[WTC_Field_Report: Houston,_06_04_06]

By Melissa

Just so you know where I'm coming from, my first-ever NIN concert was on 3_20_06, in Pensacola, FL.  Houston was my second. There were some significant differences between these 2 shows, so I can't help making comparisons.

I had reserved seats on the left side of the stage, about 3 rows behind the pit in Houston.  The seats were great for a close-up view of Trent, but I had a big stack of amps blocking my view every once in a while.

TV on the Radio came out promptly at 7:00.  I thought their performance was good, but the crowd wasn't really into them.  Their set lasted about 30 minutes. Bauhaus came out shortly after that.  They were really fucking great, and "older, British, and better looking" (according to Peter Murphy himself).  Peter even came over to our side of the stage, and looked me straight in the eyes... which totally made me a bigger Bauhaus fan.

Thirty minutes after the Bauhaus set, this big metal grate was lowered. It was like a curtain of metal bars divided into 5 or 6 free-standing segments. I didn't realize until later in the show that these bars lit up.

Nine Inch Nails entered the stage from behind the metal bars on the right side while the house lights were still on, so we could watch them walking on - very fucking cool.  They opened with "Somewhat Damaged".  My viewpoint was at an angle, so I couldn't see Trent very clearly through the bars (I mean, I could see him, but not as clearly as if I had a straight-forward view).  But, then he started shoving his big arms in between the bars and grabbing on to them, screaming "too fucked up to care anymore!"  It was INCREDIBLY hot. It just tapped into some little, tiny bondage-type relation in my mind.  Plus, it totally reminded me of the Wish video. The other guys were pushing and knocking against the bars too, so each segment would swing out, and I could catch brief views of Trent completely unobstructed by the metal.

Near the beginning of the show... I know it's hard to see
but that's Trent, screaming into the mic!

Later on during the performance (I don't remember which song), only the middle segment of bars was lowered behind Trent.  For the first time, the bars light up - little red lights running all over the bars in a pattern that looked like rain right over Trent's head.

Trent was wearing the black t-shirt with the red military stripes on the sleeves, black shorts, & boots.  His hair has grown out a bit; it's not completely shaved anymore, thank god.  Josh started out the show with a bushy white mustache and eyebrows, but they were gone by the second or third song.

Overall this performance seemed more aggressive, compared to Pensacola.  Trent didn't say much to us that night, just "Thank you" and "Goodnight."  He also had very little interaction (i.e. touching) with the crowd.  Last time I saw him, he was making speeches between songs and getting down into the crowd during Piggy (which they didn't play in Houston). I'm not really complaining; he looked and sounded fucking incredible, so I was happy.

Another very clear picture of trent!

They ended the show with "Head Like a Hole", waved goodbye, and exited the stage. No encore, of course. 

The highlight of the night for me was hearing "Get Down Make Love" and "The Big Come Down", especially "Get Down Make Love".  Not only does that song sound about 100 times better live, but I really wasn't expecting to hear it. I hadn't read any setlists from previous shows, and had no idea there was a chance he would be performing it.  It was incredible, and there was something so satisfying about hearing the words "make love" coming out of Trent's mouth while he is only a few feet away.  It sounded so nice inside my head.

Also, (and this is just the sexual obsession showing itself here) Trent did that water bottle thing.  You know, how he puts a bottle of water between his thighs and squeezes it? That image has stayed with me for several days now, because I just LOVE it when he does that.  Like I said, his performance seemed very aggressive that night - there was no chit chat, no audience hand-holding, no bullshitting around - just pure aggression.  Sex and aggression - good stuff.

At the very end of the show, the full curtain of bars was lowered again with "NIN" in lights (see my last camera phone pic). The complete set lasted about 1 1/2 hours and every minute of it fucking rocked.  I need to see them again!

Cool!

I really hope everyone has a chance to see this - it's hard to describe, and extremely cool. I've been to tons of concerts and I always leave the show with a feeling of satisfaction mixed with sadness, because it's over so fast.  That feeling was magnified about 10 times after seeing Nine Inch Nails.  My ears were pulsating from being so close to the amps.  I was most excited about hearing so many songs from The Fragile -- "The Big Comedown"! -- and my head was buzzing with everything I had just heard. Plus, I had that image of Trent with his water bottle burned into my brain.

Walking back to my car, the first thing my friend said was, "God, he's perfect,"  and the conversation pretty much continued along that topic for a while.  We made a lot of comparisons between the Houston & Pensacola shows - Trent really was much sweeter in Florida, and angrier and more aggressive in Houston.

Of course, angry and sexy isn't a bad thing...

Here's the complete setlist:

Somewhat Damaged
Know What You Are?
Sin
Terrible Lie
March Of The Pigs
Something I Can Never Have
Closer
Burn
Gave Up
Help Me I Am I Hell
Non-Entity
Only
Wish
La Mer
Into The Void
The Big Come Down
Suck
Get Down Make Love
Hurt
The Hand That Feeds
Head Like A Hole

I have to see them again!