At this point, we figured we were going to go run around town and grab something to eat. Will drove around downtown San Diego, and at one point we were almost going to drive under the Coronado bridge. We turned back north into Town and just fucked around til we found parking, and some place that looked good. We ended up eating at a 50's diner called the Corvette Diner Bar & Grill. Right along with the classic "rude waitress" genre of restaurants, this place was actually really good. i think there were something like 4 birthday parties going on while we were there. You know the type of place.
We headed back to Soma and bumped into German to hand off one of the tickets to him. Will promptly parked the car and we got in line. In about 3 minutes Will had sold his remaining 2 extra tickets, and we settled in for the wait. We started off in the line on the far side of the strip mall, and had to wait as everybody filed in. Security was generally just a bunch of pricks, but then again, we didn't get a whole lot of shit from them. When we finally got inside I realized that the place was an old 80's multiplex. The venue floor was originally a bunch of side-by-side movie theaters that now had no walls between them. The wall on one side of the main room was lined with windows to the old projection booths. So when it all comes down to it, its a really tiny space.
Dresdin Dolls opens just about 30 minutes after they open the doors. They put on a good show, but honestly i really wasn't there to see them. Trent took the stage about 30 minutes after the Dresdin Dolls finish.
The set was a mixture of Pretty Hate Machine, Broken, Downward Spiral and With Teeth. He opened with Pinion as per usual, and then right into Wish. There were a few songs off With Teeth i was unsure how they would sound live, but that changed with the Line Begins to Blur. The song takes a much more guitar driven style and becomes much more powerful live. At the same time songs he's been playing for years still have the ability to drive the crowd fuckin nuts. The backdrop for the show was a lighting rig that i honestly wish i had in my office at home. :) There are 6 pieces directly behind the band. Each piece is made of 6 rows of LEDs and 24 fluorescent tubes. So when the lights fire off, there are huge bright stripes of light aimed directly at the crowd. The LEDs are all computer controlled so that sequences of patterns can be formed. Just think of it as a huge set of letters falling on a screen like the matrix. But a lot less lame. And between each of these pieces there were huge stage spots and strobes. So between LEDs flashing Blue then Red, then Fluorescent tubes lighting everything, then strobes, then spots directly at the crowd, its a wonder that nobody went into a seizure.
"Terrible Lie" was at the top of my list. The old songs off Pretty Hate Machine still have so much life in them. The only thing that i could have wished for was that the set was 2 or 3 hours longer, but nobody can keep that pace up for that long. Trent has obviously been getting in shape for his full tour. The old skinny fishnet-clad frontman has now been replaced by a fuckin ripped body that has no problem powering out a incredible performance.
I'm actually hoping there are couple LA shows when he comes around for another leg of the tour. I'll travel again if i need to, but i'd like to see him again live at a venue closer to home. I just think the 2nd round will probably be at larger arenas. Well Staples would not be a bad spot. Here's hoping that i can get good tickets.
