Nine Inch Nails: Wave Goodbye Tour Pt.1.

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Last night I went to the Aragon Ballroom to see Nine Inch Nails on their final tour.  At the end of their last tour (which was supposed to be their final tour) they Trent Reznor announced they would be playing a handful of shows in New York, Chicago and LA which would be the last Nine Inch Nail shows.  I managed to get tickets to both Chicago shows at the Aragon Ballroom which I’ve never been to before.  The venue was a cross between a classic old town theater and a high school gymnasium.  To get into the place there was a line wrapped at least a mile around the neighborhood.  It was moving but it was massive.

The show was one of the best shows I’ve ever been to.  The sound was great, I was close to the stage yet out of the impromptu pit and the band simply kicked ass.  Robin Fink looks a lot like The Kurgan from Highlander and plays guitar like The Kurgan would if he was trying to kill Sean Connery with said guitar.  The setlist was awesome (Down In It, Wish, Pinion, Reptile).

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Side Note:

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* Whistling really shouldn’t be done unless it’s to signal some kind of action or as a way to grab an individual’s attention.  Whistling as a form of appreciation is not good.  Ever.

** The rest of my photographs are here on Flickr.

Pearl Jam at the UC.

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Last night Julie and I went to see Pearl Jam at the United Center for the 4th show of their limited North American Tour.  The show was good (not great, but part of that had to do with me pretty much running on empty).  What was cool was the amount of songs from No Code and the three new songs.  They started with Hard To Imagine which I’ve never witnessed.  Also, these were probably the best seats I’ve ever had to a Pearl Jam show.  Julie has fan club tickets, I think the Vote For Change Show I saw in Toledo was similar seats but these were much closer.

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Side Note:
*Boom Gaspar did his part during the show by playing in a noticeable way during two songs.  Please some one explain to me what he actually brings to the band?  Is Crazy Mary really that much better?  Outside of the Life Wasted transition what’s the point?  Sorry for the blurry photograph but this what Boom does most of the time.

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New York Trip – Summer 2009.

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This weekend Julie and I ventured out to New York for the Mets – Phillies at Citi Field.  This was my first trip to the stadium (Julie went earlier in the week) and our first opportunity to see our brick.  The game of course didn’t end well after the starting pitcher was removed for an arbitrary stat… pitch counts. Besides that the stadium was really great.  There’s a ton of space, lots of quality food and great views from throughout the park.

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Side Note:

* Saturday night I met up with Jim at the Blue Moon Cafe where we spent the better part of night discussing the finer points of the Stanley Cup Finals.  We spent the next day at the Shark Bar (which is really the Spring Lounge and not this Shark Bar) then we headed to McSorley’s before bailing on our reservations at the Ninja Restaurant.  I am nearly positive we each have a team of Ninja Assassins who will enact revenge on our disrespect some time in the future.  I will probably get mine via a blow dart when I least expect it.  If you’re wonder about the Ninja Restaurant this choice quote from the NY Times should do it justice:

You are greeted there by servers in black costumes who ceaselessly bow, regularly yelp and ever so occasionally tumble, and you are asked to choose between two routes to your table.
The first is described by a ninja escort as simple and direct. The second is “dark, dangerous and narrow,” involving a long tunnel and a drawbridge that descends only when your escort intones a special command, which he later implores you to keep secret.
I recommend a third path: right back out the door.

You are greeted there by servers in black costumes who ceaselessly bow, regularly yelp and ever so occasionally tumble, and you are asked to choose between two routes to your table.

The first is described by a ninja escort as simple and direct. The second is “dark, dangerous and narrow,” involving a long tunnel and a drawbridge that descends only when your escort intones a special command, which he later implores you to keep secret.

I recommend a third path: right back out the door.

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** This car was outside Citi Field:
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