all that and nin some (a sixer)

the ufb and i had a great time seeing nin and soundgarden on thursday…

…and it covered some firsts for me.

it was the first time i’d been to our formula one track (the amphitheater is on their grounds by the side of the track) and it also marked the first time i ever saw soundgarden (who wasn’t bad, per say, but i for some reason expected more than i got here). it was not the first time i’d seen nine inch nails – in fact, we have quite the history…

I – beers and queers, hold the steers – the first time i ever saw (and subsequently met and got to hang out with) trent reznor he wasn’t even touring for his own band…it was pre-lolpalooza career explosion and even pre-nin headlining (they had been to austin as a headliner only once previously, at a club called “mirage” which was formerly “curfew” the goth club i’d hung out at prior to the term “goth” being used…they had also been through as opening bands, and it’s odd the mirage gig isn’t online on old tour diaries, but as i remember missing it and have friends that didn’t i trust that a bit more than wikipedia)….

II – no manson, but a cinderblock cock show – the first proper nine inch nails show i saw was at the frank erwin center where marilyn manson and the jim rose circus side show took the opening slots. i missed manson (this kicked of a long line of missed shows from him, but at least i finally caught a couple starting in 2000) due to a friend waiting for his [weed] guy, but got to see the jim rose circus side show, that i’d heard about from the first lolapalooza but never seen. some of those guys later became occasional drinking buddies of mine, which if you know me personally won’t strike you as that odd…again, not showing up on the wikipedia page for the tour, but i can prove i was it happened.

III – his name is pronounced “BOE-ee”, the historic guy is “BOO-ee” – ah, the good old days when south park meadows was a concert venue and not a shopping center. it lay dormant from 1983 (the police’s synchronicity tour was it’s swan song) till 1995’s smashing pumpkin’s gig, then it was on for a year or two and this was easily my favorite show there in october of 1995, so i think i scored free tickets from working at 101X. couldn’t find a date so did my usual and just gave my extra away to somebody hanging along the fence line trying to catch a glimpse for free ’cause they couldn’t afford to go in. nine inch nails and david bowie – quite the pairing. the air was so magical i later dated a girl briefly who conceived her daughter there on the hillside of the venue during bowie’s set…

IV – why i no longer ride a bus ANYWHERE – one of the cool things about when i worked in the concert industry (may 2000 – october 2003) was they would let you ditch work to go to shows. i took advantage of this less than two weeks after getting the job ’cause i scored free passes to see nin & a perfect circle in dallas via the 101X party bus…we drank waaaaaaay too much maker’s and coke on the way up (keep in mind this was pretty early in my booze history) and i ended up getting sick in the bus bathroom on the way back. i’ll spare you the details but let’s just say i haven’t gotten on a bus sense. period.

V – the alex years – i saw nin technically three times during the two years and some change alex and i were together…at stubb’s bbq downtown in may of 2005, just to show her i could get in for free (left her standing acrooss the street in disbelief, came back out after a few songs (with a shirt) and just listened outside with her fro the rest but i proved my point), in san antonio at the sbc center with queens of the stone age (awesome) and death from above 1979 (lame as fuck) in october of 2005, and again in june of 2006, again in san antonio (at the now abandoned verizon wireless amphitheater) with the bauhaus (another great opener, who i’d always wanted to see). the albums back then were good but not great, and as a result so were the tours…

and finally…

VI – the ufb years – i’m kinda stretching it here, but the first time the ufb and i were in the same room together it got it’s own bit; “the room” was the frank erwin center (ut basketball arena named after an old drinking buddy of my dad) which has a capacity of just under 17,000. but it WAS technically the first time we were in the same room together, almost three and a half years to the day before our first date. and then this past thursday, we braved the triple-digit texas heat to see them again, for the first time together, with soundgarden this time around: