My first show was in October of 2005. I got into the band around 2001 or 2002 when I 14 or 15 and I pretty much fell down the rabbit hole of becoming utterly obsessed with their discography, aura and everything else in between. I think back to how incredible it would've been to have seen them when they played St. Louis in the spring of 2000 during their Fragility 2.0 tour, but I didn't have any relatives who would've taken me and they weren't even on my radar as far as being into them goes. I was only in sixth grade, mind you.

So as the years went by and 2005 rolled around when With Teeth finally dropped, I remember being on EtS all the time and falling in love with that record. We all knew at some point that NIN was going to tour, but I think it was during the summer that they finally announced the With Teeth arena fall tour dates. That summer was probably one of the most memorable of my entire life as I wasn't really the kind of kid who always hung out with friends all the time and all day. This even had lead into my adult life ... where I feel like I need my alone time a lot, but that summer I was in my first band with some great friends and we were hanging out almost every other day. It was through this group of friends that I met a girl who ended up being my first genuine relationship that lasted almost two years. So it was this group that ended up going to the local Ticketmaster hub at our nearby Schnuck's grocery store to go get our tickets for Nine Inch Nails show later August. This was huge for me and the drummer in the band at the time as we were HUGE into NIN.

So October rolls around ... and that Nine Inch Nails show ended up being the first show for seeing a band that was a true favorite of mine live. Previously, I had gone with friends to see cheap seat shows of bands like KISS and Motley Crue. I remember the feeling of excitement, anxiousness and anticipation. My friend and I were a little disappointed that Jerome Dillon wasn't able to play, as during that time Alex Carapetis had taken his spot after Jerome had health concerns.

The show blew me away and being able to hear songs that I knew every second to in a live capacity was what I think turned me into being so obsessed with seeing live music for bands I'm inspired by. I know I REALLY wanted to hear Deep since it was in rotation early on in the tour, but thinking back ... I was glad to be able to hear Sin, Suck and Starfuckers, Inc. before they fell out of the current setlists as of late.

I've been able to see them in 2008 and 2013 in St. Louis and 2009 in Kansas City. All the shows afterwards have been good (although bordering on a little samey-samey setlist wise) but nothing really compared to that original show nearly 12 years ago. Hopefully come 2017/2018 ... I'll be able to see more than just a local nearby show and catch a couple more.