So I’m A Sucker For Nine Inch Nails
What can I say? I’m leaving the country at some point in the near future, NIN is on tour, and it’s allegedly going to be the last tour NIN (see Trent Reznor) will be doing from here on out (see “forever”). Blah blah, NIN’s music played a great role during my adolescence and I’m not about to pass up an opportunity to go see him perform one last time. I’ll even admit to shedding a few tears while in Denver in 2001 thinking to myself, “What if this is the last NIN show I’ll ever see?” while he played The Frail on the keyboard. I don’t know why I thought of that back then, but it was nevertheless something that stuck with me.
No, I don’t have a lot of money. I would have bought tickets for this show via pre-sale a while back if had I’d know for certain I’d still be here in the states. The catch about buying pre-sale is that you have to show ID, and the ID must match the name on the pre-sold ticket. Now the concert is 8 days away and I’m certain I’ll still be around when it happens. The difference being about $40 perhaps… so what. For the occasion… well, who knows what I would have spent otherwise. Like I said, it means a lot to me.
I remember being in 8th grade and not knowing about NIN at all until my best friend Bart showed up with an NIN T-shirt on and subtly keyed me in on the existence of such a band. Before then I was trying my best to be cool by listening to Van Halen and Aerosmith (thanks for the misdirection, KQRC). In fact, for a few months, I hadn’t heard a single NIN track until someone let me borrow Pretty Hate Machine for a few hours in between drivers education classes during the summer. (Those were the days).
From their it spiraled out. The Downward Spiral was the most intersting and inspired collection of music I had heard from anywhere (with the exception of Tool’s Ænima album). At the time it seemed like Best Buy had the best supply of regular albums, and Circut City (no longer in business here) had the best supply of import singles. I had purchased almost every CD put out there, with exception the rarest of imports from Japan which were redundant and overpriced. There was already plenty of people out there who were ahead of me when it came to being collectors of memorabilia. In all, I’ve probably purchased about 20 or 25 CDs from NIN, a few of which were duplicate (or triplicate) purchased, do to various lose of older copies I had once owned. I am quite proud to say that none of the vinyl copies of albums I’ve purchased have needed to be replaced (last I checked, the vinyl copy of The Fragile I have was worth about $300… but I don’t regret opening my own copy).
So what did the tickets cost me? $180 for a pair. That’s not bad, considering it’s the second time I’ve paid that much for tickets to an NIN show (the first time was in Denver, and I actually got to meet Rob Sheriden after the show (though the friend I took with me who never paid me a cent got to meet Trent himself which really pissed me off); there’s even a video of me floating around the net of me screaming into the camera, “I love you, Trent!” after the show that NIN posted on their site, and I’m not ashamed to admit it).
Why did I like this music so much when I was younger and up till the present day? Well… all I can say is that it’s just what I was naturally attracted to. People who discount it as offensive or weird or strange probably haven’t actually taken the time to give it a glance and that’s their own problem or whatever. Everybody should be able to enjoy what they want and like on their own terms, in their own space. NIN, for me, kind of struck a chord because I was the kind of kid who was kind of lonely, but it wasn’t that bad. I had friends, I wasn’t THAT lonely, but I still felt like I didn’t fit in. So, for some odd reason, I seemed to identify with the music Trent Reznor made. It was abstract, abrasive, aggressive, intriguing, inspiring and sometimes an echo of what I felt back then. I wouldn’t say that the music of NIN that was out back then is what I would identify with now, and neither would Trent. He hates being asked questions like, “Why don’t you play “Down In It” on stage any more?” because it’s something he’s moved away from, and I feel the same way when it comes to identifying with those songs. My older brother on the other hand, who’s enjoyed NIN since the very beginning has said otherwise, and I would to if I were him.
I’m not sure what else to say about the music. I don’t really think much should be said. If you’re still reading this, you can preview his music via many ways (best of which is through www.nin.com itself), but otherwise, that’s about all I have to say.
Hopefully, since my girlfriend is stuck working that night, I’ll be able to steal her phone for the night and try out that new NIN iPhone app.