2014.07.27 - Toronto, ON @ Molson Canadian Amphitheatre

[mfte]

Call me crazy, but I'm willing to wager Wish just very well may get played.

Top 3 NIN show for sure. The set list flowed flawlessly. The songs I wasn't a fan of sounded so much better live. Hesitation Marks sounded so much better live. The light show was spectacular. Trent and band seemed really into it. Peace to the folks stuck out in the lawns. Fuckignn Eraser! So good!

[sick among the pure]

Ended up finding a guy sitting by himself shivering in the rain waiting for NIN to come on, and gave my 300 level "extra" to him. I figure, didn't want to see the seat go to waste, and I've gotten so much from the community in the past. What's $120 in the long run? I'm sure getting a 2 section upgrade for free, and getting out of the storm, made his fucking night.

Just got back to North Tonawanda, my mohawk melted in the walk back to the car and is a solid chunk of hair on my head, so I'm going to go take care of that and review the show later.


Pics and video slowly going on my instagram, should all be up within 24 hours. GOD I love the burst photo capability on the iPhone 5s. And my telephoto lens.

[icecream]

Your photos are awesome. The abandoned school ones are really cool!

[botley]

I really enjoyed the show, too. Very glad I got to see this iteration of the tour; the staging with the onstage screen carts is slick as all hell in person. It really is one of the best ideas NIN's ever executed. 0pN & Soundgarden sounded great too, and even the rain couldn't bring me down after NIN. So nice to see @ItsJustDave and his daughter in the crowd. I'm sure there were a few more of you out there!

One small criticism, coming from a very picky pair of ears. NIN's new front-of-house sound engineer needs to pick up his or her cues on things like backing vocals and secondary synth parts — the band were playing their asses off, hitting their marks flawlessly, jumping from part to part with incredible energy, but I lost track of how many times the mixer was late on pushing the fader up so we could hear exactly what was playing. If that isn't fixed, then NIN may as well not change the setlist until he or she learns to get it right. It was just little things like backing track cues, for example the drum machine kick on the bridge of "March" was missing etc. Doubt anybody else noticed — I guess the rehearsal period was pretty rushed for this one person, because everything else sounded and looked great.

[Ash512]

@botley : Isn't the mix automated though?

Although on paper it's the probably my least favorite setlist I've ever seen the band play since the With Teeth arena tours, I still enjoyed this show very much. The Festival Tour visuals are indeed better than Tension's (probably because Tension didn't really have any new tricks to show after LITS). It feels like a very cohesive production, Tension wasn't nearly as focused. I'm glad I get to see it one more time in Mansfield tomorrow, but please dear god let 'em change the setlist just a tiny bit. Bring back TDTWWA, at least!

[mfte]

Anyone else think that the guitars were a little quiet in the mix?

[klang]

Wound up totally drenched and completely sore by the end, but what a great fucking show. Definitely very fast paced once NIN took the stage, crowd's energy was just fantastic. Little tiny itty bit upset over no Fragile tracks showing up, but honestly with how well everything flowed, I have no idea what I would have really liked changed.

Agreed some of the parts were barely picked up in the mix- I only just heard the very end of the piano at the end of Piggy. But it might've just been because I was so far back (400s)

[sick among the pure]

I really enjoyed the show, too. Very glad I got to see this iteration of the tour; the staging with the onstage screen carts is slick as all hell in person. It really is one of the best ideas NIN's ever executed. 0pN & Soundgarden sounded great too, and even the rain couldn't bring me down after NIN. So nice to see @ItsJustDave and his daughter in the crowd. I'm sure there were a few more of you out there!

One small criticism, coming from a very picky pair of ears. NIN's new front-of-house sound engineer needs to pick up his or her cues on things like backing vocals and secondary synth parts — the band were playing their asses off, hitting their marks flawlessly, jumping from part to part with incredible energy, but I lost track of how many times the mixer was late on pushing the fader up so we could hear exactly what was playing. If that isn't fixed, then NIN may as well not change the setlist until he or she learns to get it right. It was just little things like backing track cues, for example the drum machine kick on the bridge of "March" was missing etc. Doubt anybody else noticed — I guess the rehearsal period was pretty rushed for this one person, because everything else sounded and looked great.

I completely agree, and thought at times that Robin's mic just wasn't working. That's one thing I always notice, since I am usually right in front of him, so I know when he is and isn't singing. This was my first time being back by the sound bard, where the sound is supposedly best, so I knew things would be a little different.

ANYWAY, THE SHOW.

Traffic on the bridge to get in to Canada was all the suck. We clocked almost a full hour waiting in a dead stop on the highway, but once we got to the bridge, it was a pretty good experience. A few more questions than usual, but luckily no problems with my ID (my legal name has not been changed, and is very feminine, but my gender marker has because that doesn't cost to change. This leads to problems depending on who I am dealing with...) A few sprinkles on the way, coupled with traffic slowing down for seemingly no reason, were ominous signs. At one point we made a joke that traffic had slowed down just to look at the car on the other side of the road that had pulled over missing a tire, or to read the sign that said that traffic was slow, because of the timing. We would later make the same jokes when trying to leave the arena, since there were a few choke points that slowed everyone way down. Got in to Toronto, drove past a lot that still had plenty of room, but it was blocked off with cones. Went down to the next lot, which filled up as we were in it. My friend who was driving told the rest of us to hop out and go in to the venue, she would go across the street and get in there (it was getting so late that we might miss part of Soundgarden, which we did, but only the first song).
Got inside, got to my newly acquired better seat close to the front of 202, and enjoyed Soundgarden. At one point, someone who you could ONLY describe as a stereotypical hippie (big older guy, long gray greasy hair, long unkempt beard, tie-dye shirt, etc) came in the row in front of me and just to my left, and asked the girls there if they mind if he smokes up. They say no, and for the entire second half of Soundgarden, this guy is wafting a mix of weed and b.o. everywhere as he spins in place with his arms flailing about. I kinda wanted to take some video, it was really entertaining. Everyone just kinda giggled and shrugged it off. He was having fun, good for him. (He would eventually come back during NIN, but with less spinning and more bopping and what I could only describe as a mix of fist pumping and inane flailing). The first time I got a seat for a show, it was the summer WT amphitheater tour, with Peaches and Bauhaus opening. Everyone around me stood still, didn't move, didn't sing, weren't into it at all (even when NIN came on, there was little of anything). But even during Soundgarden (which many people described as "a long opener") people were really into it. Singing along, moving around, really enjoying themselves. I instantly felt better about having a seat, since I love the energy of being in the pit.
I got a few pictures, and recorded pretty much all of Rusty Cage, all up on my instagram which I linked to above (throwing Rusty Cage on Youtube either while I'm on the Megabus tonight, or when I get home tomorrow).
I agree with what someone said... somewhere? That Soundgarden's mix sounded like a wall of noise. I had a hard time actually understanding the lyrics to the few songs I didn't know, etc.

Break between Soundgarden and NIN, I went on a hunt for someone to give my nin.com presale 300 level ticket to. And since it had started raining again (still? harder?) I knew someone would want it. I went up in the lawn, looking for someone alone, since I only had one ticket, and tried to find someone who would either have some cash, or want to trade for a shirt or poster or something, and eventually just offering it for free (mostly because the rain was picking up and I could feel my mohawk being affected, but also because I knew they opened like the summer festival shows last year and it's very sudden, and I didn't want to miss that). Eventually, the lawn didn't give me ANYTHING. So I walked down to the 400 level, because they weren't under cover, and saw a guy sitting all by himself, shivering in the rain, waiting for NIN. I went up to him and asked if he was there by himself to see NIN, he said yeah, and I said "I have this extra ticket, it's for the 300 level, so it's closer and under cover. Take this and go get out of the rain. Enjoy the show." At first I think he thought I was trying to scam him, or something, because he just kinda looked at the ticket, and at me, and didn't grab it at first. Then he saw that it was a nin.com pre-sale, which I couldn't have faked or duplicated or anything, and thanked me a bunch of times before taking off to shelter.

Got back to my seat in 202, chatted a bit with the girl next to me, who had last seen NIN live in 2000 (told her how lucky she was, that I became a fan right after that tour so I missed out) and we talked about what's different with the show now, I mentioned ETS to her if she was interested in any pics/video I got from the show, and my attention turned to the stage.
Since I went to Made In America last year, I kinda knew the setup and cues for the opening. I knew when and where to watch for Trent, and I was the first person standing up cheering, before he was even half way to his synth. As much as I love the surprise start, I miss the build up anxiety with Pinion or 999,999, etc. I hope when he tours again, he goes back to that, tbh.

Before I get into the NIN show, I gotta pack up and get going. If the wifi works on the Megabus tonight, I'll come finish up then. If not, tomorrow morning when I get home in Philly. (Bussing down so soon because I'm going to Camden, NJ on Wednesday)

[Shadaloo]

Copy of A and Hurt feedback accompanied by lightning. That was great.

Extremely, extremely grateful for having the chance to see Soundgarden after nearly 20 years cursing myself for getting into them *JUST* a bit too late. Only gripe is that the high speakers made it absolutely imposible to see anything on the big screen above SG from my seat in the 300s; glad all of the NIN display was band-level.

Trent going apeshit deejay on The Great destroyer is something to see. All conversation around me stopped and people were just mesmerized, it was wonderful.

I want to download that Eraser footage. It's just so great.

And yeah, I couldn't hear a thing Robin was saying.

[khris]

The show seemed really quiet, especially the first half. I was in section 101 in row L. The guitars weren't nearly as loud as Soundgarden. Half the time Trent sounded so quiet. Was strange. Still an awesome show, despite knowing a lot of what the setlist would be. So happy to see the moving screens and shadow setups.
Some guy with his kid told me I look like Dave Gahan. I told him I get that a lot haha.

[klang]

Trent going apeshit deejay on The Great destroyer is something to see. All conversation around me stopped and people were just mesmerized, it was wonderful.

Probably my favorite part of the show.

[Lew]

that storm was epically timed. when trent left the stage and a lightning bolt lit up the sky it was wild, then robin leaves and the thunder boom arrives. lol. it was trippy.
got soaked by rain and then soaked by tears (!). i am finding it harder and harder to go to a nin show and not end up crying through half the bloody set. sheesh. good show, trent sounded fabulous, but i couldn't hear ANY of the backing vocals for most of the set...so i thought i would help with that..apologies to anyone in the rain who was disturbed by my contribution ;p
the fucking great destroyer ending was other worldly. seriously. it WAS mesmerizing. it really shut people up.
i cannot believe how mental everybody went for the hand that feeds. LOLOLOLOLOL. not in a shitty way or that song sucks way, but i am so used to the extreme reactions being to hlah or tl (terribly lame i am now calling it because it was the first song that tripped the tear works. ????wtf???) or closer...but thtf??? it was amazing watching all of these people of different ages singing along to that.
personally: sanctified blew me away, literally and almost figuratively. eraser...holy fuck. ME I'M NOT...it will take a loooooooooong time to shake the after effects of that one. and only. these all really stood out.
this was my 6th, and last, show. i have never ever seen a poor performance by nin.
soundgarden was good. i don't know them well enough to compare, but i really love chris cornell's voice. it is wonderful. the last song of their set was fucking unreal. anyone remember the name of the track?

oh, and finally: I FUCKING LOVE WHEN SIR TRENTLY DOES THAT CROUCH/FLYING DANCE. yes. indeedy.

thank you, trent reznor, for filling my heart and ears for 26 years. my last nin show was exactly how it should have been and i will take that, happily, to the grave, y'all. <3

[Neutron Zenith]

Great show, though I noticed a lot of the sound issues botley mentioned.

I was in the 4th row, and it was weird being that close while not being squished by people. It kind of changed the vibe of the show for me.

[ILoveFestivals]

I noticed some sound issues also. Overall great show!

I am NEVER watching live webcasts again! A lot of people know this was essentially the same set up as the festival circuit shows last year. I watched a few of those webcasts and it spoiled the show for me a bit. That being said I know a lot of people on ETS go to pretty much every NIN show the World over, or so it can seem.
Bottom line is no more live webcasts for me.

[botley]

@botley : Isn't the mix automated though?

No, never. They have a digital snapshot saved in the console for each song, so that for example the right keyboard output and echo effects etc. all come up on the correct faders at a reasonable starting level, but there are still tons of moments in each song where you'd have to pay attention, turning faders up and down, otherwise it'd be a mess. Not saying the overall balance of sound was bad, in fact for an outdoor venue it was pretty good (well, the high-midrange of Ilan's bass was a bit harsh on "Only" from where I was sitting) but it was not a cleanly executed mix. Either someone doesn't know the show well enough yet to hit all those cues, was struggling to chase down the right faders, or wasn't paying close enough attention to bring them up in time.

I still enjoyed it, and like I say: probably not a lot of the crowd noticed. But as a huge NIN fan (this was lucky show #13 for me) and professional audio guy, it was apparent to me that they have some work to do to before this tour lives up to the very high standard of sound quality I saw on the Tension 2013 show, and others in previous years.

[Dingerz]

Fantastic show! I just posted my pictures on Flickr. You can find them here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/297548...7645598461339/

[TheBrokenPinion]

Been a NIN fan my whole live this was my first time seeing them live it was the best day of my life always remember

http://instagram.com/p/rLhnHfJDv7/?modal=true

[sick among the pure]

Been a NIN fan my whole live this was my first time seeing them live it was the best day of my life always remember

http://instagram.com/p/rLhnHfJDv7/?modal=true

I got a tat with the date of my first NIN show, too. It's definitely a life changing experience.