SO, check out the result of all my hard work.
I'll try and catch up tonight on everything that's been going on the last 3 weeks.
Will and I took the day off from work and drove out to Morongo at about 1PM. We hit a little traffic as you'd expect on a Friday with everybody trying to get the fuck out of LA. We checked out the line as soon as we got there, and then decided to get some food. Nothing in the casino looked good, so we headed out to a Coco's a couple blocks away. We sat there for awhile just relaxing before we headed back to the casino. Then the gambling began. All in all i didn't put much money on the line, so i never really had the chance of losing. I found all the video poker machines and sat for a couple hours just up and down. Ended up about 5 bucks up, so that wasn't bad. We headed to the end of the line which we figured was moving inside. Well we were told to wait somewhere else cause the line wasn't accepting people right at that moment. Huh? I thought the line was the place to wait for things. well, anyway, we walked about 10 feet to a coffee bar and sat down and drank a couple bottles of $5 water. Then the line starts moving. As we are moving up, we realize ANOTHER line is forming. Wondering what's going on, we hear some girl in the new line say something like, "those fuckers are gonna make us stand in another fuckin line!" So we finally figure out that the two lines are the different levels of membership for the fan club. So when asked what membership we had, I lied through my teeth, and we walked right in. Funny thing is, as soon as we got inside, we head to the 2nd floor and just sit down way in the back. We didn't even fight to the barricade trying to get forward. So then i lose my money i won. I order a couple long islands while we waiting and now i'm in the hole $30. Well what did you expect? the casino always makes its money. Opening band is fuckin great, and the crowd is really into the show. We hang out upstairs just relaxing and then finally figure its time to move. We head to the bathroom downstairs, and right as the opener is offstage we're in position at the back of the floor. Setup for NIN only takes a little while, and we just eye the crowd knowing which way we're going when the lights go down.
Lights out and everybody moves. This wasn't crazy pushing and kicking like you'd think. Its just everybody is going wild cheering, and you can just walk up to about 15 feet from stage where things open up. So Will and I spend the entire show about that distance from stage.
Now, i gotta say that if you take all the times that I've seen Trent on stage, he's never said much at all. He gets right down to business and performs his ass off (like his life depended on it). This show was completely different. It was "fan club only", so suddenly he was talking and joking around, and you suddenly realized how much fuckin fun he was having on stage. He jumped into the crowd during one point in the show. and constantly was interacting with people. The energy of the performance was there as always, and you're fuckin amazed (as always) at how much he puts into everything.
So i hate to say it wasn't the same as Oakland. There was just something about that HUGE general admission show. I can't say better or worse really, just different. First off, there was security in the pit the entire show. So no pit at all. Second, the floor is stone tile, and one drink spilled made it as slippery as walking on ice. Third, the small venue meant that they couldn't use the HUGE lighting rigs that they'd used on the larger part of the tour. I do have to say that with just house lights they did a damn good job.
But this show was intimate. It was only 900 people, so there was something that you can never at a giant outdoor arena show. There was an energy in the crowd that you usually don't get at other shows. Everybody really was going crazy.
as always my ears were ringing for a couple days after the show, and i ended up with a couple bruises that i don't remember exactly the way i got em.
So after we all had relaxed for awhile, my parents and uncle went back home to prepare for the masses arriving there. Jen and I then headed over to the bermingham house to partake in the running around that was going on there. Easter egg hunt went off well, and we kept the dog riley out of the yard long enough so that the chocolate wasn't eaten. Bob cooked the crazy amount of food as always and everybody ate their fill.
It feels like I've just broken through the clouds. I'm finally seeing the path ahead of me clearly.
Unfortunately its the ground coming at me fast and I'm without a parachute.
