INVERSE PHASE'S SHOW ADVENTURES PART TWO (continued from the NYC thread)

Just reiterating from the other thread, I'm not much of a "big show" guy, so this is a sort of long story that is long and drawn out because it's some of my first tour experience going to shows with TR, so I'm trying to be thorough. I have never been to a NIN show and the NYC show was the only other HTDA show I was able to hit....so I'm a noob, please bear that in mind while I'm gushing.

If you've seen the rest of the shit up above, you know we arrived at the venue late. I was kind of upset that I didn't get to come early and hang out with people in line — though I did get stopped outside the venue by squirtle, who recognised me running (probably because I'm always running [late] to all my panels at conventions and shit) — so yeah, I have to be honest the line was lots of fun in NYC and it was missed.

OH WELL

My girlfriend got out of class around 8.30 and we fucking bolted for the venue from Baltimore. Arrived about two songs into HTDA_'s set. Wasn't too late for "How Long?", phew. My girlfriend checked out the balcony area and I just kind of gravitated to the pretty lights at the front of the venue, primarily hanging on the rail on the left side, in front of the (padded) pole. We were mesmerized once again.

I feel like Mariqueen introduced everyone later in the set than she did at the Apollo (not that it matters). This was a fantastic show to see twice. The Apollo (seated) and the Fillmore (mostly standing room only) are such different environments it was great to see that everything worked out in both places, but also how it worked out in both. It was a very different experience being right up front. My girlfriend noted the sound was better at the Fillmore, I think it was about equivalent, and thought I noticed some clipping (above and beyond the obvious/intentional) in one part... still sounded great most of the time.

At the end of the NYC show I handed the tour manager a Robotron cartridge with my number on it and he said he would give it to TR the next day, which would've been before the Fillmore show. During the day I got two suspicious calls from two numbers I didn't recognise and I didn't answer the phone. Later on I realised it was possible it was an anonymous number service, but we got weird stuff when we called the numbers back, so I didn't think it was anyone important.

Anyway, towards the end of the show I was going to go up front and ask the someone where I would find out if I "accidentally" got placed on any lists, thinking there might be something like the "guest room" they had at the Apollo. My girlfriend pointed at a stage/venue supervisor near us so I went with that and he said to try the ticketing window; it was closed. When I tried to re-enter the venue, someone told me that wasn't possible but I explained the situation and they told me it was fine, go back in. Then they realised I was talking about a list for the band, not the venue itself, and said the best spot to wait is behind a yellow barrier separating the Fillmore property from the nextdoor parking lot. They told me I should go enjoy the rest of the show, but I knew it was close to ending time, and I didn't want to add to any potential pandemonium so I just headed straight back.

In the back I hung by the barrier and there were some people hanging near the door that turned out to be shooting to meet TR, one of them was a guy that wanted his birth certificate signed (his name was Reznor), and he was with his girlfriend (?). The other two guys apparently went to the Lights In The Sky tour in DC and one of them managed to jump on stage and slap Trent's ass. Birth cert dude actually knew about P8M and had purchased it, but I went ahead and signed a download card and gave it to everyone since they all knew who I was. Other guy said he deserved a signature for slapping TR's ass, I had a little trouble processing that, but I commend his level of committment.

Everyone went back up to the door to ask the guy near the door if he had any details, I followed just because I wanted to try and introduce myself and let him know I wasn't trying to be an asshole, and that he said he was going to call the cops on all of us, so I just went back while ass-slapper dude argued with him for a minute.

More people started to show until we had maybe a healthy 30-40 people out there. I talked to more folks that recognised me which was awesome, told them I was just hoping to get P8M signed, and then after a little bit I saw Atticus out of the corner of my eye taking a post-show smoke break so I decided to greet him like I did when I first stopped him, and yelled "Great Show!" afterwards, hoping that would help. He didn't pop over, so my girlfriend recommended we just start tweeting.

I fired off a tweet to the band and individual members' twitter accounts saying we had some respectful fans that just wanted a photo and a handshake, the girlfriend fired one off to them saying she hoped I'd get to meet them....time passed....

Atticus came back out and started scanning the crowd (I think? couldn't tell from the distance), and one of the crew comes out and yells in a booming voice "Where's the 8-bit guy? Is the 8-bit guy out here?" A bunch of people all look at me and start pointing and I was frozen in time for what felt like minutes, but was probably like 3-5 seconds. I yell "I'm him, I'm the 8-bit guy" and jump the wall. The guy says very sternly "ONLY YOU. COME WITH ME" and I clear my girlfriend and we both go towards the back door of the Fillmore, where we join Atticus.

Atticus leads us down some stairs inside and asks me, "so what's your real name, anyway?" and I let him know, but told him Inverse Phase is just fine. We had a chuckle and he begins to lead me down a short hallway.

Hanging in the corner — kind of in a nook behind a roadcase but not in a very surprising location — was Trent, and Rob was around the corner in a room. My girlfriend caught a glimpse of Mariqueen, but she wasn't out and we didn't see Alessandro. Trent kind of reiterated an email he sent awhile back, mentioning that P8M was great and he could tell I really put my all into it... at one point I think he asked someone (crew?) if they knew who I was, and he was like "this is the 8-bit pretty hate machine guy".... we talked music a little, I mentioned that I really liked what he had done with HTDA and how certain elements were much more restrained and others pushed to the forefront, it was very neat. Trent was like "I grew up 8-bit" and I just kind of smiled and said "....I know."

Trent was cool with a photo and the guy taking pictures said he'd just snap a bunch, I was particularly pleased with how this one came out, I'm not doing the derpface which is good:


After the pics, I chatted with Atticus, Rob and Trent just a little more but they had to finish packing up, so my moment had come...I asked them to sign my copy of P8M. I mentioned they could pick the booklet or the CD, Trent opted for both and Rob followed suit. I got Atticus to sign my ticket since I didn't know if it would be appropriate getting him to sign an album he didnt really have anything to do with. Plus I had already gotten a photo with him in NYC. Everyone was so chill and friendly, I can't overstate my satisfaction. Naturally, even now, I'm still freaking out.

So, another crown achievement to date, NIN chiptune tribute album, now TR/RS-approved:


We left shortly thereafter, someone from the Fillmore led us out and asked what happened and I explained it, she thought it was cool. We went back over to the barrier and said hi to a few folks, I let them all know what happened, showed the CD, shared a bit of the story and a few folks snapped pictures. Infact, the CD pic is from a dude that also got a picture with me because he had also heard P8M and really liked it... and I mentioned to everyone that I had told the band about the crowd, but while I wasn't looking the tour bus started pulling away, so I think that was the window of opportunity the band needed to get away.

Celebration dinner was had at a diner near my house, and it was the taste of delicious victory.

I just want it to be clear that I'm not posting any of this to brag or boast, I just wanted to tell the story because I'm excited as hell that it happened. I kind of wondered if it would go this way and it did, maybe someone can live vicariously through my post and get some enjoyment out of it.