So this is (probably it) for me. Assuming this is the last Nine Inch Nails tour ever (although Trent has said "never say never") this was my final show. And what a show it was.

As some of you probably know, I was a donor to the Eric De La Cruz cause (who sadly died a few weeks ago, but my donation will now go towards building the Eric De La Cruz foundation, which is a great thing to be a part of) so this Nine Inch Nails experience was out of the ordinary for me. Something memorable for the final time.

Anyway, the day went as follows, I arrived for soundcheck, and went through a painful period in which the inept arena staff attempted to seperate pre salers from donors and general admission people. Which needless to say, was a nightmare. Organising 2 lines and sending some people away may seem easy to the rest of us, but the MEN arena managed to do a great job of screwing it all up.

Then the (only) bad news of the day arrived. Soundcheck had been cancelled due to some **** up or other on behalf of arrival times. But ultimately, this was not a problem. Instead we got a tour around the floor and stage by the tour manager (with a Trent Reznor mug that was epic beyond belief). This gave us a chance to pose questions to the main sound guys and lights guy, and gave a fascinating insight into the workings of a Nine Inch Nails tour. Everyone was very happy to answer any question, and the tidbits of information I now hold is astounding (did you know on the Wave Goodbye tour Robin Finck uses 27 guitars).

After this, we had the signing and the Meet and Greet. I couldn't speak for the $300 dollar donors, since I wasn't in the room, but I heard they were only allowed one item signed, and had a group photo. They were a little more lax with signing in our group. So I got both my CD copy of The Fragile signed (didn't want to risk anything rarer just incase it got damaged) and my ticket. After this we had an individual photo op with the band courtsey of Brett Bachemin. The picture will be posted at the end of the blog, although I will keep my mysterious nature by covering my face crudely.

Anyway, when the signing was done we were allowed to go anywhere we wanted, so I went to the merch stand, and bought a fairly awesome bag, and then caught some of Mew, who were a band I hadn't heard before the evening. I liked them a lot although they didn't seem like an obvious fit for the concert, they worked quite nicely. Sadly I had to miss the end of their set for dinner backstage. The catering was fantastic. Very nice meal, and the pudding of White chocolate & Oreo cheesecake was just... wow. Then I watched Janes Addiction play. I'm more familiar with their material, and it was good seeing them play. I'm not really all that keen on Perry Farrell's voice, but Dave Navarro and Eric Avery more than made up for that. Plus Farrell was interesting to watch as he ran around the stage. Flamboyant and energetic are two words I'd use to describe him. "Mountain Song" was the highlight of their set, and really got the crowd ready for Trent and the guys.

Janes finished up, the donors went backstage. Here we were told that not only could we watch the show from the side of the stage, we could watch the whole show from the side of the stage so long as we followed a few rules. Words cannot describe watching the show from the side of the stage. You just become immersed in the show, the lighting is so bright, and and the music so loud it is like you are a part of it. The view was fantastic despite the smoke and the lights, we could see both the backstage workings of the show, and all the brilliance of the on stage performance. The sound quality was actually just as good as being out on the floor (mainly because the MEN arena isn't that good a venue and it distorts the sound anyway) which was a major surprise.

I'll now do a track by track run through of what was a near perfect set list with help for the order from ninwiki.

1. Somewhat Damaged
2. Terrible Lie
3. Heresy
4. March Of The Pigs
5. Piggy
6. Metal
7. The Becoming
8. I'm Afraid Of Americans
9. Burn
10. Gave Up
11. La Mer
12. The Fragile
13. Gone, Still
14. The Way Out Is Through
15. Wish
16. Survivalism
17. Suck
18. The Day The World Went Away
19. The Hand That Feeds
20. Head Like A Hole
21. Hurt

Somwhat Damaged was the perfect opener. Great to see songs like Terrible Lie and Gave Up appear. Songs like Gone, Still were simply beautiful. The Becoming I think was the highlight of my night with the flawless mix of sonic aggression and piano beauty being astonishing.

Great to see everyone crowd around the drum kit during The Day The World Went Away. And ending the long journey on Hurt was perfect. Since we were whisked back down to the floor for the encore I was part of the crowd again for that overflow of emotion during Hurt, in what was a more emotional performance than usual by Trent, not a dry eye was left in the house.

Amazing show. Justin Meldal Johnson is surely the nicest guy in the world, Robin is awesomely cool and was more than willing to make conversation, Ilan is not only an amazing drummer (and at 21 I don't think he has anywhere near peaked) he is a really nice laid back guy, and Trent is well, Trent. He is everything you expect of him and more. Happy to be a part of your experience, a brilliant showman and all out great guy. (At one point he was standing towards the back of the stage and noticed a donor was taking a photo only to turn and say "Are you taking a photos of my ass" which earned a giggle.)

As for asking questions during the meet and greet... well, let's just say I was more focused on thanking the guys for the opportunity and telling them how I've enjoyed every moment of the music and how it has helped me in so many ways.

Anyway, here are two photos, one that came out well from the show, and of course, the meet and greet with obsured face

We were literally about 20 feet from the band on stage.

Also, JMJ's daughter was sat at the side of the stage, it was very cute to watch her with workman's headphones on singing a long to March of the Pigs. Also Trent's fiancee was sitting a few feet to my left.

Anyway. A perfect end to a perfect ride. If you are in the US, and those final dates are near you... why aren't you getting tickets yet??? Do it.