clocksrun@hotmail.com - or PM me if you have
any footage of this show! Thanks...
...and thanks to those who've shared so far.
NOTE: A very detailed journal entry. I've had the craziest time even trying to start this mofo (which I know you all, have been waiting for it). But With Teeth just spoke to me. So here's my translation:
First of all, I'd like to thank
Amtrak, for providing me with plenty of great Omish hilarity along the train rides safely there, and back.
Not in complete order, but here the thanking continues...
...
my cousin, for offering up his safehouse in Cherry Hill for the time that I was there, and for driving my greedy ass all across town, all around the clock.
...
burn215, for being brave enough to meet me, a huge help (see to heather) and for being a complete companionin and a funny trooper along the way. A major-time pleasure.
...
conrad of Temple University, for meeting me at the Electric Factory and giving me a free GA ticket.
...
realroad from the Spiral boards, for selling me a 70 dollar ticket after deducting some s&h charges, which would later on end up in the hands of burn's brother for no more than $0.00, courtesy of my high spirits of being in Philly, pretty much. I don't care.
...
heather, whereever you are, a huge thank you for allowing me to enter in as your Spiral companion after she (burn) had asked you. Haha, nice breast tats.
...
brokensoul, yet again, for being a huge help in many ways in the past and shown thru yet again with some lith assistance - glad to see you made it there safely after 2 speeding tickets. If only there was the meet & greet, you know Trent would sign at least one of those
That's all I can think of right now, sorry to those others I could probably begin mentioning>confusing. But here I go again in saying... I seriously could not have done it without, or it ALL would not've been possible, if it weren't for most of the above. Leaving the scene with people met (up again) and more than just a show experienced always means something for me. Here I go --
11 A.M. - I arrive at the Wachovia Spectrum. Even if I had no intentions of sitting in the Spiral line that soon (I'm not a member), I admit to being caught up in doing my hair/strapping by boots (show joke) and had already been running late to meet up with realroad, who arrived in that area of town earlier that morning from Detroit. Gave him the call, met up with him at some park, (can't remember the name, but one nearby) did the deal, chill beans, and left.
By car, we, my cousin his girlfriend and I, make circles around the joint, and collect these pictures:
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early morning Spiraling fans
The phamous Philly PHM lady crossing the street, one of the first there.
Personal favorite.
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Tour buses.
So by whatever time that lapsed after scoping out the place, I get dropped off on the street that runs along side the stadium where the Eagles play ("TO" was a seperate highlight during my stay there!), so pretty much in between the Spectrum and that. At this point, it's a complete ghost town still. It's like,
"Where! is! everybodayyy?"... haha, really.
Since the damn lady I called from the WS said they had a 'no camera and other electronics policy', I had left my 5 mp badboy in le coche, and had to resort to, yet again, my trusty Motorola V3383202834802398420234289340, which later on I (we all) ended up feeling stupid seeing that so many brought theirs. I wish Trent could just override that policy for when he plays, or something.
On foot now.
Aha!, there you are.
...looking for my line, the regular line, I run into the nearest one, I knew it was for Spirals. Come on.
"Hey man! Whassap? Are ya lost?" Ha no... these folks seemed dead, since at least one of them (the one the dark haired lady was looking down at against the wall) was there since 5 a.m. apparently - totally would've been me if I were a Spiral member. I never found out if it was a girl or guy, the camper, she/he had sunglasses on and a blanket over her/his head. I was pleased to see somebody doing that though. Cool stuff.
Alright, so all in this time of
still looking for my line, the regular line, I begin calling up both burn and broken on n' off, informing them of the Spiral line's status pretty much since they, both members, were still on their way. Which at the time (11:30'ish?), it was at a whopping 26 people. Yes, I went down the line and counted each of your heads, in my head. Somebody gotta do it. Anyway though, past that duty, I made one last circle (total of 3) around the Wach and back at the Spiral line, square one, seeing Brandi peeking her head out of the door at the front of the line. I ask where's the regular line, and she didn't know for sure. Hm, hats off to Brandi...
...I was outta there, and just on my way to go backwards, I found my place. I found myspace. There were 4 others like me, just standing there. Pretty cool guys, all for the big one that didn't say a word but I felt a communication thru his angry expressions. That got me thinking,
this one's probably from ETS!. The other guys, talkative, like me at the time, went on about what shows we all had already gone to, which one of us has touched (met) Trent, and the brilliance behind Radiohead. The guy who was last in line before I arrived, came from Canada. Cool cat.
(sadly, I wasn't thinking about cell camming things up during all this. Hoes and wells.)
Noon (I think) - I get the call from burn that she and her cousin are coming around the corner of the Spec. Splendid! I hang up. She comes down the 'isle', and that was that. The gate that seperated us didn't mean much for the future, but little did I know that at the time. 20 minutes go by, just in the middle of raving on about my Cleveland experience to this Radiohead-head (
he wanted to know), she says (uhh), "Adam!", and basically, I've (she) found my wingwoman to help me get in the monster line (no joke, the regular line didn't build up anywhere after I jumped over the bars into the familiar line... surprising). Thanks to Heather for this, big time.
Spiral, I'm officially in it. Much time goes by. Here's a collection. Spot yourselves among this batch.
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and
^ the way out is through the z's. She was both woozy and snoozy. "Pig" t-shirt.
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Time goes by. I get the call from Broken, she has arrived. I give her my lith cash (thank you again) since she'll be in a seat this time around, as she and her company is eating food, which I'm craving as I'm standing there! (I was bloody hungry)
Hey it's, 'superfan', in the white shirt, making some announcement about the seperation of the church... I mean, the lines. Schism. Yes everyone remembers this cool guy! He probably gets people's attention easily when he has a nifty NIN ID hanging from his waist with a mini show lithograph on it.
A lot of undisclosed talking goes by. We stand up and sit back down every now and then because this Spiral is a'teasing. But, we have high hopes and are sure we'll be let in, even though this band of folks is well past 100 at this point, I'm guessing. Split into two seperate lines though? Left for floor, right for seats, both curving around... means something. I don't know, at some point of sitting down, in no time they had us stand up, and by the looks of it they were going to be letting us in for, anything. I'm fine with that, it's getting kind of hot.
Sitting down, then standing up, one last time. Slowly getting near the front end of the line.
Metal detection . . .
. . . the worst is past us now. Oh wait, was that burn?
Inside. About to be strapped up.
The lady that did mine up sure was an old b.
Around the corner now, speeding our way 'there'...
...mmmmmyspace.
And we've arrived there, section something, making our way down for le
soundcheck! Lucky!
Batch #2
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^ the DFA drummer/vocalist (in all of those) on a bike with a girl on the pegs filming. I dug his hi-tops.
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'Superfan', again, talking with that well known bald NIN guy.
Porkchop is somewhere in there.
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^ the bald guy makes an announcement about the rules of soundcheck. That's fine.
Time passes, drum tech Jeremy B, and drummer Alex, make their way on stage first to fiddle around. Alex gives his shot (not bad at all) at Jerome's sexy title track (With Teeth) beat and then runs thru Even Deeper. I have a quick crappy video of this from where I was sitting with my cell, among 2 more taken during soundcheck. Once again, pretty crappy... and I don't have a host. But you can at least make out the songs they're playing...
...Anyway, once they start escorting us by row down there for soundcheck, seated section Spiral people first, they start up The Frail. Too cool... considering the combination is my favorite. Song's almost up. Our row is up. Readily making our way across the court for soundcheck:
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(^ the angle I got taking videos from)
Hell yeah. The soundcheck setlist was awesome, I tell ya. More than what I asked for, considering all I got in Clevo was one, a portion of Love Is Not Enough. Dead Souls though!
After such an (great) "intimidating" soundcheck was over, as Trent called it, we were lead back into the stands, but to different seats.
The view this time. The last seat I would pretty much take, until a few steps infront of the merch and food section...
...yes, let's move on - burn and I, [s]hungry[/s] starving! Really, my stomach is burning. So we make our way up there, as this whole thing was sort of confusing to me compared to how things were delt with Spiral style in Cleveland, whether or not we were allowed up for good, or what, but surely not on the floor again until things ignited a second time (no seriously, the soundcheck was finesse). Decided we'd go for a hot pretzel and + a hot dog for me, and a bladder buster sized Hawaiian Punch. Took the seat, she went to get her 'The Line Begins To Blur' white cell t-shirt, I'll call it, and feasted on a very salty 'blinner'... yes, I did not
eat breakfast, lunch, or dinner the whole day. Time passes, the line for the merch is big, I was going to get a picture of it but ehh, food never tasted so good at a time like that. She returns - gets a call, they're moving the folks on the floor! Dayumnit! Haha... gobble and guzzle that stuff down, "it'sa tima to go'a!" ...
...rushing down the steps, across the floor, there's already a 3-body thickness from the rail - upsetting! but, it probably would've been that same way even if were there and ready to be let loose since it was all done so accordingly by the section of seating you were assigned to... so no biggy (for now!); we met up her brother and cousin more in the center section of the stage. Slowly one by one, you could feel another lurking closer behind you though, seeing that it was closing up on showtime.
Batch #3
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The Asian guy back there (who somehow got beside me) somewhat was crazy for Queens. While the guy in black to the right of the picture, was our crowd pot-smoker.
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That big guy on the right hand side of the picture was behind me during the more brutal times in the crowd. Just, insanity. He was alright, as far as helping out and all - not one of the fatties I was referring to pages back.
So that was the set up. We're there, killing time, bassy music playing. All good things.
DFA
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Personally? I loved it. Whether or not you can really get into such stuff at the same level as you will later on be doing with Nails, who we're really here to see, it's enjoyable, and a pleasure to finally see done live. And whether you play an instrument or not, which I do, and love looking at every little thing, it was
not boring, and that's the one thing we should appreciate for standing there... especially if you own and knew their cd well enough. Not many people got into it, no more than head-bopping, as that's expected and a part of it, but the crowd's toking sure began halfway thru their set - great set, funny to see Sebastian drumming: straightforward. Didn't think he would have a double-bass! I'd see them again, with a more selective crowd, easily said.
Stands shot after DFA.
Stage shot after DFA.
Queens
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Okay, so where in Cleveland the crowd force began
after Queens, this time it was shortly after the first of the three acts... right after DFA, did you begin feeling something up your back - Hellooo Philly! Tokes continue. I loved them much more this time around, smoking aside. And I'll just say this right now, all before one particular song came along, it was all fun and games as far as the energy in the crowd, but when Josh said "it's gonna get ugly tonight", he really meant it - Little Sister, everybody went haywire. Just nuts. At least during that song was everything beginning to go up in flames. So every song past that one pretty much included a lot of pushing and elbow-driving. Already was this beginning to feel a little uh-oh, when you sat there thinking about how bad it'd get with Nails, if this is just Queens! Come on.
Stage shot after Queens.
Crowd force x2
Trent's curtain
Fighting for a good, comfortable (right!) spot in the masses up there was the next objective. A lot of fat pissants trying to reach their way to the front who started way in the back, "do you want me to hump your leg all night?" he asks - screw you and the anorexic girl you thought you were hooking up with. That's called, using you. If you weren't anywhere near the front from the start, at least wait until the show starts to try sleezing your way up there. Ahh whatever. Then there were these two other cats with powder all over them and their face, no bigger than I was, funny fellows for the time we'd beeen waiting there for YKW.
Pinion was just nuts... just great seeing everyone scramble when it breaks in, you know? Kinda funny how such simple sounds can get at your insides, heart beating, the whole deal.
Love Is Not Enough...
(Tribal beats turn me on. And Trent doing his signature lean t h i s close from the curtain with a sinister grin on his face
was just like heaven.)
...oh wow, one of my favorites off of the album, don't ask, please tell - such a blast to sing/scream along live. But sadly, that's all I had going for my voice box on the floor. At this point, falling over is completely possible. The chances of staying alive after being trampled in a crowd like this (I mean: retarded, not so pretty, not so nice, drunk, high on everything, including nin) weren't looking good. So, without even looking at the setlist (this all may be wrong, don't correct it) right now, as I haven't even had a straight look at it yet, the following songs past that was just pure brutality; at a time like that, I would do anything for a slow song next, but who are we kidding? One after another, Don't you fucking know what you are! First time experiencing that song, didn't sing a word I don't think...? March of The Pigs? Some where in there close by, a flippin' mess. Terrible Lie? A lot worse than you think, just spit and ass everywhere. I tried to get into that as much as I could... but having arms wrapped around you from both sides and some guy latching onto your leg, all in the midst once again of TRYING to get into it, nothing is right where it belongs!
Moving right along - I'm 5'10, burn is much below that. You feel me? A lot of people sure did at that time. During all this human pinball game, we've got me panting for air and she, definitely getting mushed and mooshed by tubs of lard, as I'm clearly noting in my head... 'bad news written all over it'. SHIT. Her brother tells me over the music "help her up" or "pick her up", lol... you godbe crazy mon... no matter how strong I may be, it's not as easy as you think! Have you ever seen the security guards in a struggle of getting people out? They know exactly what I mean. Except, they have a foot railing and aren't in between the action. So there you have it. I knew this wasn't going to work out. Quickly before one of the first heavy songs, I don't know which, surely didn't care at the time, we made our way back. I was, a mess. Sweating like an Egyptian. If a pigsty was a church, and those were all pigs in service, I was converted. Out of breath and everything. A religious experience, all the way.
We enjoyed it from back there, what can I say. Plus, from always wondering, I now know where everyone goes when they have to bail out, either over the railing or out the back door. So that was good.
TLBTB
Best shot
Red
Redder
Pinkish
Hurt
THE FRAIL (another favorite shot, and pretty good!)
Cool
Eraser - Amazing
Monkey say
Monkey do
Haha!
After many songs went by though, it was about that time to go buy us some drinks. So off I went as soon as Right Where It Belongs began, hoping I'd get back in time for Beside You In Time since I had missed it in Cleveland.
At this very time . . .
. . . Beside You In Time was halfway done. Where I received that text message to get back in there. I missed most of it (but heard it well from the halls) because of some one-way thing they had going on as far as getting in and out of the floor area, but got back just in time for the part we all wait for. Great stuff, I tell you.
shittyshots on the way out:
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Shooting for San Luis Obispo now.
