Note: I have since re-written this post because, after re-reading it, I realised I probably should have waited until after my headache and groggy state of mind had lifted before even beginning to write.

I had a really great time last night, for the most part*. For the last few weeks I hadn’t really been all that excited about seeing NIN, mainly because I hadn’t listened to him much in years, but when they started and were playing songs I actually new (because I’m not so familiar with the new stuff), I felt pretty damn ecstatic! Trent Reznor was quite a prominent figure in my 15-year-old self’s mind, so it ended up being a little surreal for me, which I wasn’t expecting. I’m really glad I went because he probably wont be back here again, at least not as NIN anyway.

My friend that I went with has seen them a couple of times before and said they didn’t seem as good as she’d seen previously, and that’s what I overhead others say, too, but I have nothing to compare it with and wouldn’t want to anyway. They played ‘Hurt’, which was awesome, and also my very old beloved ‘Starfuckers’, among others! I still know the words. No ‘Closer’ though, which was a little bit of a let down because it’s a great song and, let’s face it, who doesn’t want to see Trent sing “I wanna fuck you like an animal” in person?

Speaking of which, I totally would have let him. When I could see him, for I often had a number of different fanboys in my way, he went from insanely intense to…well, even hotter, if I’m being honest here… Can I just say that he has got great arms. Seriously. He also talked quite a bit in comparison to other shows I’ve been to, and the sound was decent so I could understand him well. He seemed really nice and looked like he had a good time. The guys he had playing with him were very good, too. Because the live line-up changes fairly often I think the mood can be affected by that — sometimes the chemistry between everyone might be off, but last night I thought it all meshed very well.

The only thing that left some of us a bit miffed was that the set list was shorter than we expected and there was no encore, much to everyone’s disappointment. I didn’t really mind all that much because I’ve been to shows with no encore and frankly I don’t really the point in them anyway. As Trent said, it was the first night they had played with the new set-up they had, so they themselves didn’t have a solid idea of what they were doing, however I didn’t think that showed much at all.

The opening band was The Naked and Famous. I didn’t think I knew who they were until they played a song I recognised, then I was like “Oohhh, that’s who you are.” They were decent and the singer is a girl, so yay for that.

Overall, I had an amazing time and I totally have a crush on Trent again. Cannot be helped. I am left with a sense of being very lucky to have experienced that night. It’s the sort of thing I hope to tell my currently non-existent kids one day and they’ll be all “Oh my God, Mum, you saw Nine Inch Nails live??!! You are sooo cool!” or something like that. I think that about my own mother who saw Led Zeppelin at 15. What I would give, what I would give…

*The only crappy parts for me were the fanboys who have no consideration for other people (I value my toes and their ability to, you know, function), and standing behind a girl with dreads who flicked her hair in my face, and eye!, on numerous occasions while dancing.