expounding
Now that I'm a bit recovered, I'll recount the show. I went with Will #2 and Danni. The show was scheduled for 8:00, doors opening at 7:00. We thought we'd get there early to get a good place to stand (or sit, whichever it happened to be). We got there at 6:00. Ha. Early. Right. I'd like to present you all with a diagram:
A ->
-------------------
| |
| |
C | |
| | B
| |
| |
| |
-------------------
Above is a city block. B is the entrance to the Tabernacle. We arrived at the block at A, walking in the direction of the arrow. We round the corner and see the entrance, and a group of people. Cool. So we head that way. Then we see the rest of the line, heading down the block. So we get to the end of the block, round the corner, and... the line continues down the block (now the bottom edge of the diagram). Shit. So we continue around the next corner, and work our way to the end of the line, at C. We felt dumb.
Anyway, all that aside, we spotted some interesting characters while waiting in line--some dude with his face painted like the Crow, a couple of lesbian hotties, and some guy with blue hair wearing a black tutu and fishnets. It would not be an understatement to say that the color of the day was black.
So after a while, we do eventually work our way back to the entrance, and get patted down by security before entering. I'm rather glad my knife was not noticed. I didn't realize there was going to be a search, elsewise I'd have left it at home. Anyway, we get inside and I'm amazed by two things-- 1) the Tabernacle is tiny. In a good way. The floor is smaller than that of the Masquerade, with two balcony levels. 2) despite the large number of people ahead of us and the size of the venue, there was still plenty of good spots on the floor. We settled on standing on the floor level, center, about 8 layers of people away from the stage.
The opening act was the Dresden Dolls, who did a pretty good job. They're a duo consisting of a drummer and a keyboardist/vocalist. The drummer got a bit overly excited during one song and broke his drums, eventually tossing the bass pedal into the crowd after they'd finished. The dude with the painted face was in the crowd next to we three and he's probably the most enthusiastic concert-goer I've ever seen. At least for the opening act. Bouncing around, swaying, etc. He was very into the Dresden Dolls (which might have been why he painted his face--the performers of the Dresden Dolls typically paint their faces similar to mimes).
Around 9 or 9:30, NIN shows up. The crowd goes wild, and suddenly compresses around us to about twice its original density (which was already pretty crowded). They opened with The Wretched, which is, comparatively, a rather tame song. We three are tossed around in the sea of bodies. As you all know, I'm not a little guy, and I've got a good bit of inertia on my side to keep me steady. Well, as it turns out, the inertia of one ~250lb man doesn't mean shit against several hundred NIN fans. I was pushed around just as easily as anyone else in the crowd. After the first song, we decided it was time to move to higher grounds--that is, the back of the floor. So I clamped a hand on Danni's wrist, and Will and I forged through the sea of bodies back toward the bar. Due to the nature of the venue, this was just as good a place to watch, just safer. My only complaint was that the dude next to me was smoking a bowl for the next ~10-15 minutes I was standing there. Kinda annoying.
That's the gist of it, really. They played about 2/3 older stuff, and 1/3 from With Teeth. Surprisingly enough, Trent dove off the stage and went crowd surfing during Closer. I really wasn't expecting that from a big name like NIN. It was well received.
As a side note, I find it rather interesting that the Tabernacle was formerly a Baptist church. Songs like Terrible Lie and Closer played in that setting take on a nice bit of irony.
Anyway, yeah. Damn fine show. Easily the best concert I've attended.
A ->
-------------------
| |
| |
C | |
| | B
| |
| |
| |
-------------------
Above is a city block. B is the entrance to the Tabernacle. We arrived at the block at A, walking in the direction of the arrow. We round the corner and see the entrance, and a group of people. Cool. So we head that way. Then we see the rest of the line, heading down the block. So we get to the end of the block, round the corner, and... the line continues down the block (now the bottom edge of the diagram). Shit. So we continue around the next corner, and work our way to the end of the line, at C. We felt dumb.
Anyway, all that aside, we spotted some interesting characters while waiting in line--some dude with his face painted like the Crow, a couple of lesbian hotties, and some guy with blue hair wearing a black tutu and fishnets. It would not be an understatement to say that the color of the day was black.
So after a while, we do eventually work our way back to the entrance, and get patted down by security before entering. I'm rather glad my knife was not noticed. I didn't realize there was going to be a search, elsewise I'd have left it at home. Anyway, we get inside and I'm amazed by two things-- 1) the Tabernacle is tiny. In a good way. The floor is smaller than that of the Masquerade, with two balcony levels. 2) despite the large number of people ahead of us and the size of the venue, there was still plenty of good spots on the floor. We settled on standing on the floor level, center, about 8 layers of people away from the stage.
The opening act was the Dresden Dolls, who did a pretty good job. They're a duo consisting of a drummer and a keyboardist/vocalist. The drummer got a bit overly excited during one song and broke his drums, eventually tossing the bass pedal into the crowd after they'd finished. The dude with the painted face was in the crowd next to we three and he's probably the most enthusiastic concert-goer I've ever seen. At least for the opening act. Bouncing around, swaying, etc. He was very into the Dresden Dolls (which might have been why he painted his face--the performers of the Dresden Dolls typically paint their faces similar to mimes).
Around 9 or 9:30, NIN shows up. The crowd goes wild, and suddenly compresses around us to about twice its original density (which was already pretty crowded). They opened with The Wretched, which is, comparatively, a rather tame song. We three are tossed around in the sea of bodies. As you all know, I'm not a little guy, and I've got a good bit of inertia on my side to keep me steady. Well, as it turns out, the inertia of one ~250lb man doesn't mean shit against several hundred NIN fans. I was pushed around just as easily as anyone else in the crowd. After the first song, we decided it was time to move to higher grounds--that is, the back of the floor. So I clamped a hand on Danni's wrist, and Will and I forged through the sea of bodies back toward the bar. Due to the nature of the venue, this was just as good a place to watch, just safer. My only complaint was that the dude next to me was smoking a bowl for the next ~10-15 minutes I was standing there. Kinda annoying.
That's the gist of it, really. They played about 2/3 older stuff, and 1/3 from With Teeth. Surprisingly enough, Trent dove off the stage and went crowd surfing during Closer. I really wasn't expecting that from a big name like NIN. It was well received.
As a side note, I find it rather interesting that the Tabernacle was formerly a Baptist church. Songs like Terrible Lie and Closer played in that setting take on a nice bit of irony.
Anyway, yeah. Damn fine show. Easily the best concert I've attended.