Well, for all intents and purposes Nine Inch Nails is finished (at the end of this tour). In the words of Trent Reznor he’s “making it disappear for a while”. Yet with a concert series ominously called “Wave Goodbye” it seems pretty permanent.
With the exception of 2 shows, I’ve seen them every time they’ve rolled through Toronto plus once at Molson Park in Barrie, Copps Coliseum and The Trini and I even went down to Buffalo Memorial Auditorium to see them. I guess you could say that I am a fan.
The first album “Pretty Hate Machine” is a classic example of something in the right place at the right time. I was an angst ridden, angry teenager and while bands like Ministry and Skinny Puppy filled the void somewhat, nothing really spoke to me the way NIN and PHM did. It was full of the same anger and hate that I was. The words meant something, and the music was more accessible so I could dance to it — another way of releasing that energy.
“Head like a hole, black as your soul. I’d rather die, than give you control”
If you didn’t ‘get’ that lyric when you were 17, you either had an uneventful upbringing or weren’t a teenager. So for the the 10 or so of you who had boring teen years. you can stop reading now.
Screaming that at the top of my lungs was exactly the escape I needed. I could have turned to drugs*, or doing other stupid shit but I had music, and what music it was. *-the drugs are totally cool now that I’ve mellowed out a tad…
So I met my musical hero today. Someone who wrote music to which I connected, and probably (no, definitely) kept me out of serious trouble. I made friends through his music, and have shared many memorable moments with those friends over the past 20 years. If only I could chill with him for a little longer and tell him this. There just wasn’t time to today. Would it make a difference to him, or me? Probably not, but that’s not why I’m writing this…
This is me saying goodbye to a part of my life that was important. Besides, I have no voice right now so this is the next best option. While he has said NIN is done, he’s not said that he is. I can only hope to hear more of the virtuoso that is Trent Reznor in the future.
Until then I Wave Goodbye.
