NIN/JA show Irvine, CA 05/20/09

I've been a Nine Inch Nails fan for 18 years, I first heard Pretty Hate Machine in 1991 and fell in love with the honest pain, anger, lust and lost emotions it portrayed. My favorite album was Broken as it came out in the perfect time of my life as a teenager rebelling against my parents, society and it just screamed of that rage you feel at that age. I also loved The Downward Spiral it was the first theme album I had ever really listen to. I loved it's depth how my friends and I would play with the songs on the CD player and how it would sound differently as you fast forward/rewind the songs. But as the world was jumping on the NIN bandwagon I was jumping off as my life took on new and different styles of music, but I've always been a loyalist and never lost my love for Trent and his songs. When I heard he was going on tour and with rumors of it being a farewell tour I decided I had to go see him.


The opening band was Street Sweeper Social Club. I have to say they were good. I don't normally like the metal/rap genre but I enjoyed them. Their highlight was the cover of MIA's Paper Airplanes.

Nine Inch Nails came out on the stage with drums and smoke clouds. Trent singing well and with emotion. He didn't speak to the crowd a lot, but for my first and only time seeing them I have to say it's what I expected and more. They played well and loud. Showing total emotion and fury.

I'm not sure if Trent was enjoying the show or not as he didn't play and encore for one of the first times on the tour according to the guy next to me, but I was satisfied so much so I left. I didn't want Jane's Addiction to ruin my mood.

Here's the setlist for NIN

1. Now I'm Nothing
2. Terrible Lie
3. 1,000,000
4. Heresy
5. March Of The Pigs
6. Metal
7. Reptile
8. The Becoming
9. Survivalism
10. Mr. Self Destruct
11. The Fragile
12. Gone, Still
13. The Way Out Is Through
14. Wish
15. Echoplex
16. The Day The World Went Away
17. The Hand That Feeds
18. Head Like A Hole

so for an old time fan I had a blast and would love to see them in a headlining tour.