Nine Inch Nails 6/9/00

sc000183fd05

This concert ranks as my #2 favorite concert of all time right behind Tool at the Gorge. It was a similar set of circumstances in many ways. The three words that come to mind are intense, spiritual, and surreal. Lucinda and I made the approximately four hour drive to meet up with Jason, Roscoe, and Joe. We were armed to the teeth with LSD and ready for the time of our life. This was to be the first time any of us had seen Nine Inch Nails, the first time Lucinda had been to the Gorge and the first time she had taken LSD. To top it off A Perfect Circle was the opener. They had just released Mer de Noms a few weeks prior to this show and by the time of the show we were already in love with the album. I remember laughing hysterically on the hill with Lucinda before either band came on because the acid was starting to take hold. It was creeping up on us progressively the whole time A Pefect Circle was on stage. They played almost every song on the first album. Maynard was clad in a long dark wig and commented that it was “a nice day for a picnic” as the sun set behind them with the beautiful backdrop of the gorge. During the breakdown in “Magdalena” he began to spin around in a circle faster and faster as the musical landscape intensified. Then came time for Nine Inch Nails. They were touring for their double album The Fragile, which had come out the previous September. Their show was just absolutely amazing and not just because I was on acid. They had these three giant screens that moved about, accentuating every little thing. The band reminded me of army ants onstage because there were times when the band was moving around the stage as frantically as the music was fierce. The guitarist Robin Finck was aptly nicknamed “Lizard Man” by my friends and I from this point on because of his costume and general stage presence. I swear he was shaking guitar notes out of his leg. Incredible. There is a wonderful DVD out called “And All That Could Have Been” that documents the entire tour, with snippets from this actual concert. It is a great reminder for me of one of the best nights of my life and will give all those not in attendance a little glimpse of what they missed out on.

And All That Could Have Been