« NIN - The Review »

It was a dark and stormy night.....
Perfect for seeing The Nine Inch Nails in Toronto.
Folks of various ages and descriptions, in assorted shades of black, lined up hours before the concert for security checks.

We rolled in right after the opening act, but word was that they were above par, as far as opening acts go.

Trent played continuously, from 9 till almost 11 pm. No intermission, no mad dash for the t-shirt stands... In lieu of intermission, there were 3 instrumental pieces that managed to draw a ridiculously huge amount of fan appreciation, considering they were instrumentals. :-)

The light shows were un-believable, I'm still not sure my heart is beating to the correct rhythm yet.
Of course, there was the requisite mosh pit, and we watched fans on the ground surf their way to the stage, only to be dumped into the arms of waiting security - who swooshed them back to the back of the auditorium.

The included photo was from Trent's performance of *HURT*, and it was spellbinding. There was an equal amount of lighters raised in tribute as cell phones. The back-lighting of the cellphone has become the lighter of the 21st century. It was eerie. Despite the security checks, there were still a plethora of people who managed to sneak in cameras and video equipment. So much for body cavity checks. :-)

Head Like a Hole and Closer drew thunderous applause, but we were left wishing that more NIN staple songs made it to the playlist. Considering how much of an emphasis NIN and Trent Rezner put on new social media, Internet 2.0 and fan collaboration, it would have been interesting to see him involve the fans in the playlist a bit more. A collaborative concert would have been phenomenal.

One of the most curious points of note, NIN still plays to 20 somethings... The same way they did 20 years ago. We were expecting to see a mature audience, yet we were clearly the minority. Curious. All in all, it was an awesome event.