night and I would be happy.
*Survivalism--

MicNIN wrote:. . .Speaking of Survivalism - one of the cameras was facing the back of the crowd and there were two bizarre people staring at the camera - perfectly still - during the entire song. They were by my friend, and I noticed them maybe 3/4 of the way through. It may have been the beer, in fact, I know it was the beer, but I felt the need to tell one of them, after the song, "That was really awesome." She smiled at me, probably whispered something like, "What a fucking idiot," and then they quickly took off. Not sure if they were planted there or what. I'm assuming so.

When the song kicked in, me and Tony turned to see who was standing in front of the soundboard camera and much to our chagrin, saw this couple just standing there looking glass-eyed and a tad creepy,imo. I found their behavior to be a bit of wet towel, so I leaned over to Tony and suggested we bum rush the camera. About half-way through the song, we casually walk behind them and start going bonkers just to liven things up. Lots of jumping around and being silly from our end, hehe.

*The Good Soldier--first time seeing it live, hurrah!
*Band intro--Trent little zing directed at Jeordie. Also, did I not hear Trent introduce Robin as some task maker, much like he's called Alessandro a "hair stylist", etc.?

During one of the songs (I'm thinking the great destroyer) they blasted some single frame images, one after another, up onto the screens. Did anyone else notice the BSOD (Blue Screen of Death)?

Brilliant.

Freaking awsome. With the smaller venue, this show rocked and looked tons better than the STL show. Security was the only comedown I had at this show. No chain wallets? WTF? Since I grew up in this area, I should have expected that, but I was hoping they had progress a bit from when I was a child. Apparently not.

The Good Soldier is STILL running through my warped little brain. Damn that was good!

skrumcd wrote:During one of the songs (I'm thinking the great destroyer) they blasted some single frame images, one after another, up onto the screens. Did anyone else notice the BSOD (Blue Screen of Death)?

Brilliant.

Yes, it was The Great Destroyer.

There is a video recording of the Columbia show on Demonoid. I'm in the process of downloading so I can't comment fully on the quality. Looks like the taper says it was recorded on a Sony Cybershot. What I've been able to view is unsteady, I guess those little cameras don't have "steady-shot." Can't complain though.

hollowsminion wrote:There is a video recording of the Columbia show on Demonoid. I'm in the process of downloading so I can't comment fully on the quality. Looks like the taper says it was recorded on a Sony Cybershot. What I've been able to view is unsteady, I guess those little cameras don't have "steady-shot." Can't complain though.

Could you post it on dime or send them a message to?

I've not had much luck with getting on DIME so I can't help there. If it's a new torrent you don't need an invite to download from Demonoid, it's only when they get to be a couple weeks old that you need to be registered.

Sorry. I knew there was some kinda trick to demoniod, but didn't know what.

^^No problem.

I'm sure somebody will post it on all the usual places once it gets downloaded though.

orestes wrote:This was my first show since Philly in August and I have to say, that despite the naysayers, the band is even better now than they were back at the start of the tour. I dare say that the Mizzou performance was better overall than the Philly setlist. (Aside from mini-EYB, hehe.)

Lt. Randazzo and Hudson Tiger were my (dance) partners in crime this night and the show wouldn't have been nearly as fun without them, especially when we were all singing the "la la la las" in unison during Echoplex.

The smaller venue afforded for a much more intimate experience and choice spots in front of the soundboard offered us prime viewing spots throughout the concert.

I think Lt. Randazzo and HT pretty much covered what I would have expressed, so I'm just going to go through my personal highlights of the show.

*The little flourishes of improvisation during and between songs, especially near the beginning of the setlist, made the standard setlist unexpectant and curious to see what was next.
*The Wretched--Alessandro busting out his Kaoss pad
*Closer--the new screen treatment makes the song creepy as fuck.
*Me I'm Not/The Great Destroyer--Besides the Ghosts section of the setlist, I could watch them perform glitch on touchscreens all night and I would be happy.
*Survivalism--

MicNIN wrote:. . .Speaking of Survivalism - one of the cameras was facing the back of the crowd and there were two bizarre people staring at the camera - perfectly still - during the entire song. They were by my friend, and I noticed them maybe 3/4 of the way through. It may have been the beer, in fact, I know it was the beer, but I felt the need to tell one of them, after the song, "That was really awesome." She smiled at me, probably whispered something like, "What a fucking idiot," and then they quickly took off. Not sure if they were planted there or what. I'm assuming so.

When the song kicked in, me and Tony turned to see who was standing in front of the soundboard camera and much to our chagrin, saw this couple just standing there looking glass-eyed and a tad creepy,imo. I found their behavior to be a bit of wet towel, so I leaned over to Tony and suggested we bum rush the camera. About half-way through the song, we casually walk behind them and start going bonkers just to liven things up. Lots of jumping around and being silly from our end, hehe.

*The Good Soldier--first time seeing it live, hurrah!
*Band intro--Trent little zing directed at Jeordie. Also, did I not hear Trent introduce Robin as some task maker, much like he's called Alessandro a "hair stylist", etc.?

Well, then I totally saw you. I noticed some crazy dudes behind those creepy people.

It may have been the beer, in fact, I know it was the beer, but I felt the need to tell one of them, after the song, "That was really awesome." She smiled at me, probably whispered something like, "What a fucking idiot," and then they quickly took off. Not sure if they were planted there or what. I'm assuming so.

We were whispering "I've got survivalism"... we have no idea when the screens disappear, so we just keep singing until Trent stops completely...
Thanks for the complement! A few people have approached us at other shows to tell us they enjoyed it.... and there only seem to be one or two buzz-kills on the forums who don't like us... if we entertain more than we chagrinate then we're happy!!!

a tad creepy,imo.

Cool, thanks

survivalism_statue wrote: We were whispering "I've got survivalism"... we have no idea when the screens disappear, so we just keep singing until Trent stops completely...
Thanks for the complement! A few people have approached us at other shows to tell us they enjoyed it.... and there only seem to be one or two buzz-kills on the forums who don't like us... if we entertain more than we chagrinate then we're happy!!!

I kept looking for you two, but couldn't pick you out from my location, so I wasn't sure if it was the live cam, or one of their other feeds.

One other thing from the show that I haven't seen on this thread was Trent's joke about the new album.

"You can download our new album from our website. You can download all the other ones at everyone else's."

survivalism_statue wrote:

It may have been the beer, in fact, I know it was the beer, but I felt the need to tell one of them, after the song, "That was really awesome." She smiled at me, probably whispered something like, "What a fucking idiot," and then they quickly took off. Not sure if they were planted there or what. I'm assuming so.

We were whispering "I've got survivalism"... we have no idea when the screens disappear, so we just keep singing until Trent stops completely...
Thanks for the complement! A few people have approached us at other shows to tell us they enjoyed it.... and there only seem to be one or two buzz-kills on the forums who don't like us... if we entertain more than we chagrinate then we're happy!!!

a tad creepy,imo.

Cool, thanks

To clarify - I didn't see her whisper anything after I told her that I thought it was awesome - I just added that. However, If I was her, I would've thought that I was an f'ing idiot...