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OK. Now there are so many things I can say about the NIN show I saw last night. After 2 1/2 hours on the road I finally got to the Alcatraz with my friends. Once we got past the REALLY REALLY HEAVY security (I think I was one of maybe 5-10 people that managed to sneak in a camera - the police checked out everything backpacks, jackets, etc., but I had a hiding place in my jacket which served me well even when the cop brushed his hand over the camera and a pocket recorder I'd brought to record the concert; by the way I took about 20 pix all in b/w, including one of the projection during "La Mer" - will send soon), I bought a couple of NIN shirts and while I was talking with my girlfriend Silvia, Foya (plays guitar in my band kill GREENHORN) heard someone say "yes I am Tony Clouser" so he came to me and asked me if I knew who that was, so asked him if he meant Charlie Clouser, but as I asked him I saw this pretty tall red-headed guy in black and gray wardrobe that I had seen before in a bunch of articles concerning NIN, White Zombie and whatever. I went to him, pretty shy at first because I didn't think there would have been components of the band that would have been walking around amidst the crowd, he was already talking to some people and I really didn't know what to say so I asked him if they were going to play the same songs they put on in Barcellona and he said "not exactly, we changed a couple of things" (in fact they played SOMETHING I CAN NEVER HAVE instead of PIGGY, and EVEN DEEPER instead of TDTWWA). Then I asked him when they would start the US tour because I obviously plan to come back to the US when they start touring there, he said that "we'll probably kick off the tour some time around February or March"!!!!!!! He soon started signing tickets and you could see he was getting impatient because of the attention, so I whipped out mine as well (I scanned it and it is attached to this email) and that was already enough to make it a memorable night. I hoped I would've been able to find someone else, especially Trent but that would have been impossible. We crowded around the stage until waiting for Atari Teenage Riot, but soon word spread that they weren't going to play because they had been in a Italy not long before. The curtains parted at 9:15 and SOMEWHAT DAMAGED bounced over our heads while Nine Inch Nails stood playing in a cloudy scenery with verticle neon tubes shining over head. Charlie Clouser and Jerome Dillon played on an elevated level, while Danny Lohner, Trent Reznor, and Robin Finck stood from (left to right) in the front. The concert continued with TERRIBLE LIE, SIN, MARCH OF THE PIGS, SOMETHING I CAN NEVER HAVE, THE FRAIL , THE WRETCHED, NO YOU DON'T,and GAVE UP (I won't describe the songs since someone has already eloquently done so, but I must say the crowd was into the show from the very first minute, bodies flew over us, people were getting pulled out of the front lines, and the mosh pit was awesome, I was jumping crashing into people and doing what I could to stay on my feet- the power of the music, the words, the voice made it all seem like we were all one, a unison, one big fucking happy family; it's been 4 years since I last saw NIN and it was just great to see and hear all these people singing along with Trent (with a faint italian accent!). Afterwards, before LA MER the screen came down and we witnessed the swaying of oceans, fading underwater scenery, waves while first Robin and then Trent appeared through the screen. THE WAY THROUGH IS OUT followed with images of mitosis and cell replication and consequently of blood cells flowing through tissue. WISH, INTO THE VOID, HEAD LIKE A HOLE, and DOWN IN IT, then there was the standard before-the-end-of-the-concert break. The band came back to play EVEN DEEPER, STARFUCKERS INC (during which Trent said "to all the beautiful ones"), CLOSER(during the song Trent buttfucked Robin with a bottle of water), and finally he thanked the crowd and said "it's been a long time since we've done something" and proceeded with HURT. It was an amazing concert but I'm not sure if it was better than the one I saw during Self Destruct 1994; but I'm waiting to see how they play in the US where the stages will certainly be bigger and therefore a bit more elaborate (not that the scenery for this concert wasn't amazing, in fact most of the spectators were in awe when the band was soaked by dense purple lights, or when the background surfaced from the dry ice clouds). The sound was great, but there were a few glitches. Trent seemed to be pissed off because of the mic during SIN and therefore threw it into the crowd, into the hands of one lucky guy right in front of me that managed to take out the jack. Something wrong happened during DOWN IN IT as well because Trent started off a little behind, skipping the first verse. As for the rest I have to say that this was certainly the greatest concert anyone has seen in Italy at least in the last ten years. The band the music the choreography the scenery. It was Nine Inch Nails. It was perfect. I think this last sentence sums up everything.
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