Nine Inch Nails are finishing up their American tour this month, the last show for what could be a long time. I had a chance to attend their last show in Asia in Seoul for a brief 90-minute set of some of their classic songs. It was an amazing show, and despite the fact that this time they weren't done up in the fancy light shows or the elaborate stage decor, it was still an absolutely mind-blowing show. In commemoration of the event, I decided to draw out a tribute, NIN in my life and memory.

I remember being in high school with Brent Keefe sitting behind me in Mr. Pegg's English class talking about the rarity of certain albums, Pretty Hate Machine being one and Soundgarden's first album, Badmotorfinger. I distinctly remember Brent (who had a propensity to exaggerate) saying, "Yeah, my friend located one copy of Pretty Hate Machine, it was like, in Belgium." These were the types of discussions we had throughout the high school years for which I look back very fondly. Our worldview was slowly starting to expand beyond the halls of the school, thanks largely to the rock magazines Spin and Rolling Stone and also from the music we listened to. It's funny how the bands we listened to as kids seemed to speak directly to us, even from the distances, and we would relate to the lyrics as though they directly channeled our own teenage (and sometimes pointless) angst. Nine Inch Nails was the band for me that represented that. Back then, they were only one band of many, but if I had need for emotional comfort, or discharge, that was what I would listen to. I had all of their albums by Grade 10, and had all of the "halos" before I was out of high school. After all, the only thing I had to spend money on was gas, coffee, and CDs. I remember that the money I earned from Eddies' was split up in almost an even third just such. My collection of CDs grew exponentially in those days, going from 10 to 300 in three years, since which I've probably only purchased 30 (even though my digital collection mysteriously doubles every six months). I remember remixing Nine Inch Nails tracks by rudimentary looping and editing on Cool Edit Pro, my first real musical foot forward, and a few steps behind my friends Jeremy and Mark who were doing the same thing with different bands.



Then we graduated, and everything changed. The discussions of music became more passionate, more final, and often more confrontational. The worldview then expanded beyond Weyburn's bubble, as most of us moved away to another city for school, or just to get away. The Fragile was released on 9-9-99, in my first year of university. I remember my first listen to the album was while I was writing my first Psychology paper (or should I say NOT writing it). The Fragile was the first thing Kat and I talked about when we got to know each other at a party, and what was playing when we hooked up. I drove around in the cougar with a tape that was starting to become so thin you could quietly hear the backwards music from the opposite side. I don't think I ever played an album as much before or since as I did that one. I was tortured by the fact that they never came through even remotely near Saskatchewan during the Fragility tour which lasted over two years and toured to even the most remote reaches of the globe. However, when they finally released the live DVD, we had a taste. Justin, Dave, Nathan, Victor and myself would all sit down before nearly every Linger band practice in front of his massive surround sound stereo system and get blown away by that DVD. This was what we wanted to do and how we wanted to do it.



Even though University seemed like an eternity while we were there, I'm sad to say that I've been out of it longer than I was in it. Maybe when I am old I will look back at that time period as being the best of my life, but maybe that's only because I was much more optimistic and excited during those years, because at first sight, the world is a beautiful and open place with opportunity and potential. However, now, I look back at that time as the life under the umbrella, and not at all in the real world, and thus illegitimate in a way. However perception is a strong thing, and at that point perception was blissfully naive. With Teeth came out when I was experiencing the tidal flood of the real world. The direction that Trent went on that album was perhaps not as epic as the Fragile, but I thought and still think it was concise and less introspective about the world then the previous albums, and thus having greater relevance lyrically. He was making a lot of the same observations as me, so it hit hard, and I listened to that album as much as any other. This was the tour where Kat and I had a chance to finally see the live show, and it was beyond anything I ever dreamed of. The marriage of visual performance and musical performance was astounding. It was an experience unto itself.



It was at this juncture that I finally had a chance to meet the man who'd influenced everything musical in my life. He's short, has striking blue eyes, and he's got a really strong grip. Beyond that, the meeting was really anti-climactic, and although it was a great experience, it was not the life-changing moment of glorious connection I guess I secretly hoped it would be. This is fine, I don't believe it's a good thing to idolize somebody too much, as you create a bubble of who you believe the person is, and very often what they really are like is nothing of the sort. Really, it's all that I really could desire for such a happening, a chance to thank the man who makes the music. But really, it's the gift of music and memory that I will always keep.

Year Zero, Ghosts, and The Slip have all come out swiftly, over the course of only two years. I enjoy all of this music just as much as I have the early stuff, and all in different ways, but really it will be in the future before I can truly realize the impact and it's relation to the events and memories that happen in my life.



Although this blog post seems that NIN was the only band that I ever listened to, that's not true, but it is the band I've listened to the longest and still like as much as the first day I experienced it. So here's to NIN, you'll be missed, though, I have 20 hours of music to listen to until I'm old and gray. Thanks again.