EDIT -- I was also in section 120. I stayed there though. I didn't really mind. We did try to coerce some staff into letting us into the Pit, but that didn't happen
First show of this tour for me, 3rd time seeing NIN.
I very much enjoyed the show, despite my extremely-off to the side angle. My seat was close enough, but I missed out on the full experience of the visuals. I was on Robin's side.
Trent was really chatty. He said the band was looking forward to this show for quite some time (anyone know why? I guess NY/NJ shows are usually a big stop for a tour?)... and gave a little speech saying how great it felt to make personal music for himself, and then get it out there, and then having people actually listen to his music and go to his shows. He's really sincere and he said he was really proud to put on the show and couldn't wait to blow our minds away tonight.
Highlights:
REPTILE-- Best song of the night. Robin kicked ass.
Head Down -- Trent went crazy on some little keyboard.
1,000,000 -- Really great opener.
God Given
Gave Up
Ghosts Piggy! The upright bass was awesome.
Big Come Down
So, so glad they played Pinion before Wish.
I was really impressed with the Slip stuff in general, the songs translate really well live. Ghosts was very good, but slowed down the set considerably. I'm not complaining (although Ghosts 5 is REALLY REALLY slow. Not much happens in this song.. heh), but a lot of people left during this section or started talking. Slightly less impressive was the Year Zero material. Well, let me rephrase.. some of it. The Warning sounded good but did not kick my ass like Terrible Lie, Wish, Reptile, Gave Up, Head Down, etc. Same goes for Vessel, which had a very long cool breakdown but seemed like an appetizer compared to some of the other amazing performances. The Greater Good had nice visuals going for it (remember, I was off to the side though!), but the song is too mellow and repetitive to work in a concert IMO. Especially since we got tons of other slow songs. God Given on the other hand... was INCREDIBLE. And Good Soldier / In This Twilight are definitely great live.
Overall, I'm a big fan of this setlist. It's a really diverse set of songs.. one second they're kicking your ass with a song like Letting You and then they're on a completely different set of instruments, playing a hauntingly beautiful slow instrumental over an eerie backdrop. Then they're in hardcore electronic mode with Vessel. NIN has so many songs, and as fans we could all think of fantasy setlists that we'd prefer, but Trent managed to squeeze in plenty of material from both of his new albums, play all of his hits, and still give us some bonuses.
No NIN fan should skip out on this tour.