The Lights in the Sky are Waving Goodbye

Nine Inch Nails live from the Planet Hollywood Theatre for the Performing Arts, Las Vegas, NV - Dec. 13, 2008

This marks my 8th NIN show, in 6 different cities in 3 different countries. Variety is the spice of life!

Rather than retype the setlist, I'll just say it was the same as Victoria's, except we lost The Wretched, Vessel, and God Given, but got The Great Destroyer and Reptile. Some quick notes:

- The reason why Josh Freese has earned the moniker of JFF (Josh Fuckin' Freese) from NIN fans
- The Big Come Down is officially the most badass live song that NIN will ever perform. I demand that it be included in every show from now on
- Bombshell of the night was news that not only was this Josh's last show, but Alessandro's as well. We were all prepared for Josh's leaving, but Ally's leaving was a shocker.
- Because of said departures, Trent announced he was gonna deconstruct everything and tour as a 4-piece in 2009
- Trent also said that he wanted to put those screens up in his house to watch porn on, and something about big titties and granny panties. Don't believe me? See the whole speech about it here.

Thanks for all the great memories Josh, of all the drummers NIN has had, you were by far my favorite. And thanks to Alessandro Cortini, it was unfortunate that you were always back there behind the consoles and keyboards, because we could barely see you, but you rocked more than most people realize.

So that concludes the Lights in the Sky over North America 2008 tour. It will be missed. We won't get that fancy 3D theatrical show of it, but hopefully there will be an official DVD (and Blu-Ray) of it, 3D or not. Looking forward to see what that new 4-piece can do. While I hate that Josh and Ally are gone, the new drummer should be able to bring something new to the table that will make the old songs sound new again, I can't wait!

Vegas was fun; as big and fanciful as the hotels look on the outside, they are even grander and glitzier on the inside. The Luxor-pyramid, the Venetian's indoor Venice recreation were just a couple of the landmarks that dazzled me. The blisters on my feet would like to suggest you bring very comfortable walking shoes. And finally, spending 13 hours at the Las Vegas airport is not as fun as it sounds, in fact, it's not fun at all, enough said.

Lights in the Sky Over Victoria, BC

Nine Inch Nails live from the Save On Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria, BC - Dec. 5, 2008


While the setlist for the most part was the same as the show I went to in Seattle, there were a few additions and different visuals for many of the songs which made it a new and different experience. The crowd as a whole was, for the most part, better than Seattle. Or maybe it just seemed that way because I was getting high off all the marijuana fumes? There are still those random retards that need to shut the hell up during the quiet songs. They played more than enough loud and raucous songs for you to go apeshit to.

This was their longest performance yet, and by the end my entire body was sore. And I wasn't even in the thick of it; as usual I parked myself in the middle of the floor at the outer edge of the mosh pit, but found myself sucked into the bedlam during the high energy songs like Wish and Head Like A Hole. I'll have seats for Vegas, although everyone knows there won't be a single ass in a seat once NIN steps onstage; but at least it'll help to be able to have a seat before NIN starts. Drummer Josh Freese seemed to be adding even more flair to his performances now that he's about to say goodbye. The entire band was fantastic as usual, with the multi-talented performers each tackling multiple instruments for the 2 hour and 15 minute performance. It really has to be said that these guys give it their all and work their asses off to put on a smooth show.

Setlist with some personal observations and notes:

1. 999,999
2. 1,000,000 - a great intro to the show and to their newest album
3. Letting You - my favorite part is the end when Robin lets loose on guitars and Josh goes crazy on the drums
4. Discipline - boy this with 1,000,000 and Letting You sure would make great DLC for Rock Band 2. Nine Inch Nails Track Pack 03 anyone??? We're waiting for this Harmonix!!
5. March of the Pigs
6. Head Down - the guitar in this song live is just searing, crazy live energy especially from Robin and Josh
7. The Frail
8. The Wretched - missed this last time, so glad to have it back this time. It's amazing how much you crave something when you haven't heard it live in so long
9. Closer (To The Only Time) - new Trent-face-cam on the big screen like they did for The Greater Good. Very cool, made you get into the song even more especially when you see Trent's face on the big screen screaming the song's chorus
10. Gave Up
11. Corona Radiata
12. The Warning - one of my least favorites off Year Zero, but now one of my favorites after hearing it live
13. Vessel - "Oh. My. God. Can it go any faster?" Just awesome! The visuals, the pulsing bass drops, the crazy electronic stuttering; One of my favorites off Year Zero is even better live
14. 21 Ghosts III - just absolutely loved the whole Ghosts section, I said it before and I'll say it again, I would love to see an entire performance in this style!
15. 28 Ghosts IV
16. 19 Ghosts III
17. Piggy
18. The Greater Good
19. Pinion
20. Wish
21. Terrible Lie
22. Survivalism - no girl in the washroom this time, but instead NIN's crazy headbanging tech and a couple guys going at it
23. The Big Come Down - this has become my favorite song to hear live, and it didn't disappoint. Just pure energy personified. You can tell how good a song is not by what's played, but by what's not played. How many times have I read reviews for other shows that go "No Big Come Down :'("
24. 31 Ghosts IV - new visuals at one point made my head spin when it looked like the band was in a blender, very trippy!
25. Only - like Ghosts 31, there was a point here that made my head spin. Has to be seen live, words just don't do it justice
26. The Hand That Feeds
27. Head Like A Hole

Encore:
28. Echoplex - the screen didn't screw up this time, great to hear live
29. The Good Soldier
30. God Given - another new addition, my favorite part of this live is the new bass line which does not exist in the studio version
31. Hurt
32. In This Twilight - my favorite song off Year Zero closes it out again. I especially like the end which has a building crescendo and then finally slowly fades out as each member is spotlighted and given their own separate curtain calls

Click here for attendee-submitted media (pics & vids) from the show on NIN.com.

Ears still ringing, but my ears should heal in time for them to get abused again in Vegas. Last show of the tour, last show for Josh Freese, and the last big production show of this scale. If that means more small venue shows, that is definitely not a bad thing. It should be epic. See you there!

NIN + Vegas = Awesome

Booked my flights and hotel and got my tickets for NIN's last show of the year in Sin City aka Las Vegas! Suggestions for things to do and places to see are very welcome.

It'll also be drummer Josh Freese's last show with NIN. Out of all the drummers NIN has had, he is easily my favorite. There's gonna be some tough shoes to fill for the next drummer.

Trent says he's got some new tricks up his sleeve for this leg of the tour. We know what the stage setup will be, so the only new surprises will come in the form of new songs. Having the oppotunity to also see them in Victoria the week before Vegas can only help my chances of hearing new songs. Here's my wishlist of songs I've yet to hear live (that they have played live before, except for the last song):

- Getting Smaller
- God Given
- Vessel
- We're In This Together
- The Fragile
- The Perfect Drug (The Holy Grail of NIN songs never played live, heads would explode!)

It should be the show to end all shows. And Hopefully I can get Ron drunk enough to marry some random floozy. I just have one word for him: prenup!

The Lights in the Sky Have Finally Arrived...

Nine Inch Nails - Lights in the Sky over North America 2008
Key Arena, Seattle, Washington - Sat. Jul. 26, 2008

This is my 6th NIN concert yet, and every time I walk out of one I'm always saying "That was the best one yet, there's no way they can top that." Yet every single time they manage to do it, and this night was not an exception. I can't wait to see what Trent's got up his sleeve for next time.

Where to start? Let's start with the stage setup, NIN's most elaborate yet. I would wager that it's more complicated than if you combined all of NIN's big stage setups from previous tours together. At the back is a solid wall LED screen. A swinging light grid that is bright as heck (good on you, those few who brought sunglasses!), and two light grids, 1 concave at the back, and 1 convex at the rear. They can be arranged up and down and are sometimes used in tandem to create some really psychedelic effects. It's the next best thing to taking drugs, in fact, it's probably even better!

The great thing about NIN is that the price you pay for your ticket is all up there on the stage. Even cooler, NIN.com did fan presales for absolutely free. You get early access to the best seats in the house, early access to the venue, and with that the possibility of a meet and greet and/or a soundcheck. Plus you get your own personalized NIN ticket, and you don't pay Ticketmaster's ridiculous "convenience" charges. Did I mention it was FREE? And the price you pay, it's all up there on the stage. Usually you feel ripped off paying high prices to go to a live show, but I have never felt more rewarded for going to a concert, ever.



The Visuals - simply amazing. There are so many elements, that work in tandem to create an unbelievable surreal viewing experience. NIN live is not just about the music, but also about what you see. I loved how the stage setup was introduced in layers, like NIN's music. They start out with just the standard lights, then as the performance continues, add in another element one by one, until finally they're all

The Setlist (with my song specific comments added):

1. 999,999
2. 1,000,000
3. Letting You - Josh Freese is the most balls to the walls drummer out there.
4. Discipline - a new crowdpleaser. Why isn't this in Rock Band yet???
5. March of the Pigs - We are finally introduced to the swinging light grid here, and boy is it bright. If you stared at it long enough, you would go blind for sure.
6. Head Down - Trent rocks the Tambourine before tossing it the crowd; that's one hell of a souvenir.
7. The Frail - strangely segued into Closer. Was expecting The Wretched. Oh well.
8. Closer (To The Only Time) - again performed with The Only Time breakdown at the end, as has been the case since 2005.
9. Gave Up

10/11. (Corona Radiata) The Warning - first time hearing this live. Along with The Great Destroyer played with the band members silhouetted in front of the convex light grid.
12. The Great Destroyer

13. 1 Ghosts I - this section of the concert changed the setup slightly and had many members playing different setups. It was fantastic and I would love to see an entire performance done in this manner.
14. 25 Ghosts III - I have to admit this is my least favorite song from Ghosts I-IV, and it still is. But I'll be damned if I don't say that this live version kicks ass in a way I thought was not impossible. Trent rocking out to the Xylophone has to be seen to be experienced, words just don't do it justice. Add that to another thing NIN can do that all other rock bands couldn't pull off on their best days (like rocking out with a Tambourine, and having a kickass keyboard solo in the middle of an all-out rock song -- Gave Up)
15. 19 Ghosts III - More Josh Freese drum-ass-kickery and Trent xylophone-awesomeness. 'Nuff said.
16. Piggy - this new "Ghosts" style version of Piggy is my favorite live performance of it yet. As with the previous Ghosts songs, new bassist Justin Meldal-Johnsen played the standup bass (a NIN first!).

17. The Greater Good - I still can't get over how cool the visual for this is. I'm not even gonna spoil it for those who haven't seen it yet. Don't bother looking it up on Youtube or anything, it just doesn't do it justice. You've gotta see it live.

18. Pinion - weird hearing this in the middle of the concert, because it's always been at the beginning!
19. Wish
20. Terrible Lie - this is one of those old non-single songs that has just become a fan favorite, everybody sings and moshes along like crazy.
21. Survivalism - the backdrop gave us live security cam footage from around the arena a la the music video. There were 8 of em, but honestly I was just watching the one with the chick in the bathroom stall.
22. The Big Come Down - one of my new go-to songs from NIN to absolutely rock out to (just watch the one they do on the BYIT DVD). Visually, there were vertically hanging fluorescent tubes that swung around in a neat way.
23. 31 Ghosts IV - one of the more rocking song from Ghosts, appropriately rocked out to
24. Only - new intro (almost made me think they were gonna play an all-new song until the familiar guitar chord was played), new sound (due to old/new guitarist), and new visuals, the best Only yet! The visuals were again pretty damn amazing.
25. The Hand That Feeds
26. Head Like A Hole - having been to so many NIN shows, like most NIN fans, when HLAH is played, we rock the fuck out not only because the song kick ass, but also because it usually signals the end of NIN's set. We have been trained to expect the end, like Pavlov's Bell. It could've ended here and we would all be satisfied, but that wasn't the end of it.

Encore:
27. Echoplex - the video screen here was cool, with drummer Josh Freese heading out in front of one of the grid screens and manipulating the beat until finally the beat for the song begins. The song kicks much ass live, a very welcome addition to the setlist. Again, why isn't this in Rock Band yet?
28. The Beginning of the End
29. The Good Soldier - More Year Zero goodness.
30. Hurt - done different than the With Teeth tour version, which had mainly Trent singing by himself with a piano. Now the whole band is playing for the most part. Also, everybody just needs to shut the fuck up during this song. Don't scream, don't clap, just shut up and enjoy it or get the fuck out!
31. In This Twilight - did not see this coming at all, but man, what a pleasant surprise! Had a nice little piano outro by Trent before thanked us and left the stage.

Everything was great, but if I had to pick a highlight, I would have to say The Greater Good for it's visuals. Another highlight would be In This Twilight. I didn't expect another song after Hurt, let alone my favorite track off Year Zero. Not a bad way to close the show out at all.

There were some technical difficulties, this being the first official night of the tour and all, but that's to be expected, and none of them took away from the enjoyment of the show. That's one of the bad things about going to one of the early shows. However, the good things far outweigh them. The surprise at the stage setup and setlist aren't ruined, and you don't have to wait weeks or months for them to reach your area, which can seem like an eternity for NIN fans. The moshpit was the most sedate I've been to yet, the Seattle crowd is nowhere near as rabid as Vancouver or Osaka. More assholes than usual, but sometimes you gotta take the good with the bad, and in the end, it was all good.

All in all, this was the longest show I've been to yet, about 2 hours and 5 minutes, 31 songs. Just amazing on all accounts. Visuals, music, performance, energy, everything was top notch. Do yourself a favor and see as many shows as possible. I want this in Blu-ray high-def ultra-realism now. Audio is already available (big thanks to the person who recorded and released it in such a timely manner), so hit me up if you want a copy.

To finish, some pics of two tees I got.

The Hit List: Making Up For The Last 6 Months, 1 Post at a Time

It's been more than half a year since my last post of this type. I've been busy enjoying all this stuff instead of actually writing about it, but I'll try to post as much as I can.

The Host - This Korean monster movie has the distinction of being the most popular film in Korean cinema history. It's easy to see why when you watch this film. The previews of this film make it seem like some silly monster movie, and part of it is. The aspect of the film that appealed to me the most, which the previews didn't show was how much of a family drama this is.

This movie opens in a U.S. military morgue in Korea where an American military pathologists commands his Korean subordinate to dump bottles of formaldehyde down the drain. This is based on a true incident that occurred in 2000. The rest of the movie, of course, did not. Because all that hazardous formaldehyde was dumped down the drain, a gigantic organism, The Host, becomes mutated from a fish in the river where a Korean family has set up shop. The Host attacks people along the river and eventually takes the family's daughter. She is believed dead, but later calls them by cell phone trapped in a sewer which she can't escape.

The rest of the movie follows the family as they each work separately and together to find their youngest family member. There are many funny and scary moments involving the monster and the family, but like I said earlier, what I liked the most was the drama of the family trying to save a loved one. The directing and the writing along with the actors who play the family, make you really care for them. Highly recommended.

Happy Feet - everyone who knows me knows that one of my favorite things in life is a Pixar movie. If it's a CG movie and it's not Pixar, then I won't bother. But I'm happy to say that Happy Feet is easily the best non-Pixar CG movie, and would fit alongside side any of their movies any day. Obviously influenced by the recent documentary March of the Penguins, Happy Feet follows the life of Mumble, the ugly duckling

What's great about this movie? I love how it integrates music into the lives of penguins. In this movie, all Penguins can sing and have their own song. They sing to each other to find their true loves. Of course, our main character Mumble can't sing. But what he lacks in singing ability, he has in dancing and tapping ability. The story is your typical ugly-duckling/outsider who wins over everyone, but it's done so well. The music is comprised of modern popular music and fits in perfectly. Some of the choices seem odd, but that's the charm. Think Moulin Rouge.

This movie's got it all, great writing, great direction, great music, and a great message to boot about us and the world we live in.

3:10 to Yuma - Easily one of the best movies to come out last year or any year, really. What a pleasure it is to see two of this generation's greatest actors (Russell Crowe & Christian Bale) at the absolute top of their game. Crowe may be one of those controversial figures, but who the hell cares when we get performances like this. Christian Bale on the other hand carries none of the controversy, but has acting ability in spades. He is so good in everything he does that I fear for his health because he is known as such a hardcore method actor and in almost every movie he is in he portrays a character who goes through so many emotional and physical highs and lows.

This movie follows Bale, who plays a family man just barely getting enough finances for his family to get by. Crowe portrays the leader of an outlaw gang who kill and steal to get by in life. Once Crowe is captured, he is to be sent on the 3:10 train to Yuma where he is to be imprisoned. It's not as easy as it sounds, because Crowe's crew are not far behind trying to free him. The subtle nuances and twists that develop, like those between Crowe and Bale, and Bale and his son, are just so note-perfect and play out in such a fashion that makes this movie such a joy to experience.

These two actors alone really do give Oscar-worthy performances (god I hate using Oscar-worthy as an adjective because the Oscars can be such a joke), but what really elevates this movie is a tight script, sure direction, and great supporting performances all-around. Whatever happened to the great Western genre? Well with 3:10 to Yuma, we can safely say it's still around, it was just taking a break. Just go see it.

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters - Ah, video game world records, what have we come to? It may seem like a dumb and useless subject, but this movie is neither. It is compelling and well worth a watch. What makes this documentary so compelling is that it plays out like a well-scripted drama, where we clearly have a good guy and a bad guy. You really can't make this stuff up. Like all great documentaries, it's interesting even if you're not interested in the subject.

And what else can be said about Billy Mitchell, he is quite possibly the biggest douchebag in history, but I'll be damned if he's not one of the great movie villains of all-time. In fact, the central story of the film survives only because the audience wants so bad for his record to be beaten. Without him, the movie would not have been nearly as interesting.

Burnout Paradise (Xbox 360/PS3) - Burnout goes next-gen, giving us a whole new Burnout with a large open world to explore and tons of different events and objectives to complete. While the whole open world thing is new, what remains the same is the great gameplay which remains as solid as ever. I gotta say that Burnout ruins other driving games for me because I'll always try to play them like Burnout. The driving mechanic is just so smooth and simple.

Because of the open world, you have to race in a completely different way than the previous games. You have the entire world and the many many shortcuts you can take to get to the finish the fastest. Crash mode is also different. I don't quite like it as much as the old crash mode, but there is something quite satisfying about being able to go into crash mode any time you want. Yes, anytime, anywhere.

In the end, this is still a very worthwhile game in my favorite racing game series of all-time. I know I'll be playing it for a long time just to find that last secret jump or billboard or smash, not to mention winning all the events, setting records on all the Showtime road rules. There really is a lot to do in this game, and that itself will keep you playing for a very long time.

The Orange Box (Xbox 360/PS3/PC) - based on sheer content alone, this is worth the price. It's 5 games in 1, and not a single part of the package is a stinker. You get the great Half-Life 2, it's 2 expansions, Episodes 1 & 2, along with the team-based multiplayer Team Fortress 2, and the mind-bending Portal, which despite it's short playtime may be worth the price of admission alone. All I can say is buy it, it's more than worth it.

It's A Winter Wonderland!

The only problem is that it's spring!



This picture was taken last night, not last December.

My Car Got A Big Owie

So the other day, I was just driving along, minding my own business, just going straight on my own lane, when suddenly some guy in a big truck on a different lane decides he wants into my lane. Problem is, when he tried to go, I was there. So bam, he crunches the side of my car, and the side-view mirror is literally hanging by a thread (as seen in the picture above, it has now been duct taped back on -- Thanks Rae!). Driving without a side-view mirror is not fun.

Thankfully, no one was hurt and double thankfully it was 100% the other driver's fault so all repairs are covered and I won't take a hit on my future insurance premiums.

P.S. - I haven't had a Hit List type post in a while (Nov. 27 to be exact) but there should be a big one soon, so keep checking back.

More on Rock Band

Here's a picture of the band that my friends and I use when we play Rock Band, "Vegetarian Spank Inferno!" Bonus points for anyone who gets that reference.

I really love the look of Rock Band. The graphics and customization options in this game really put Guitar Hero III to shame, I would compare it as going from last-gen to next-gen, like comparing the graphics of Playstation 2 to Playstation 3. Although it's a blast to play, sometimes it's just cool to sit back and watch the game in motion because it's beautiful. The lip-syncing for the singer really matches well. The drummer actually hits the proper drums in his or her drum set. When you get a close up of a guitar getting played, you see the strings vibrate when they're strummed. The camera angles and stage design is varied and superb. Every so often there are cool special effects like the camera going black-and-white or hazy. The lighting on the stage matches the music being played. All-in-all, the game's presentation is excellent.

Everybody's practicing and gearing up for Endless Setlist. If you don't know what it is, you basically play through all 58 songs included on the original game disc back-to-back-to-back without breaks. Apparently it takes about 5-6 hours to do this. Sounds daunting, but we're gonna take an entire day, get as many people as we can together and make a party of it all. This way we can rotate and swap out people when we get tired or if a song is too difficult for someone.

That being said, here are some more reasons that I heart Rock Band:
- Big Rock Endings. I just wish every song had one
- the ability to still be able to get get more Overdrive while you are engaged in Overdrive mode
- your Star rating is displayed prominently so you know how far away from the next level you are. This way if you're near the end of a song, you can play your ass off to get that next star
- tambourine and cowbell playing for the singer. What a great touch, the first time I sang (Don't Fear) The Reaper, I was in love. I had a fever over the Xmas break and more cowbell really was the only prescription
- new downloadable content every week. By year's end, they say there will be over 200 extra tracks available for Rock Band. While not every song is gonna appeal to everyone, I've already downloaded over a dozen extra tracks. I'm already looking forward to mid-March when they release a Nine Inch Nails track pack. Let's hope that it's the first of many to come.

To end, some song requests:
Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody, the absolute holy grail of rock. I've been dying to get this song in either a karaoke game or guitar hero, but what better place is there than Rock Band. If made as downloadable content, this is guaranteed to be the best selling song of all-time. Also, any other Queen would be greatly appreciated.

Jimi Hendrix - you always see those tidbits about Jimi during the load screens, but yet there is no Hendrix to play in the game. It's like dangling a carrot and pulling it away at the last moment. The holy grail of Jimi's catalog of course has to be Voodoo Child (Slight Return), and other great fits would be Fire, Purple Haze and his cover of Bob Dylan's All Along The Watchtower.

U2 - I'm not really a fan of their entire catalog as a whole, but I cannot deny the greatness that is their 1987 album, Joshua Tree. Anything from that would be a must buy. They are undoubtedly one of the most popular bands of all-time, but strangely enough, I don't believe that they've been featured in a music/rhythm game to date.

NIN - Anything. Ok, half of NIN's catalog just doesn't translate well to the Rock Band format (See: most of Year Zero). However, there are some absolute gems that would translate masterfully to Rock Band. Some of my favorites would be: Anything from their Broken album, HYPERPOWER!/The Beginning of the End (bundle em together like Boston's Foreplay/Long Time), and Head Like A Hole.

One of the big points that would make the transition difficult is the lyrical content. To remain a T-rated game, some songs featured in Rock Band are censored. Certain songs that would translate well but would have to be heavily censored would be You Know What You Are? and Only; songs which contain 'fuck' in the chorus. Censoring might work for some songs, but for others it would just ruin it. Although for a lot of the censored songs, when we play them, we like to belt them out with the swear words intact.

Rock Band = Best. Game. Ever.

The hype is real. When you spend 4+ hours with friends staying up until the wee hours of the morning playing the same game for 2 days straight, you know you've got a special game.

What makes this game so cool? How about getting together with 3 of your friends and rocking out to classics like Blue Oyster Cult's Don't Fear The Reaper and personal favorites like The Hand That Feeds by Nine Inch Nails. You can play drums, bass, guitar or sing. Get tired of drumming? Try guitar or bass! Get tired of that? Try singing! Tired of that? Well I feel like drumming again! Up for a challenge? You can even try playing an instrument and singing at the same time!

It'll never get old because you can play 4 different instruments at 4 different difficulties and there's over 50 songs with new songs being made available every week (for a somewhat reasonable fee, of course).

Absolutely phenomenal.

This definitely makes up for me being sick through Christmas, my birthday and New Year's!

My New Year's Resolution....

...Is to play this as much as possible:



Fuck yeah.