ok, wow. i haven't slept enough since last wednesday night and it was a very long, very cold journey but it was well worth it.
sacramento:
this was the worst venue of all time. they wouldn't let us park on property until 6 pm (wtf?) and they kept acting surprised that people were showing up early to stand in line. we were moved around quite a bit, threatened and yelled at that we were trespassing and to leave, but whatever. katie and i got there at like, 6:30-ish and walked through the thickest fog of all time so nobody who worked there saw us. that's how we got away with it. we checked the entrances and nobody else was there, so we decided on one to start the line at. we had already been told we couldn't be there, but fuck that. so we just sat silently for like, what, an hour and a half? before anyone else showed up. then, you know, more and more people showed up and complained that they had been there earlier but were kicked out. but nobody challenged our first-ness. so YAY! we were first! and in all the times we've done this, we've never been first. it was a pretty good feeling. it was fucking freezing. omg. OMG.
but whatever. so the nin.com presale ticket experience was amazing. they took such good care of us. i wish they had their shit together like this all the other times before this tour, but whatever. they lined us up, making sure to keep the order of the line (which means so much because we've been fucked over before), we were given our tickets and then walked into the arena. a security man told us that if we ran we'd be kicked out. so for the first time in history i got to calmly stroll up to the barricade and decide precisely where i wanted to be instead of the mad rush and scramble to even get a spot. it felt so amazing to have our long, cold wait pay off like that. so i decided where robin was going to be and planted myself there. then security made sure the front row was all presale people by checking our wristbands. and throughout the show this really awesome security guard named shannon (is that how you spell the boy version of that name?) gave us water on cue. like i said, we were really taken care of. where was shannon the water boy all the other times i needed him in the pit?!
so the pit wasn't bad in terms of moshing or crowd surfing, which was nice. on my right, there was a really strong guy holding back the crowd, so my right side was fine but the left side was completely different. obviously, the closer you are to the center (tr) the worse the going. i took a lot of elbows and lots of crushing, but eh, it was ok. i've been through worse. it was just funny after the show because my left side hurt so badly but the right was ok. oh, and the girl next to me was about to be kicked in the head by a crowd surfer wearing combat boots, so i covered her head and pushed it off to the side and took the kick to the hand. so that actually still hurts. but the strangest thing that happened was that i experienced my first credit card. you know when someone slides their hand between your buttcheeks and says "credit card" ? well she didn't say it and i'm pretty sure it was an accident (though i don't know how this happens on accident) but some girl stuck her hand up my skirt and in my butt. WHAT??!! i was actually filming closer at the time so when you watch the clip i'm going to post later, at about 1:02 you hear me yelp and see the camera go nuts for a minute. it was SHOCKING.
so the actual show: was a good one. i've dreamed of being on the barricade right in front of robin pretty much since the first time i saw the dude perform, and he didn't disappoint. i felt bad because i was staring at him pretty much the whole time and most of my pictures and videos focus on him. i couldn't help it! he's captivating! and he does a lot of very strange dances that you don't really notice if you're sitting far away. like there was one point where he was pretty much doing a samba in the corner. it was so funny. i sincerely hope that i get the opportunity to do rail in front of robin again. as usual i didn't pay any attention to justin and i noticed alessandro looked really over it and bored.
the set was good. it was the standard one plus wretched (YES!!!!) and the good soldier. and the big electronica party was vessel and warning. and we got big comedown (which has been rotating in and out). overall i was very pleased with the setlist (disappointed not to have reptile or great destroyer, but you can't win them all) and the show.
vegas:
we were expecting SO MUCH from this show. we were worried that it was going to be a huge letdown. we got there late because the strip and parking were a nightmare, but luckily for us they started really late. our seats were pretty good. middle section, almost exactly in the middle of the theater, and maybe 12 rows back? i'm not sure. on the way in we saw billy howerdel and charlie clouser. it was kind of weird seeing them standing in line picking up tickets like anybody else. you'd think they'd get the hook-up.
so after 1,000,000 all of my concerns were assuaged. all i could say was "wow. fucking wow." trent came out with SO MUCH ENERGY and aggression and passion. already the show was so much better than the night before. tr stole my attention right back from robin and i was like YES! HERE is my rock star. also, the sound was brutal. i hear that other parts of the theater had kind of crappy sound, but from where i sat, it was a-mazing. really loud but also the whole band just sounded fantastic. and josh was showboating his ass off because it was his last show. fancy drumming galore. seriously, after every song people all around us kept saying "wow wow wow" because it was such a YES!!!!!! performance. i even got tricked into clapping because i was so into it. then i caught myself and stopped. i don't clap. but anyhow, this show was easily the best one i saw from this tour. considering the perfectionist that trent is, and that the music sounds spot on every night, it's hard to imagine the songs sounding better from one night to the next. but in vegas, the songs sounded like perfection. i've heard head like a hole SO MANY TIMES but i fell in love with it all over again. all of the songs. just PERFECT. it's like all the musicians were competing with one another to sound the best.
this time we got the great destroyer and REPTILE and good soldier again. it was great.
i got really emotional at this show because it felt like an ending. tr even hinted that it was going to be the last for at least quite a while. and i also got emotional because the music was so gorgeous. but whatever. anyhow, during his speech he announced a us tour next year with a 4-piece band that (thankfully) will include robin and justin. it felt like he gave me a hug because i felt so much better. at least i can worry about the end next year instead of now. he also surprised everyone by announcing that alessandro was leaving too. and alessandro surprised the crowd by giving one very lucky fan his keyboard.
overall vegas was a very satisfying show and completely lived up to my expectations. it was good to see tr so on his game. it was nice seeing this huge production for the last time. and i look forward to the new 4-piece "deconstructed" approach. i'm hoping that he busts out some old songs we haven't heard in a while. and maybe they'll finally play and all that could have been!
i got some video that i'll post later. the sound isn't good but the video itself is. and i'll post pictures too.
k bye. :)
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