It was a little later (probably 1992?) but I received a dubbed tape of PHM and Skinny Puppy's *Remission* on the very same day. Still friends with the dude all these decades later.
Let's see: R&R Hall of Famers emblematic album against Dog Faced Hermans, who I wonder if even @Gary Trujillo knows. I know I don't. No. 5 against No. 124. What are the odds? Are there in-game parlays?
Many, many years ago when I was a mere 16 years old my friends and I made the two hour drive down to Wilmington, NC to The Mad Monk to see NIN. "The Monk" held all of 300 people and they got the best acts. NIN, Fishbone, Suicidal Tendencies. The list goes on and on.
When we arrived there was a long line across the gravel parking lot of folks waiting to buy tickets at the ticket window (this was when you still bought a real ticket from a real person at a real window at the real venue the day of the show). The tour buses were parked on the opposite side of a tall chain link fence that separated us patrons in the parking lot from the bus/backstage area. As we were waiting in line a guy came up to my friends and I on the other side of the fence with a $20 in his hand trying to hand it to us through the fence. He asked if any of us would be cool enough to run across the busy road to buy a pack of Marlboro cigarettes from the gas station. None of us wanted to get out of line and we knew the show was going to sell out but he said he would guarantee we would get in. I took the bait, grabbed the $20 and ran across the four lane road to the gas station.
Upon my return there were about 5 people standing around the parking lot and a sign in the ticket window that said, "Sold Out". My friends made it in and the guy that approached us was nowhere to be found. I was standing around debating if I should try and climb the fence and risk being thrown out and banned forever, or just hang out for the next two and half hours in the parking lot. The next thing I know the door swings open and the guy that sent me on "Operation Cancer Stick" is yelling at me, "Get your ass in here! You're holding up the show!" I follow and he leads me through the club and out the back door where I find myself on the other side of the fence at the door of one of the tour buses. I step on the bus to find Trent Reznor waiting for that pack of smokes. I handed them over and we exchanged a few words and I said something along the lines of, "I'm a dummer" before I was quickly whisked off the bus and back into the club.
I don't know if Trent smoked those Marlboros that I risked life and limb crossing that busy road to fetch for him. Maybe they were for another band mate, who knows? What I do know is NIN put on one hell of a show for 300 people that night and it helped solidify my decision to make music my life and to stay with it behind that drum set waiting for me back at home two hours away.
Years later I found myself playing a festival date where NIN was headlining later that night. After my soundcheck was over I was heading to change and grab a quick bite to eat when I noticed Trent Reznor lifting weights and working out by the buses. I'm a long time work out guy so I made a little small talk for a few seconds as I walked by, but I didn't have time to relay that story to Trent. However, thanks in part to that encounter at that early NIN show in a small bar in southeastern NC, I was now living out my dream every night. Cheers to NIN!
It was a little later (probably 1992?) but I received a dubbed tape of PHM and Skinny Puppy's *Remission* on the very same day. Still friends with the dude all these decades later.
As good as PHM is, it's about a third as good as "Broken" IMO.
Pretty Hate Machine all day”
Let's see: R&R Hall of Famers emblematic album against Dog Faced Hermans, who I wonder if even @Gary Trujillo knows. I know I don't. No. 5 against No. 124. What are the odds? Are there in-game parlays?
The odds are slim, to be sure!
I've gotta go with NIN.
Many, many years ago when I was a mere 16 years old my friends and I made the two hour drive down to Wilmington, NC to The Mad Monk to see NIN. "The Monk" held all of 300 people and they got the best acts. NIN, Fishbone, Suicidal Tendencies. The list goes on and on.
When we arrived there was a long line across the gravel parking lot of folks waiting to buy tickets at the ticket window (this was when you still bought a real ticket from a real person at a real window at the real venue the day of the show). The tour buses were parked on the opposite side of a tall chain link fence that separated us patrons in the parking lot from the bus/backstage area. As we were waiting in line a guy came up to my friends and I on the other side of the fence with a $20 in his hand trying to hand it to us through the fence. He asked if any of us would be cool enough to run across the busy road to buy a pack of Marlboro cigarettes from the gas station. None of us wanted to get out of line and we knew the show was going to sell out but he said he would guarantee we would get in. I took the bait, grabbed the $20 and ran across the four lane road to the gas station.
Upon my return there were about 5 people standing around the parking lot and a sign in the ticket window that said, "Sold Out". My friends made it in and the guy that approached us was nowhere to be found. I was standing around debating if I should try and climb the fence and risk being thrown out and banned forever, or just hang out for the next two and half hours in the parking lot. The next thing I know the door swings open and the guy that sent me on "Operation Cancer Stick" is yelling at me, "Get your ass in here! You're holding up the show!" I follow and he leads me through the club and out the back door where I find myself on the other side of the fence at the door of one of the tour buses. I step on the bus to find Trent Reznor waiting for that pack of smokes. I handed them over and we exchanged a few words and I said something along the lines of, "I'm a dummer" before I was quickly whisked off the bus and back into the club.
I don't know if Trent smoked those Marlboros that I risked life and limb crossing that busy road to fetch for him. Maybe they were for another band mate, who knows? What I do know is NIN put on one hell of a show for 300 people that night and it helped solidify my decision to make music my life and to stay with it behind that drum set waiting for me back at home two hours away.
Years later I found myself playing a festival date where NIN was headlining later that night. After my soundcheck was over I was heading to change and grab a quick bite to eat when I noticed Trent Reznor lifting weights and working out by the buses. I'm a long time work out guy so I made a little small talk for a few seconds as I walked by, but I didn't have time to relay that story to Trent. However, thanks in part to that encounter at that early NIN show in a small bar in southeastern NC, I was now living out my dream every night. Cheers to NIN!
I love it! These are the best kinds of stories, and everyone should be lucky enough to have 1 or 2 of their own.
Thanks Kevin. I'm fortunate to have suitcases full of these types of stories.