it's a hell of a town
swing180 (swing180@aol.com):
Guess who's showing up for CMJ in New York City? One happy little goth-rocker, I do believe, with all of his Nothing entourage in tow. Irving Plaza on September 5. 'Tis a big surprise (supposedly), but this little birdie didn't tell you.
ryan jacobs (bjj@andrew.cmu.edu):
Their impromptu concert was promoted as "A Night of Nothing" so that a million people wouldn't show up (or so my local radio station reports). Anyone lucky enough to go?
michael n. hidalgo (mnh1062@is2.nyu.edu):
A profound amount of waiting, but ultimately it was remarkable. Irving Plaza is a great place to see them. To get a sense of the wait time involved, I got on line with my voucher at 6 p.m. (already a long line) -- they didn't let us in until 7:50, NIN didn't get on until 11:13 p.m. Plus, LONG waits between bands (Meat Beat Manifesto and Marilyn Manson opening). My back was killing me at the end, but when NIN came on, I was revitalized: They sounded glorious, O My Brothers. Played a few new songs; the first one they played sounded really great. They played a lot of Pretty Hate Machine songs, too....
zyklon b. misanthrope (jhogan@pfmc.net):
Grrrr...I got in line at 3 p.m., stood in line 45 minutes -- and then it sold out. Oh well....
I was impressed by the successful sidestep of NYC's TicketBastard© ticket monopoly. It was one ticket per person, with photo ID. They were to check the number on your ID with the one they'd write on your ticket during the day. The only people going to see this one got up out of bed for it this morning.
jody tamar match (match@earthlink.net):
Okay! This is who it was:
If I forgot anything, please correct me...it's 5 a.m. and I'm DEAD tired.
I almost didn't get a voucher...had I gotten there five minutes later, I wouldn't have. I LOVE YOU PARM AND MEL FOR STAYING ON LINE! We were RIGHT up at the stage.... When NIN came on, I had a panic attack due to my claustrophobia and people in the back of the club who thought that pushing forward on the ENTIRE crowd would make them see Trent better (I hate that shit)...so I was in hysterics till I could get out of the crowd. I lost my watch and a bead that I wear in one of my braids, both of which have sentimental value...I have a headache from being kicked in the head...my back is killing me...my body hurts like hell, and ya know what? THE SHOW FUCKING RULED!...
Well, since I have no clue whether or not this made any sense, I apologize in advance. Now I must go to sleep. I have a quiz in six hours...and as much as I loved the show, my body is quite angry with me and wants to rest....
Did I mention that the Nothing Records Night T-shirts are totally kewl? And so are those ticket thingies they handed out?...
And, to settle the arguments that sometimes go on here about what a "real NIN fan" is, our vouchers told us that since we were there, we were "real fans," so there. Hehehehe.
she's lost control again (halo8@netcom.ca):
I really think that whole "real fans" thing on the vouchers has been misinterpreted. By using the voucher system, the ticketsellers are trying their best to keep scalpers away (imagine how much those tickets would have gone for). I think when they said "real fans," they didn't mean that you were a genuine NIN fan only if you went, but that scalpers who don't even know who NIN are wouldn't get them first.
eric freitag (efreitag@austen.oit.umass.edu):
Okay, well, for Prick, they played "Animal" and then "Tough." For PWEI, they played "R.S.V.P." and "Wise Up, Sucker." As for band members, I believe that just the lead singers from those two bands were there, and Kevin McMahon of Prick played guitar for NIN the whole time.
The show definitely did rule, even though my back hurts quite a bit right now from being landed on by a damned crowdsurfer. It was worth it -- fuck all those classes I missed, that was a night to remember forever!
...The T-shirts are great -- they actually say the date and venue on them. Definitely the only shirt to buy there; I think everybody got one. I know I did.
The night of nothing was well worth the 26-hour adventure. Thank you, Parm, for suggesting we go.
toby carroll (tac1291@is.nyu.edu):
A friend of mine went to the Nothing showcase at Irving Plaza and said that one member of Pop Will Eat Itself was there, performed one song, and then performed some with NIN. Hopefully, they'll get back together....
swing180 (swing180@aol.com):
Not bad from what I could see. There were so many goddamn STARS in attendance that we little people were shoved off to the sides. In any case, I hear this show was better than Trent's drunken brouhaha in New Orleans. Nothing really impressive in my opinion, but at least PWEI's Clint Mansell had a nice new sound unveiled with the help of NIN (the band). I guess I'm getting more and more bored with the rock'n'roll clichés of it all. FYI: Did you know that Trent and Boyz make his publicist call modeling agencies to invite young nubile things to the aftershow parties? Ho hum. Rock stars....
jody tamar match (match@earthlink.net):
Well, I'm one of the REALLY little people, and no one shoved ME off to the side...I went of my own free will (to save my life). What do you mean by that?
And you should really get used to rock'n'roll clichés when dealing with a well known band. What do you expect?
reptile (alita@deathsdoor.com):
Geez, a rock 'n' roll band having rock 'n' roll clichés? The very thought....
melissa ray (honeybee@panix.com):
Well, I'm still on the verge of exhaustion from last night, but I must post, so forgive any spaciness or memory lapses.
That was the most incredible show I have ever seen in my life. I can't thank Nothing and Trent enough for putting it together. I never thought I'd have a chance to see NIN (plus that lineup!) play a club...still can't believe it.
I got to Irving Plaza at 9:30 a.m., where I found Parm, Eric (effigy), Brian (embryo) and Jackie, who had just arrived from Massachusetts. We expected to sit on line all day; instead they used a voucher system -- one voucher per person, and they wrote the number from your picture ID on it, so that when you entered the show that night, both the ID and voucher were double-checked with their copy. It said on the voucher that they did this to make sure that the "real fans" could get in. For the most part it worked very well, and I respect their choice to do it that way.
After having lunch, we went to meet Jody, whom we thought wouldn't have a chance to get in. As it turns out, she got there with MINUTES to spare and got one of the last vouchers, running from a cab to the line.
We waited on line, hanging out for quite some time. They let us in around 8:45 p.m. There were very cool shirts for sale, saying "nothing 96" on the front, and on the back: "a night of nothing, irving plaza, september 5, nine inch nails, marilyn manson, meat beat manifesto, pwei, prick." We checked our bags (required) and grabbed a spot right at the center front, up against the stage. We couldn't have had a more perfect spot. There were about 850 people there -- 600 public tickets, 200 CMJ badges, and 50 invites.
Meat Beat Manifesto played first. I've never heard them, and I liked them a lot -- danced through the whole set. Marilyn Manson played after that. I've never seen them live, and I thought they kicked ass. Despite my close proximity to Manson's powdered hairy butt (yipes!), it was a great set...until the end. At the end of the last song (sorry, don't know which one), Manson HURLED the mic stand base-first at Ginger. I couldn't tell if it hit him, but he got back up and started playing right away, so we thought he was okay. Then Twiggy started beating on the drum kit with his bass and Ginger couldn't get out. He threw himself over the broken kit and landed on the floor, bleeding from the head. People ran out and dragged him backstage, mopping up the puddle of blood with towels. It happened so fast, and we actually wondered if it was part of the show, but didn't think so because Ginger looked pretty bad. Fortunately, he was led out through the front with a big bandage on his head, looking a lot better than he had minutes before. Trent announced later that he was all right, and I really hope that's true. I suppose that's sort of a hazard of playing with Manson, but it seemed really crazy to me for him to do that with no warning. I'm not surprised, but it was really upsetting to see someone get hurt to that degree.
It was incredibly hot, and there were 600 people behind us pushing us into the stage, but we didn't care and our adrenaline rush was carrying us along. When NIN came out, the place went crazy. Kevin was playing guitar for them again, in Robin's old spot. They played, I think, exactly the set that was played in New Orleans (I'm too brain dead to remember it now), including two songs with Prick and two with PWEI....
Trent was in fine form. He seemed completely into it, sang his guts out, and interacted with the crowd A LOT. He sat about two feet away from us for the first three or four songs, letting us mess up his hair and hold his hand. Most people were cool about it and didn't try to rip his hair out, but there were some people trying to get on stage as usual, and trying to pull him into the crowd. Anyway, it ruled. During "Suck," he played with his nipples (Trent, you cheeseball!) and stroked his mic, playing with the "head" with his fingertip. He didn't abuse anyone, or smash anything...I guess Manson had already done enough of that.
Everyone was just incredible. During PWEI, it dawned on me that I was about to lose consciousness from dehydration and exhaustion. Happy with having maintained that spot for most of the show, I bailed off to the side, sat down and had some water. Jody and Eric were already there, for the same reasons. When the show was over, we were all totally dead, soaked, holding each other up, and so fucking happy.
My feeling as far as the "nothing records" aspect was concerned: I ended up thinking "What a great lineup of bands" -- not that I didn't before, but it was an awesome show of talent and unity (head injuries notwithstanding). Very impressive. Trent should be proud.
We said hello to VIVIsect, who got in for the end of the show, and then everyone else took off for the train station. I decided to stick around by the back door, still having trouble standing up I was so tired. About half an hour later, Trent came out. He was obviously really tired, quiet and vulnerable, but didn't hesitate to start signing autographs. No one was saying much of anything to him...trying to be respectful. He signed the back of my ticket. I had to thank him for doing the show. He looked up, checked out my heater shirt, and smiled.
It was the perfect night. It was like God had asked "What do you want?" and then just gave it to me. The only thing I would have wished is that you could all have been there with me....
dave parmenter (daveparm@asimov.oit.umass.edu):
...There was definitely a devoted crowd in there...it was chaotic and heavenly. Jody is lucky I can kiss butt rather well. Dude with the "HOOHA" shirt on was gonna make her go all the way to the end of the line and not jump in where I was positioned IN line, which was about three from the voucher table. I ran over to Dude on the corner with the navy T-shirt and explained to him that our friend had just come in aaaall the way from Pennsylvania and that if he let her in, she would gladly be willing to do ANYTHI --
Uh...oh...I guess I forgot to tell you some of the conditions, Jody.... :-)
Meat Beat Manifesto were cool...and just what the hell was that instrument, or piece of equipment, that the guy operated by cupping his hands and moving them back and forth through the air? Very funky, and cool-sounding.
I'm not the biggest follower of Marilyn Manson, but from what I understand, they trash the drumkit after each show. Either the accident was just tradition gone awry -- the Reverend grossly miscalculating the place where the stand would land if he just wanted to smash it up -- or a blatant shot at Ginger. I dunno...it's prolly all over MTV News right now as I type this.
One distinct departure from the norm: Trent smiled...a LOT. You could tell the man was just incredibly happy to be playing to such a crowd. And I was privileged enough to have him sing right in my face and to grab my hand and hold it for a while...I was debating whether to wash it ever again or not. ;-)
But I, the brave one -- nah, who am I kidding....
But I, the dumbass, stayed in my spot about one person back from the front and didn't move until the house lights went back up. Of course, at this point, I was all but dead...I had no energy, voice, or liquid in my body...but it was worth it.
My thanks to those who helped me out when I was just one big walking pile of mush. You guys rule, and I want you to know that if you ever feel like totally draining yourself of all that makes you function and behave like a human being, I'll be there for you, too.
R3ds0cks (matthewb@li.net):
That instrument is a theremin. Those wire loop things set up a magnetic field, and moving your hands through the field creates the sound.
jeff the tic-tac man (jad5657@is4.nyu.edu):
They used to use those things in old sci-fi movies. They used them bigtime in The Day the Earth Stood Still. Coincidentally (or maybe not...hrmmmmm), cEvin kEy also used one on the recent Download tour....
Anyway, they're pretty easy and inexpensive to build. There are a few pages up on how to build a theremin, so for those of you who just have to have one, rake out the $70 and have fun.
melissa ray (honeybee@panix.com):
I've heard from a lot of people that Ginger gets beaten up a lot. Someone I know on the NYCGoth list who knows Ginger said that he had three stitches and is okay...not as bad as it looked, fortunately. The same person got into the afterparty and chatted with Trent a bit...he apologized for not talking much because he is "socially retarded." Aren't we all?...
I never understood how people could faint at shows until that night. I couldn't move afterwards, and felt so great anyway...drained in every way.
jody tamar match (match@earthlink.net):
I'm still a little angry at those little fuckers who went just for Manson and then left before NIN. I hope those whole four songs were worth it for them.
natas cub (yuhnke@cs.buffalo.edu):
Hey, not really in the thread or anything... but I'd just like to say hi to the a.m.ninnies I briefly met in line at Irving Plaza.
master bates (hkbf37d@prodigy.com):
So I talked my parents into driving me into Manhattan last week for the "Night of Nothing" at Irving Plaza, but after eating lunch at the All-Star Cafe (I'd much rather have eaten at someplace with class like Hard Rock or Planet Hollywood or Jekyll and Hyde), and a stop at the horrendously overpriced Virgin store where I picked up a $2 Jeff Foxworthy tape (has anyone realized how lame and shitty his humor is? I could've bought three cups of coffee with that 2 bucks!), I finally realized I had a few problems like the fact that it was a Night of Nothing, an unsuitable environment for a parent or 12-year-old EmptyV-raised sister, but I figured if my parents'd drop me off at Irving Plaza I'd be with the company of fellow ninnies and freaks, so I'd be okay, and I could call Dad on the cel phone later, but then I realized problem number two, none of us knew where the hell Irving Plaza was. We ended up seeing A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, which was a pretty good play, but just my shitty luck, Nathan Lane wasn't in it that night, just some fat guy who looked like an extremely fat version of the Reverend, but then again, I had Nothing on the brain that night. What's even more amazing is that this whole note was one sentence that took up about half a page!
evan long (donlong@idirect.com):
That was more than one sentence. Check it again.
Oh yeah -- anyone who goes all the way to New York, parents or no parents, to see a concert to DIE for, and then, because he doesn't know where it is and can't look it up in a phone book, decides to go see a Nathan Lane play on Broadway AND blow two dollars on a Jeff Foxworthy tape he KNOWS is crap -- well, then yes, you really are a freak, like you said.
This WAS a total joke, right? Right?
Ktocs (nolajuka@world-net.net):
I just heard that Richard Patrick showed up at one of the Night of Nothing shows and joined Trent on stage, even played Trent's guitar. Reportedly, this represented reconciliation between him and Trent after four years. Was it a love fest? Could this mean Filter on Nothing Records could soon follow?
Nawww.
ChUeY cHoRiZo HeAd (rornelas@lonestar.jpl.utsa.edu):
And then to show his appreciation and love for Trent, he smashed the shit out of Trent's guitar.
sally gus (salgus@u.washington.edu):
What?!? Where did you hear about that? I just read an interview with Rich Patrick and Brian Liesegang in, I think, the October ish of Alternative Press, and they just totally ripped on Trent -- they don't want to have anything to do with him.
All the mudslinging in the article could've just been the alcohol talking (Rich and Brian were getting pretty soused during the interview), or a knee-jerk reaction to Trent's critical remarks about them in Spin last February...I dunno, either way it just doesn't seem possible that Rich (and Brian) and Trent reconciled. If they did and Rich did join Trent on stage, I don't think Trent read that article yet -- and once he does, their newly restored friendship won't survive.
john najberg (jnajberg@usit.net):
I saw clips of this show on MTV, and is it just me or did Trent look pretty chubby?
evol23 (evol23@aol.com):
MARILYN MANSON MARCHS TO BEAT UP A DRUMMER
Was up New York way at musicfest CMJ,
Went to Irving Plaza to hear the Nothing bands play,
Pissed off little Brian called him a fuckin' Poser,
Who licked Cock Robin? Did you? NO SIR!
Too much of Grandpa Warner's pictures and toys,
Makes little Brian beat up little drummer boys,
Throwing guitars and mic stands, hit him till he bled,
Gingerly seven stitches were put into Fish's head,
Mr.-Reverend-Church-of-Satan, whatcha gonna do,
Whatcha gonna do when Trent dumps you! (soon?)
logre2'3 (ogre@netaxs.com):
It's funny how the people who bash Marilyn Manson are worse than Manson's wanker 13-year-old fans.
samuel w. rennix (swr44358@marauder.millersv.edu):
Today (Thursday) on MTV News, they showed clips of all the bands at Irving Plaza! They showed NIN doing "Terrible Lie", Prick doing "Tuff" (that's how THEY spelled it...), PWEI doin' "R.S.V.P.", MBM doing "Helter Skelter," and MM performing "Kindersomethingorother...". Tonight on MTV News and The Week In Rock, they said they would feature more on the Nothing Tour, and on September 29 at midnight, they will have a special "120 Minutes of Nothing" As they called it.
Figure out how to set those VCRs and prepare for the MTV Apocalypse...I actually saw "Closer" TWICE this week. Weird, eh?
jody tamar match (match@earthlink.net):
As I recall, they interviewed Trent and someone from Manson at the bar next to Irving Plaza for 120 Minutes, so definitely get that VCR of yours ready. Plus, Lee the kewlass security dude told me they were taping the show for MTV, so I'd expect more footage, too.