greetings from new jersey

i don't even know where to start with this entry. this trip has pretty much been one big mess.

1. the flight:
virgin america itself is actually really cool. the plane had a good vibe and they had a really good selection of music and tv stuff available. the flight attendants are all really young and cool... and there's this chat function where you can chat with people in other seats. this one flight attendant was probably the most flamboyant gay man in the friendly skies and kept stopping by to like "dish" about life. i don't know why, then, i had a panic attack on the plane. i didn't really know what it was until after, but i completely freaked out. i couldn't really breathe and had to concentrate on making sure i took even breaths. and i wanted nothing more than to just get off the plane. i wanted to open the emergency door and just jump out. it was the strangest feeling. and it had nothing to do with fearing the flight or anything, because i actually really like flying. i really don't know what came over me, but i think it was foreshadowing of what was to come.

2. getting from the airport to the hotel:
so we're given directions and told to take the long island railway to penn station in nyc. ok, so we haul all of our shit to the track they told us to go to, and a train arrived. we tried to get on, but a magical voice came over the intercom (from an info nearby info booth we hadn't seen) and yelled at us that it was a "no passenger" train. the next three trains were no passenger. what the fuck, dude? so finally a train comes and it smells like BO. whatever. so we get to new york, and have to transfer to a new jersey train. we get on and it takes an hour to get to the hotel. we were told 20 minutes. ok... so after all was said and done, we didn't get to the hotel until close to three hours after landing... and that was after 10 travel hours. k bye.

3. getting to the city this morning:
that same train that brought us into nj goes to ny, so we planned on taking that this morning. we rented a car to go to trent later in the day, and we drove it to the station. there were no signs indicating where you may or may not park, so we picked a spot and went to buy tickets. then the guy tells us we can't park where we parked, so we have to go move the car. as we do, the train comes. so we have to wait for the next one. as the time for the next one approaches, an announcement comes on telling us that there has been a fire and train service is discontinued. fuuuuuck. so how the hell are we getting to new york? so i hatch a plan to just drive to the show early, park, and take a train or bus from there to new york. we go... and there's construction on the highway... and it took us ONE HOUR to go THREE MILES. i don't think you can understand our frustration. like, new jersey sucks so hard. everything about this place is ugly and poorly planned and the road was like, gross. holes everywhere and major construction during the day! except for NO because when we got to the source of the problem, it was just a guy picking cones up from the highway. no construction anywhere. >:O then we drive to the show and it's this incredibly like, perilous journey with two almost accidents. we get to the place and it's this big, multi-arena sports complex and we can SEE the izod center (where trent is playing) but can't physically get to it. we ended up driving in circles. if you've seen national lampoon's european vacation, recall the scene where they're driving around in england and chevy chace keeps pointing out big ben and parliament. that is TOTALLY how it went down today. we were both laughing and crying with frustration. OK so we finally get to the arena and call a cab. the can over charged us ($45 for a couple blocks) but we get to ny.

4. new york and getting back to izod:
i'm going to go ahead and say that as of right now my opinion of nyc is that it's really overrated. as i was walking through it, i was really awestruck by the size and might of the place. it really is a very mighty, imposing, intimidating and formidable town. on a whole. but individually, nothing is really that impressive. went to moma and wasn't impressed by a lot of the works they had. a lot of it was only ok. definitely not the best gallery i've ever been to. we walked around and had crepes from those street corner vendors. we passed a very large nhl store and i completely flipped out with excitement... but once inside i quickly realized there was very little i actually wanted to buy. it was SUCH a let down. (i will say i saw a LOT of hockey shirts/hats/jackets today, which is exciting because at home it's all padres or chargers). so time to leave for the show was approaching, and i had heard about this bus that departs from the port authority bus depot that goes straight to izod. we decided to walk there. we were on 53rd and depot was on 42nd. it was a fun walk. just walking through the city is fun because every block is totally different and full of character. and another positive i'll give the city is that it's not really that rude. i was bracing myself for total rudeness, but pretty much everyone has been really nice and helpful. yeah people bump into you on the street, but i think that's an inevitability when that many people are walking in a tiny space. oh and times square? biggest let down fucking ever. so we got to the bus depot, which has like 400 terminals, by th way, and buy our tickets. but the ticket doesn't say where the terminal is. and all the info booths are closed. and everyone we asked couldn't help us. i was so desperate... like, WHERE DO I GO TO GET ON THIS BUS!!! and the show was an hour away. i seriously almost cried at the thought of coming all this way and missing the show. i won't lie, i had two tears. then one official guy in a vest saw me and i think i must have looked really pathetic because he led me to one magical info booth that was open. oh, i should mention we were looking for over an hour. and we were informed that you could catch the bus OUTSIDE... no gate... and the bus was unmarked! what the FUCK?!?!!?!?!? HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW TO GO OUTSIDE AND FIND AN UNMARKED BUS!? luckily the bus was full of goth kids so i knew it was the right one. GOD.

5. the show itself
this is the only positive thing about the trip so far. i mean, it's a nine inch nails show so obviously i'm going to like it. but first i'll complain about the people in my section. they were the GROSSEST concert-goers i've ever had the misfortune of sitting next to. they didn't know the music, they were more interested in getting up every twenty minutes to either get beer or take a piss, or both. they were into smoking: cigarettes. i'll tolerate pot at a show but cigarettes? fucking gross. where is security?! then there were these drunken girls dancing all sloppily "sexy" and they kept throwing their arms up and blocking my view. whatever. i was like, one of three people in the entire section who was into it. then a guy spilled beer on us. then the guy behind me was pissed off at me for standing up? uh, excuse me? during the ghosts part of the set, i sat down because it's logical. but you really want me to sit down calmly during wish? are you serious?

ok, the good: i liked the length. 2 hours is way better than the 1.5 he played the last many times i saw him. trent was really energetic and loved the crowd. said something about how our energy and communication gave him "the best feeling in the world" or something like that. the lights were innovative and there were a lot of set changes. the set was a little slip-heavy, but obviously the album sounds better live. they did a re-worked version of piggy that was SO saucy and showed off their abilities as musicians, especially josh, and it was SO NOT BORING (spencer). and the ghosts part was awesome... i like watching them play a different instruments. i took a video of it, but forgot my usb cable so i'll post later. it's actually really good quality. it includes trent playing the xylophone. loved it. there was some trent/robin friskiness, as i expected. speaking of robin, i am so glad he's back. at first i was missing aaron because i was so used to him, and let's face it, he's way entertaining. but then reptile came along and i remembered how much i want to bone robin, uh, i mean, how powerful he is as a guitarist. but really, it's so clear and fucking strong when he plays. the only part that i prefer aaron is towards the end of wish- he had this really cool little solo part. otherwise, i love watching robin move. he's such a weird performer. oh, and he's also a totally nice guy. i was remembering back during the last string of shows that whenever jeordie gave out water to the audience, he always dumped half of it on them first. he could never just give you some water. he'd pour it, laugh, then give you the rest. robin was just like, handing them out all lovingly instead of chucking them at people.

justin was kind of weak. he gave it a lot of effort but i don't really think he has the stage presence to be noticed next to trent and robin. i like that he seems into it but there's something about him that makes him lame. it could be that he's not jeordie. who knows.

trent introduced the band... called them his friends and thanked them. it was weird. and during the last song, they did this really cool exit thing. instead of just ending it, they all played and then one by one exited and waved. it's kind of hard to explain, but it was cool. but once again, weird to see them acknowledged individually.

i'm excited about philadelphia. i'm hoping they play meet your master at that show because they didn't here... and i've been dying to hear that one live since year zero came out. it was cool hearing year zero stuff live. in this twilight was beautiful and vessel had a new life when played live.

i think this is pretty much the longest post ever and i doubt anyone read it all the way through. to summarize:

new jersey is a butthole with crappy roads and bad concert-goers
new york is only ok
and i loved this show... especially robin. *


*the first time i ever saw nine inch nails was in june of 2000. after the show, rob was running around filming people's reactions and when he got to me i was obviously out of it because i had just had my ass kicked by the most amazing thing i'd ever seen in my then-14 years, and all i could muster was "robin .... is beautiful.... he did the best performance i'd ever seen..." while katie just looked stunned and nodded. i watched the video once it was posted and wanted to cry because i looked and sounded like such a fucking moron. it was like, why is that all i could say about that amazing show?! now i kind of understand it. this is my first time seeing robin since then and i pretty much have the same stupid reaction. except this time i've seen nine inch nails a lot more than once so i can actually pay attention to other things. ok that's enough really gross robin adoration. i promise i won't do it after the philly show. and i definitely won't mention how cute it is when he curtsies at the end of the show, complete with a very dainty toe-point. cuz he does and it's cute. but that's the end of that.


WAIT I THOUGHT OF TWO MORE THINGS I WANTED TO SAY:
1. robin whispered the part in god given and for some reason that got the crowd really excited
2. in the bathroom, i heard the following exchange between two 50-ish year old women:
-i want to lick trent reznor's butt
-yeah, but then you'd probably get butt hair in your teeth.

you gotta picture that with a really thick new jersey accent. it was funny. k bye.