2017.07.30 - New York City, NY @ Panorama Music Festival

[Sarah K]

tl;dr - I didn't want to fucking go to a festival, but I had an amazing time, met some really cool people from ETS, and thought the band sounded the best that I've ever heard.

I got a VIP ticket, as they were released back when I like, had a full time job and all of that. Haha. Not having to use porta-potties is worth a LOT to me. Plus the lounge areas were pretty cool. It was nice to have spots to sit down and relax before we had to start looking for our spot. Was it worth an extra $150 or whatever? Most likely not. But I don't really regret it or anything, either. I've paid $300 for a single NIN show before, so meh. This is the one thing in life that I have allowed myself to blow stupid cash on, because nothing else comes close to making me as happy as these experiences.

I really, really wanted to go into this show with as few spoilers as possible. I knew that there were basically no visuals and that they did the Bowie song, but other than that, I was going in blind. I'm very impressed with myself that I was able to avoid everything, as willpower is most definitely not one of my strengths. It was so fun not knowing what was going to come next. Out of the new material the only one that I was hoping for that wasn't played was This Isn't the Place. Other than that track, The Lovers, Less Than, and Burning Bright were the ones that I wanted the most, and I got them.

I think that after a certain point, shows start to blend together a little bit. But when Reptile fully kicked in, I just could not believe it. I wish it was possible to translate how fucking massive that sounded to the people who were not able to be there. That is a split second that I will remember forever. After the show I was talking about it to people and got goosebumps. I was talking about it with a friend today, and the same thing happened. I had never really understood everyone's super-love for Reptile before that very moment. Now I absolutely get it. That was the first time I had ever caught that track at a show.

Atticus looks super nervous or something, but I think he added a lot, because aside from a few flubs on Tront's part, they sounded incredibly in sync. Trant is 52 and outperforming people half his age by miles and miles. Nearly 30 years into NIN, and it is still exciting and special. I think Tension was the best *show* I've ever been to. But this was one of the best *concerts* I've ever been to. I thought that I would be a bit bored by the limited visuals, but I wasn't at all. It forced me to pay closer attention to the people on the stage. I still love the crazy ass light shows, but I also really enjoyed this set, too. I think that for a festival show, it was a pretty badass setlist. I was kinda dreading having to go to a festival, but that shit turned out to be pretty, pretty, pretty alright.

It was so good to meet @kleiner352 and introduce them to NYC. It was also nice getting to hang out with @somewhat_. The three of us also attended the TTA/Cortini show the night before and got to meet both of them. This was my first experience with meeting any members (thought I didn't really meet Josh, just listened as others spoke to him), and I didn't even act like an asshole or anything. This was also my first time at a NIN show with people since the very first one that I went to - all of the other ones I've hit have been solo ventures. So it was great to have people to pass the time with. Thank you both so much! I also briefly met @RJK at the Saturday night show and he is the nicest person on the planet for being super kind and giving me a pick that he got at the NIN show!

This whole weekend just reaffirmed a lot of good shit for me. 2016 was a fantastic year for me, and 2017 has been nothing short of heartbreaking and fucking horrible. This was BY FAR the highlight of my year. My cheeks hurt that night from smiling so much, and my throat hurt from the yelling/singing combo that I was doing. This is something that I desperately needed, as there really hasn't been all that much to smile about recently.

I hope they play Burning Bright forever. For months I have been looking forward to Robin wailing away on that shit, and it absolutely did not disappoint. I was unsure of how it would translate to a live setting, and it blew away all of my expectations and then some. Me having emotional responses to songs is not unusual, but that is usually due to outside influences and associations that I have with them. But the first time I ever heard this song, it totally made me cry a little bit. Same with hearing it live. I have no explanation as to why this song brings out so many feelings for me, but it sure as shit does.

I feel lucky as shit to have attended this show and for the opportunity to meet not only the folks I hung out with this weekend, but all of the rest of you that I've met along the way. I don't know if all bands have like a super close group of fans like this or if we are a weird outlier, but I am so thankful. People I've met via this board have become friends, have looked out for me, and have provided me with some pretty awesome opportunities and experiences. You can't really ask for much more than that. Thanks for being here and understanding.