So, after avoiding any setlist spoilers, and arranging to bus in from way upstate NY to make to Panorama on Sunday (since this happened to fall on the couple of weeks that I'm not in New Jersey), I am so beyond happy that I spent the money / went through the trouble of trekking out to see the show. The other acts I caught at the festival were great - I feel particularly fortunate to have seen Tribe's excellent set - but Nails as usual lived up to my high expectations.

The opening visual of the NIN logo forming piece by piece a la the opening titles of Alien? Amazing tone-setter, and Branches/Bones makes for a killer live opener. All the new material they played sounded terrific but The Lovers (holy shiiiit) and Burning Bright were probably the best of them; the use of the tape recorder and megaphone was just so tactile, it felt perfectly tailored to the style of the EPs. Other highlights were of course the emotional Bowie cover from Blackstar, my first time seeing The Great Destroyer, and a particularly moving rendition of Hurt that wasn't bogged down by too many yelling idiots. The rest of the set, though familiar, sounded phenomenal (The Wretched and Reptile in particular were on fire) and I had an amazing time and eagerly await this lineup's first foray into dedicated touring.

Hearing about the impromptu Webster Hall show as I waited for my bus back upstate, there was a pang of bitterness, but in the grand scheme of things, I have been an extremely lucky, fortunate NIN fan. I've seen them almost a dozen times - including their last show at Webster Hall, the legendary Downward Spiral set - and I hope some folks who haven't had the chance to experience them in a club get to taste that magic tonight.