Well, the NIN concert is coming up in just a couple more days. I thought I’d share the story of the first NIN concert I went to. Not much of a story, really, but there is drama, suspense, and plenty of pathos. This would have been in 1994, the year The Downward Spiral was released. At the time I was a student at (then) USL. Wasn’t really much of a student though, but I’ll get into that later. It was my second (and final) semester there, and it was right around the time of finals. I think the actual date of the concert, according to the internet, was something like May 5th. Also, I’m pretty sure NIN was the first concert I went to, but I may have actually seen Pink Floyd before then. I get a little confused. So that’s the background information, let me get on with the story already.

Oh, by the way, I’m supposed to be going with Trey, and we each have two tickets. And Trey is driving.

So I get a call from Trey earlier in the day (or I call him, I forget) and he tells me he has bad news. We can’t go; he’s having car trouble. It won’t even start or something [Remember the escort, Trey?]. There is no way in hell I’m not going to this concert. Let me think of something, I’ll get back to you.

Of course, there are very few people that I have to “fall back on”, like almost zero. And of course, I have to go take a final exam which is going to consume at least two hours of time that I could be using to search for a ride. I don’t remember which class the final was for, but I’m guessing that if I was even bothering with it, then I must have had a chance of at least salvaging a passing grade for the semester.

“Fuck the test, I’ll probably fail anyway”.

I had a roommate at the beginning of the semester named Boznik, or something. He was from New Jersey, and he was my roommate for one week. Then he had to switch to a different room, because the roommate I had the previous semester wanted to room with me again. I didn’t really see or speak to Boznik for the whole semester other than the passing “hello”. But he was one of the few people I knew who had a dependable car and was free that evening.

So I spent most of the day ‘working on him’. He was offered Trey’s extra ticket in exchange for a ride to New Orleans, even though he really needed to study. After all, he did have a final the next day. So did I. But he decided he would go at pretty much the last minute. It was now late afternoon, the concert started at 8:00, and we had two stops to make first. We’d be very pressed for time.

The first stop we had to make was in Abbeville. To pick up, ahem, an ex-girlfriend of mine. I’m not going to mention her name her because, well, I just don’t fucking want to. I’ll simply refer to her as “the ex-girlfriend”, or “TEG”. Because after all, no Nine Inch Nails concert would be complete without bringing along your freaking ex-girlfriend, right?

Here’s why I asked Teg to come to the concert with us: When I first bought tickets, I got two just in case I wanted to ask someone to come with me. The concert was a whole two months away, and I figured in all that time, I might find someone who would want to go with me. No such luck. And this was before Ebay, so I was going to be stuck with an extra ticket. So then I got the bright idea of asking Teg. Even though I don’t think I had spoken to her in well over a year. I knew she liked NIN, and I wanted to share the experience with a fellow fan. That was all. No ulterior motives.

So we pick up Teg in Abbeville and next we have to pick up Trey in Henry. Slight problem. I’m not exactly sure where in Henry. He hadn’t been living there very long and I had only been there a couple times. Trey would always drive and I never paid attention to directions or landmarks or anything. I don’t know if you’ve ever made the drive from Abbeville to Henry, but landmarks are few and far between. And I never really paid attention, probably too busy reading while he was driving.

So I call him from Teg’s house and get directions. Boy, are we really pressed for time. We set out for Henry armed with Trey’s directions, my vague recollections of how to get there, and Teg’s helpful advice (like: “you don’t know anything Ronnie. Why don’t you pay more attention?”). But we get there, eventually, with only a couple of missed turns. Now we have to make it from Henry to New Orleans by 8:00 and it’s already almost six.

Boznik drove straight there, speeding most of the way. No time for stops, no time for anything. And we get there just in time. Well actually, not just in time, cause we’re standing in line while the opening act is playing. We can hear them from outside. (Incidentally, the concert was at Lowes Theatre and the opening act was Marilyn Manson). But that’s Okay, cause we’re not here to see the opening act. We’re here to see Nine Inch fucking Nails.

Some discussion about who’s going to sit where. Trey’s extra ticket is for a seat in a different section than the other three seats. Boznik takes that seat. I wind up sitting next to Trey, and Teg is directly in front of me.

A brief description of the actual performance: we’re sitting in the third balcony (or maybe it’s the second). Way up. There are waves of people in front of and below us. I watch as a sea of dimly lit heads sway with the music, like some gigantic organism. The number of people in attendance seems staggering to me. We are so far from the stage. The band members look like specks from here. Which one is Trent? I think he’s the one in the front and center, no top right. Over there. He’s got to be the one moving around the most. No, that’s just the guitarist. I remember smoke, lots of smoke. And lights. Flickering strobe lights. They’re scarcely used during the performance, but near the end (during “gave up”?) they are going like crazy, almost blinding.

I don’t remember much from the concert now. Just vague images. To this day, I only remember two things. These are the things that stand out the most to me: it was loud and it was awesome.

We had less of an ordeal after the concert than before. Other than it was pretty late. And I had to pry Teg away from some guys she was flirting with. This was after she spent the whole concert flirting with the guy sitting next to her. And she pretty much spent the whole ride back flirting with Boznik. It was really getting annoying. And it was late.

After the trip from New Orleans to Abbeville to Henry and finally Lafayette, it had to be at least 3 or 4 in the morning. And I still had the other final to worry about.

I didn’t even bother to take that one, either.

So, that’s it. Told you it wasn’t much of a story. Maybe if Trey remembers anything I might have gotten wrong he can correct me.

Ron. (Boy, did I do some stupid things when I was younger)