Cabazon review, 3/31/06

This show was smack dope goodness.

Of the five NIN shows I’ve been to, this one was by far the best.
It reminded me, in a way, of the show a year and a week ago at UC Davis’s Freeborn Hall. (Funny, isn’t it, how that particular show seems so far away, while at the same time, it feels like just yesterday? But this is neither here nor there. I digress.)

The reason it reminded me of the Davis show was the layout. Like Freeborn Hall, the Morongo Key Club is an intimate venue without seats. I was on the floor again, trying not to get caught up in the swirling pits that kept opening up around me. Trent was so close it almost felt as though I could reach out and touch him.

He seemed markedly lighter than at other shows I’ve been to: He was chatty, joking, horsing around. At one point, he told us that "this feels like a small get-together with some of my good friends.” You could practically watch the ripple of gratitude move through the crowd.

Going into the show, I hoped/expected to hear a bunch of songs that the band doesn’t normally play in concert. I figured they might reward us loyal Spiral members with a little treat. Unfortunately, they performed many of the tracks that get airplay on corporate radio (feh). I guess the hits are what they play for the bulk of their tour performances, and they probably didn’t have the opportunity to rehearse some of the lesser-known tracks.

Set list:
pinion
wish
sin
terrible lie
march of the pigs
the frail
the wretched
closer
mr. self destruct
piggy
burn
only
home
please
reptile
dead souls
you know what you are
gave up
suck
hurt
starfuckers
the hand that feeds
head like a hole

Song I most wanted to hear, but didn’t:
The Fragile

she shines
in a world full of ugliness
she matters when everything is meaningless

fragile
she doesn't see her beauty
she tries to get away
sometimes
it's just that nothing seems worth saving
i can't watch her slip away

This song has a particular resonance for me because:
I have a good memory of someone I once cared deeply about singing this to me.

Song I was most pleasantly surprised and gratified to hear:
Home

i used to know who i was
until you came along
i return
to the only place
i've ever felt
that i belong

to break from what
we're tied to
god knows
how much i've tried to

and i am still inside you
and i am still inside you

This song has a particular resonance for me because:
So many times, I’ve wanted to tell people from my past that no matter how much you lie to yourself (and why not? you lied to everyone else), nothing can change the fact that
I am still inside you.

That’s all.
Over and out.

Odonata