NIN/JA Tour Diary 3- Las Vegas- Worth the Wait

So…no before and after commentary video for me this time. Why? I was too tired to string together sentences.

The last 4 days have been completely amazing. I’ve met great people, and really have been able to submerse myself in the moment of everything.

After arriving in Vegas, we scoped out the venue and verified what we already knew- we can’t line up, but we can play penny slots by the door until the box office opens. Knowing that for the Vegas LITS show people lined up at 10p the night before, several of us found ourselves congregating by the doors at 9pm. We talked it over, and ended up making a list and numbering our hands, and making one person from each party stay in the area so we could sleep in shifts. I know, crazy right? But I was number 2 on that list.

I played some Mona Lisa penny slot until 4 in the morning, went to sleep until 7:30a, and then played more until 10am, when we were given wristbands. I have to commend NIN security man- JT- on making this system available to us- if I had to continue playing that slot machine until 7pm, I wouldn’t have made it. Once we got our tickets and wristbands, I crashed for a few more hours.

At 6p, we went back to the venue and were lined up in a room inside it according to our numbered wristbands. We were led down a bunch of stairs to another holding area before being let on the floor.

The stage is curved and low, and it was difficult to judge exactly what was front and center, but we guessed right. We immediately recognized the security guy from the LITS show. Smoke starts to roll out, and it’s pretty thick in there, when the smoke alarms go off. Luckily, they got it under control pretty quickly.

When the band hit the stage, it was hard not to pass out from being so close (well, there was also the not eating and sleeping thing). We got an amazing setlist: Somewhat Damaged, Heresy, Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now), I Do Not Want This, The Downward Spiral, The Day the World Went Away, and Physical (You’re So) were the highlights. Yeah, I know that’s like half the setlist…it was that good.

I believe it was during Terrible Lie that TR threw his guitar and demolished some mics again. MOTP provided the crush of the evening per usual, but it was otherwise fairly tame. There were band introductions- a lengthy one for Finck- and a ‘last tour’ speech thanking us for our support. I hate those damn speeches.

I know that the open camera policy is TR’s doing, but it’s still hard to hold the camera in his face….which is why I only record a few select things.

If Chula Vista was super dramatic Reznor, Vegas was a pensive one. There were multiple times he went to the back of the stage and hung out in the shadows looking at the crowd, seeming to take it all in.

I loved this set so hard.

When Jane’s hit the stage, I became highly aware that I was in Vegas. This band was made to play this city. Perry’s glitter pants were just icing on the cake.

I enjoyed this set much more than the Chula Vista show, partially because I hadn’t spent the last 75 minutes being sandwiched between a barrier and a 1000 people. The entire band just seemed on fire. Perry humped a speaker, jumped around on every surface possible, and performed his dance moves that are somehow reminiscent of one of those old fashioned metal wind up toys that dance around, eyes blinking crazily. Eric and Perkins seemed to be in a particularly good mood that night. And then of course there was Dave being Dave.

Perry described a homoerotic dream, picked up a large bra thrown on stage (insert BFT reference here), and threw it back, instructing people to fill it with wine and return it to him. Apparently Perry was having an anti-blogger evening, as he kept saying, “don’t go and post this on a blog”…ha!

Being that this was my second time seeing them, I have begun to establish each band member’s signature moves. Perry has his robot dance, jumps, and maraca shaking. Eric stomps around like he’s circling his prey. Perkins is wiley, all smiles, standing up towards the end of the set to show the crowd he’s playing in his skivvies. Dave, when not rocking in his wide legged stance, spins like a dancer and kicks his leg back. Gotta love Barbie standing back there on the speaker, too.

The precious balance that this band is able to maintain is becoming very apparent to me- incredibly dark lyrics presented in a fun and somehow upbeat way. It’s a combination that could easily go awry, but is pulled off in a way that is so unique that you can’t help but respect it.

My only complaint about this show was no SSSC. It was odd to not have an opener for NIN. But, I am 1/3 done with my tour, and I can easily say that the NIN/JA tour is absolutely everything I expected and more.

Video montage of the Vegas signage, list creation, smoke alarms going off, and Heresy and The Downward Spiral.

The Day the World Went Away

NIN Setlist
01. Somewhat Damaged
02. Terrible Lie
03. Heresy
04. March Of The Pigs
05. The Frail
06. Piggy
07. Metal
08. The Big Come Down
09. Gave Up
10. The Fragile
11. I Do Not Want This
12. The Downward Spiral
13. Wish
14. Survivalism
15. The Day The World Went Away
16. Physical (You’re So)
17. The Hand That Feeds
18. Head Like A Hole
19. Hurt

Jane’s setlist:
01 “Three Days”
02 “Whores”
03 “Ain’t No Right”
04 “Pigs”
05 “Then She Did”
06 “Mountain Song”
07 “Had a Dad”
08 “Been Caught Stealing”
09 “Ted Just Admit It…”
10 “Ocean Size”
11 “Summertime”
12 “Stop”
13 “Jane Says”

Stats tracker:

Combined waiting time for both shows: 24 hours (Chula: 7am-7pm, Las Vegas: 9pm-4am, 7am-10am, 6pm-8pm)
Number in line- Chula: #6, Vegas: #2
Total number of times seeing NIN: 11