Dragged The Wife To See Nine Inch Nails!

[Old Moparz]

My wife Mary, never like NIN, but I got her to go with me this past Saturday & she admitted the show was better than she expected & really enjoyed it. It's kind of interesting why she hated NIN in the first place. Many years ago, she came home one day aggravated from work, saw some new disc that I had bought, so she opened up "The Downward Spiral"   & put it in the changer & poured some wine. Well, her crappy day at work was amplified as the distorted sounds filled her ears.

I came home & she sarcastically asked "What the hell is that new NIN disc you bought?"

My sympathetic reply was "Oh, you like it? It sounds great, I'll let you borrow it so you have it in the car."

She then said, "I don't think so, & please don't play that when I'm home, it's irritating."

That, & other NIN discs, have been listened to at work, in the garage, in the car, & sometimes at home when she isn't. My request portion of "the don't play it when I'm home" is her Irish fiddle tune stuff. That's more irritating in my opinion, & I lump it into Polka music. (No offense to Irish fiddle & Polka music fans.) She's outnumbered now. My 6 year old daughter Kate, loves the new disc, "With Teeth"   & it's been in the changer of my wife's car so she can hear it all the time.  

Mary did tell me she thought the new disc was very different & actually likes it. She also said she'd go with me to the Spectrum in Philly, PA to see the show. This was a big event for us, so I got my mother to watch our daughter overnight & we went. First time I ever planned a weekend around a concert, so it was fun. Got the tickets back in July, made hotel reservations within walking distance of the show, checked in around 4PM, had dinner & a few beers at the hotel, & walked to show.

The whole sports complex in Philly is pretty nice, & the area seems easy to get around in. I've been to a few other places that were a complete disaster as far as parking & driving goes. Giants Stadium is one of them, & Yankee Stadium is the other. The show was great, the sound was loud & clear, & the seats were pretty good too. The opening band was just 2 guys called "Death From Above 1979" & were very impressive for just a bass/keyboard player & drummer/singer. "Queens of the Stone Age" were up next, but in my opinion the first band blew them away completely.

NIN was incredible, but I'd have to say if you don't like them at all, I probably won't be able to convince you to ever get tickets. Speaking of tickets, they were all over the ground outside the Spectrum. My wife found one & another couple had found several more. We turned them in at the box office & would hope that if they were bought by credit card, someone would either get them back, to see the show, or maybe a refund. My wife said she felt bad that someone lost tickets, but I reminded her it could have been a scalper who ditched them instead of getting busted.

A couple of other things I saw that night, that night were 6 Marylin Mansons, & a bunch of women using the men's room as if nothing was wrong. I did buy a   $30 T-Shirt for my daughter, but I can't tell her it was from the show or she'll be upset she couldn't go. I'll take her when she's older, but at 6 years old I was worried it would have been an expensive mistake. My biggest complaint, is that I wish I could do this on a regular basis, like every weekend.

Very good band I'll be getting a disc from:
http://www.deathfromabove1979.com/

[Brock Samson]

 thanks for the review.. 

[SeattleCharger]

     Have you ever heard that Johnny Cash remake of one of their songs?     Really good version of it.   When I first heard the Johnny Cash version, I figured that J C actually wrote the original and that NIN remade it.     I mean, it is a great Johnny Cash song,  a compliment to NIN.     

[Old Moparz]

    Have you ever heard that Johnny Cash remake of one of their songs?     Really good version of it.   When I first heard the Johnny Cash version, I figured that J C actually wrote the original and that NIN remade it.     I mean, it is a great Johnny Cash song,   a compliment to NIN.     

Yes, the first time I heard it is when I was flipping channels & stopped on VHI when I saw the Cash video. I'm listening & within a few seconds realized he was covering that tune & couldn't believe it. I actually bought the Johnny Cash disc because of that song & a great version of "Personal Jesus" with John Frusciante on guitar.

[ChargerBill]

Old Moparz, you never struck me as the NIN type. I figured you more for the Led Zepplin, Van Morrison, SRV, Allman Brothers, old school type. I listened to NIN around '87 to '92, but not at all since...do they have new stuff out?

[Old Moparz]

Old Moparz, you never struck me as the NIN type. I figured you more for the Led Zepplin, Van Morrison, SRV, Allman Brothers, old school type. I listened to NIN around '87 to '92, but not at all since...do they have new stuff out?

Hey Bill,

I didn't start listening to NIN until "The Downward Spiral" came out in the early 90's. I don't listen to much radio except for college stations, & hate commercial radio & top 40 music with a passion. There is something I like about Trent Reznor's distorted rythyms & heavy drum beats mostly. I play the drums myself, so maybe that has something to do with it. The newest album is called "With Teeth" & came out this year, but I think there's a remix out now too. Just last week I got "Further Down The Spiral" which is older & absolutely fantastic. I never bought it years ago because I had thought is was one of those 4 song EP's that were minor remixes of other songs. The album is very long, & even though the songs are remixes, they aren't the same & different enough to be a whole new album.

I like a lot of different music, including the above bands you mentioned, & SRV was always a big favorite. My wife & I cried like babies when he was killed in the helicopter crash. I think I saw him live at least 9 or 10 times, with the first time at the Beacon Theater in NYC when he released "Texas Flood". I got chills when he jammed for a few minutes & slipped into "Third Stone From The Sun" which was the only time I ever saw him play that live. Two other great shows of his I saw, were when he played his birthday show at Carnegie Hall, which was released as an album, & the time he toured with Jeff Beck. I will say that during his heavy drinking days, like when he released that live album, "Live Alive" he was terrible. I won't buy that one, & his shows I saw back then suffered. (No Hendrix sets either.)

It would take longer than forever to list the shows I saw, & all the bands I liked, & it would be easier to tell you what I didn't like. There's so many different types of music I have, but a favorite would depend on the mood I'm in. Some days it's Pink Floyd, some are NIN, & just last night I watched SRV's "Live at Montreaux" DVD for the first time. I own Classical discs, all different types of Jazz, & various eras of Rock. The old school stuff is still good, but I like variety & open to a lot of new things. New things don't necessarily have to be brand new, like when I found some Lionel Hampton about 10 years ago. It was new to me, but he's been around forever.

Just some of my favorite bands & live performances I've seen.

Stevie Ray Vaughan
King Crimson
Nine Inch Nails
Jeff Beck
Popa Chubby
Ray Charles
Emerson Lake & Palmer
John Hammond
Treat Her Right
David Bromberg
BB King
Jack Bruce     Once with Eric Clapton.
Lonnie Mack
Return to Forever
Peter Gabriel
Roy Buchanan
John Lee Hooker
Willie Dixon
Pink Floyd     (With Roger Waters)
Steppenwolf
Pat Metheny
David Sancious
Tangerine Dream
Yes   (In the '70's when they were still good.)
Johhny Copeland
Savoy Brown
Santana
Queen
Kinks
Bill Bruford & Patrick Moraz
Allan Holdsworth
Weather Report
U2   (In a theater, not in a stadium)
Jethro Tull
UK
Johnny "Guitar" Hughes

There's a lot more, but they aren't as memorable for whatever reasons. Some I've seen more than once, & sometimes they had bad nights & I left the show early. (Although not too often.)

[derailed]

hey old, I see your Peter Gabriel fan. Theres a Genesis tribute band that pretty much just covers the Gabriel era and does a fantastic job. You would think it was Pete himself if you didnt know better and the band is great to. They are called the Waiting Room and play down near Poughkepsie alot at The Chance. Check them out sometime if you can

[Brock Samson]

  yeah but he don't like pop and peter aint been any good since the lamb lay down... 

[derailed]

these guys are into the die hard suppers ready old stuff only 

[Old Moparz]

I still like Peter Gabriel, but haven't bought anything by him in ages, or seen him in years. I did see him 3 or 4 times, & the first was in Central Park around 1980. Tickets were like $5 back then. I like Gabriel's first 3 or 4 albums, then he sounded more pop after that. He always had a great band with him, like Tony Levin on Bass, Jerry Marotta on drums & Larry Fast on Keyboards. Tony Levin has done some wild stuff over the years & that bass stick is too cool. As far as a Genesis cover band, there used to be one in the northern NJ area called "Nursery Cryme" that covered their older stuff & sounded perfect. The drummer was incredible, & when I spoke to him once, he said he also played professionally in some Broadway show in NYC.

I'll have to check out that cover band Waiting Romm if I can, sounds good. Thanks.

BTW, I did see Steve Hackett a few times. Those shows were good, & on one occasion he sat down alone & played his acoustic guitar, did "Horizons" & sounded great. As much as Genesis went pop, I went to see them a few times too, & once in a small theater in NYC called The Savoy. Very good band live & Phil Collins is a great drummer & loves to put on a show. He hams it up some & I think he always wanted to be a comedian. As long as I don't have to hear his solo stuff, I can deal with him.