Nine Inch Nails, Wolverhampton, 30/08/07 - Part 2
Jack's finally uploaded all of his mobile phone pictures (well, most of them - thankfully he left out the 'surprising Paul as he exits the bog' one) and so here's our second and final update with not only pictures but a bit of a rundown to boot. What much more could you want?
Arrived in Wolverhampton and managed to find the hotel - luckily everything was pretty much in a straight line from the station, reducing our chances of getting lost (though I don't know, I reckon I still could have managed it), and - hallelujah - SINGLE BEDS! After getting a double bed for Tool in Manchster, and then on Tuesday in Birmingham, finally having a night of not having to sleep on the floor was a glorious prospect. It's not that I have anything against sharing a bed with a guy - it's more for their benefit than mine, as I'm partial to the odd bit of sleep-athleticism.
A few hours in the Gifford (where I for once got served without any problems) enjoying the music and decor and then it was off to join the Spiral (fan club) que outside the venue, where we started talking to a guy called Jay and generally just endured the cold for an hour and a half. After Jay got kicked out into the normal que, we started talking to two girls infront of us - one was Swedish and on her own so I kind of started chatting to her as a kind of 'sorry you had to listen to our crap for the last hour' way, and the other girl was an American woman involved in someway with the band due to her connections with the stage organisers. She told us lots of stories about how Trent is difficult to work with and various backstage tales, but of course the whole time we were just thinking "Yes, that's very nice, but can you get us into the after-show party?" but alas we got split up from them once we got inside and no after-partying was to be had... well, with the band at least. And despite how much Jack swears, I was not flirting with the Swedish girl.
Inside, we managed to get in the front row - albiet to the left of the stage and infront of a speaker but that was fine with me because I wasn't exactly in top-notch physical condition after the previous two gigs. Jack, clearly worried that a dilema forcing him to chose between losing his spot and getting more beer might emerge at some point before Nails took to the stage, came up with a cunning solution.
And there was a Jack and Coke on the floor, aswell.
And so came the support act, Ladytron. Boy oh boy oh boy. I remember the absolute disdain held for the band by the fans at the first gig in March, and remembering what a test of endurance standing through their 45-minute long set was, little did I suspect that I'd have stood through THREE of their gigs by September. I can now officially say that, as far as bands I've seen live the most, Ladytron are the joint first. Oh joy. Jack and just about every other guy noted that they were pretty hot but other than that it became unbearable after 20 minutes or so. The following Hijinks were undertaken just before and during their set.
This one was taken just after three people I kindly bought drinks for happily recieved said beverages and then fucked off!
Don't tempt me!!!
Pretty damn scary...
And so then Nine Inch Nails took to stage and it was absolutely amazing. Definately the best of the three - probably due to the fact that they could use their lighting equipment and stage props that they couldn't get into the Carling Academy. And absolutely stunning setlist (The Great Destroyer was particularly great with the industrial explosion midway through and the chaos on the giant screen that ensued) and - much to my uncontrollable joy - they played La Mer / Into The Void which i've been DYING to hear all year but had eluded the two previous gigs. So that made me extremely happy. :)
Click to viewAwesome!
After the gig we went to Giffords for a bit (but not before buying some cheap merchandise outside) but alas poor Jack was too hammered and wanted to go back to the hotel. So that's Matt AND Jack I've outlasted this week - who'd have thunk it? As for the hotel, it was pretty posh and spooky - lights that automatically turn on over your head as you pass under them through the corridors are NOT a good thing when you're drunk, the peep hole in the door provided literally minutes of fun (as you'll see by the last picture, which is the best of me ever taken), the late night Quiz shows annoyed us, and the only thing keeping me from sleeping was the giant street lamp right outside the window. All in all, an excellent day to cap off an excellent week :)
