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NIN/JA Tour
- Thread starter MetroBass
- Start date
Ok so. I went to Toronto, Camden, Holmdel and Wantagh, and sadly this is the end of the road with NIN for me. Had a blast but can't believe it's already over.
I did the count... 13 shows. I have no idea how much money I spent on NIN since the With Teeth tours. But it's definitely not a stretch to say that NIN has been one of the main focuses in my life for the past eight years. To see it end now is a little heartbreaking, but I'm glad it's happening now : at the absolute peak of the band's career. The Lights In The Sky tour is most likely the climax of NIN as songwriters/live performers with every aspect of the bands aesthetics coming together in perfect symbiosis. Thank you though for this more subtle wave goodbye, allowing me to see all those songs I've been longing for after all these years. This NIN/JA trek of mine was worth every penny, as I've been able to see TDTWWA, La Mer, The Becoming, I Do Not Want This, The Fragile and a bunch of other songs that helped me through dark times and helped me shape myself into who I am today, as a musician, as a film editor, as an artist in general.
I'd really like to thank YOU for taking this job so seriously, for being such a perfectionnist. I wasn't a huge fan of the With Teeth line-up : the guys had stage presence but had more of a punk-rock attitude as musicians. Jeordie, for example, was often lazy and he'd go for the easiest route, while you'd always go for whatever SOUNDS better, even if that meant sliding up and down the neck non-stop for 5 minutes (Only). You could also tell that you are really enjoying yourself on the road and feeling the music... You're not just a hired gun, you're not an act. You're honest and true. Sometimes it even feels like you're as much of a fan of the music as the guy crushed on the front row. That's how much you care. It all made a huge difference on the overall sound and it helped the band gain an enormous amount of credibility from both critics and fans.
Finally, thank you SO MUCH for being this close to us. I couldn't afford to help Eric on this tour, but you have no idea how much I appreciate you taking time to answer our questions and all that. Unlike other bands online community which are maintained by labels and PRs, the NIN community feels very real and legit because you guys are also a part of it, using Access, interacting with fans, tweeting... This also makes the experience even more valuable because we feel a part of it and as a fan you really can't wish for much more than that.
So once again, thank you very much, and good luck for the rest of the tour. I'll make sure I can find a way to send you a copy of the "THIS ONE IS ON US" DVD as soon as it's complete.
I did the count... 13 shows. I have no idea how much money I spent on NIN since the With Teeth tours. But it's definitely not a stretch to say that NIN has been one of the main focuses in my life for the past eight years. To see it end now is a little heartbreaking, but I'm glad it's happening now : at the absolute peak of the band's career. The Lights In The Sky tour is most likely the climax of NIN as songwriters/live performers with every aspect of the bands aesthetics coming together in perfect symbiosis. Thank you though for this more subtle wave goodbye, allowing me to see all those songs I've been longing for after all these years. This NIN/JA trek of mine was worth every penny, as I've been able to see TDTWWA, La Mer, The Becoming, I Do Not Want This, The Fragile and a bunch of other songs that helped me through dark times and helped me shape myself into who I am today, as a musician, as a film editor, as an artist in general.
I'd really like to thank YOU for taking this job so seriously, for being such a perfectionnist. I wasn't a huge fan of the With Teeth line-up : the guys had stage presence but had more of a punk-rock attitude as musicians. Jeordie, for example, was often lazy and he'd go for the easiest route, while you'd always go for whatever SOUNDS better, even if that meant sliding up and down the neck non-stop for 5 minutes (Only). You could also tell that you are really enjoying yourself on the road and feeling the music... You're not just a hired gun, you're not an act. You're honest and true. Sometimes it even feels like you're as much of a fan of the music as the guy crushed on the front row. That's how much you care. It all made a huge difference on the overall sound and it helped the band gain an enormous amount of credibility from both critics and fans.
Finally, thank you SO MUCH for being this close to us. I couldn't afford to help Eric on this tour, but you have no idea how much I appreciate you taking time to answer our questions and all that. Unlike other bands online community which are maintained by labels and PRs, the NIN community feels very real and legit because you guys are also a part of it, using Access, interacting with fans, tweeting... This also makes the experience even more valuable because we feel a part of it and as a fan you really can't wish for much more than that.
So once again, thank you very much, and good luck for the rest of the tour. I'll make sure I can find a way to send you a copy of the "THIS ONE IS ON US" DVD as soon as it's complete.
Ash,
Genius. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for such generosity. I don't think anyone has ever articulated how I PERSONALLY feel about this gig (and how I dedicate myself to it, etc.) You have done me quite an honor.
Again, thank YOU.
JMJ
Genius. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for such generosity. I don't think anyone has ever articulated how I PERSONALLY feel about this gig (and how I dedicate myself to it, etc.) You have done me quite an honor.
Again, thank YOU.
JMJ
Yeah I saw the Merriweather show too and it was terrific. I am not a die-hard NIN fan but was amazed at how well the whole band pulled off playing as a 4 piece - hopping instruments and nailing every part. I was also quite excited to see JMJ swapping basses for every tune because it kind of validated my obessive gas 
Justin,
Caught the Burgettstown, PA show which will be my last for a while if indeed TR will "wave goodbye" for a while, and as a NIN fan whose seen at least a show on every US tour leg since "The Downward Spiral" I have to echo what Ash said before and so very eloquently. As much of a fan I've been since TR's first release, until your tenure with the band I always felt that the role of "bass player" was the role of short shrift... mainly as I imagine given the multitude of needs needs in his musicians, TR was looking for "multi-instrumentalists" first, "bassist" a distant second. And putting myself into his Doc Martens as a bandleader, I can understand that reasoning: a good amount of the lines are synth bass due to either tonality or speed/texture, and needed a specialist in the instrument for the rest wasn't a priority to the touring "machine" that is NIN Live.
...but upon the release of "The Slip", the "Lights In The Sky" tour and its quite ambitious "Chamber Orchestra" for the music from Ghosts and the reworking of older songs ("Ghosts Piggy", for example), upon seeing that show it was readily apparent that not only was a Bassist necessary for the reproduction of this material, it was crucial. Your addition to the live manifestation of NIN made the Ghosts songs and "Electronic Unplugged" set not only an astounding live experience (most likely the best full-on concert experience I've had in terms of songs, technique, FOH sound and sound "choices", stage lighting and effects, etc... in my long list of Very Good Concerts I've seen) but most likely simply *possibly*. While other incarnations of NIN have their positives and negatives, I highly doubt that any of the other combinations of live musicians could have pulled off what you, Alessandro, Ilan, Josh, Robin, and Trent were able to do simply on a technical level: even TR in a Press Release stated "We've added, we've subtracted and we've wound up with unquestionably the strongest lineup I've EVER had" (and no one in the "bass playing" role before you had any Upright experience, I'm relatively sure of that.
) And all the songs that did use electric basses *sounded* better and were *played* better, no doubt due to the fact that while an great multi-instrumentalist like others before you, no one had been a "Bassist" before you. Besides the technical aspect of "being a bassist" you absolutely had the best tone of anyone playing the electric bass in the live history of the band, I'd stake my reputation on that - your Geddy Jazzes, Jaguars, Thunderbirds (and one of the new Black/Black pickguarded Yamaha BB-series on "Home", if my eyes didn't deceive me), pedals and effects, and Aguilar/additional FOH equipment simply sounded better and cut through the mix than the basses and gear that was used by other "bass players": again, I think it was just a matter of priorities at certain points in the band's live show. And as Ash before me stated, I think a great deal of it comes from simple professionalism: I saw 6 shows on the LITS/Wave Goodbye legs, and *never* got the feeling you came close to phoning it in. I watched a Bassist drop ego and play synth bass or guitar if that's what would service the song in the best way possible. I caught perhaps one clam in several HUNDRED minutes of high-intensity live playing. I saw a Bassist that I aspire to be on the same level as every time I pick one up.
Basically, I'd like to thank you. For taking the band that has had an incalculable affect on me growing up (and still to this day) by opening the horizons from my "metal kid" roots wide open and improving sonically and physically on the one area I thought could truly be improved upon. For being a major part in what has now become most impressive, far-reaching "arena show" that I've seen ("Lights In The Sky"). For not only being professional but funny, informative, and not only giving advice but taking advice from us here during your stay. For making what appears to be the last legs of touring from one of the most influential bands of our generation absolutely stellar ones in every way in your means. From us fans, I'd like to thank you a great deal: you're making the last time shows the best they could possibly be.
Caught the Burgettstown, PA show which will be my last for a while if indeed TR will "wave goodbye" for a while, and as a NIN fan whose seen at least a show on every US tour leg since "The Downward Spiral" I have to echo what Ash said before and so very eloquently. As much of a fan I've been since TR's first release, until your tenure with the band I always felt that the role of "bass player" was the role of short shrift... mainly as I imagine given the multitude of needs needs in his musicians, TR was looking for "multi-instrumentalists" first, "bassist" a distant second. And putting myself into his Doc Martens as a bandleader, I can understand that reasoning: a good amount of the lines are synth bass due to either tonality or speed/texture, and needed a specialist in the instrument for the rest wasn't a priority to the touring "machine" that is NIN Live.
...but upon the release of "The Slip", the "Lights In The Sky" tour and its quite ambitious "Chamber Orchestra" for the music from Ghosts and the reworking of older songs ("Ghosts Piggy", for example), upon seeing that show it was readily apparent that not only was a Bassist necessary for the reproduction of this material, it was crucial. Your addition to the live manifestation of NIN made the Ghosts songs and "Electronic Unplugged" set not only an astounding live experience (most likely the best full-on concert experience I've had in terms of songs, technique, FOH sound and sound "choices", stage lighting and effects, etc... in my long list of Very Good Concerts I've seen) but most likely simply *possibly*. While other incarnations of NIN have their positives and negatives, I highly doubt that any of the other combinations of live musicians could have pulled off what you, Alessandro, Ilan, Josh, Robin, and Trent were able to do simply on a technical level: even TR in a Press Release stated "We've added, we've subtracted and we've wound up with unquestionably the strongest lineup I've EVER had" (and no one in the "bass playing" role before you had any Upright experience, I'm relatively sure of that.
) And all the songs that did use electric basses *sounded* better and were *played* better, no doubt due to the fact that while an great multi-instrumentalist like others before you, no one had been a "Bassist" before you. Besides the technical aspect of "being a bassist" you absolutely had the best tone of anyone playing the electric bass in the live history of the band, I'd stake my reputation on that - your Geddy Jazzes, Jaguars, Thunderbirds (and one of the new Black/Black pickguarded Yamaha BB-series on "Home", if my eyes didn't deceive me), pedals and effects, and Aguilar/additional FOH equipment simply sounded better and cut through the mix than the basses and gear that was used by other "bass players": again, I think it was just a matter of priorities at certain points in the band's live show. And as Ash before me stated, I think a great deal of it comes from simple professionalism: I saw 6 shows on the LITS/Wave Goodbye legs, and *never* got the feeling you came close to phoning it in. I watched a Bassist drop ego and play synth bass or guitar if that's what would service the song in the best way possible. I caught perhaps one clam in several HUNDRED minutes of high-intensity live playing. I saw a Bassist that I aspire to be on the same level as every time I pick one up.Basically, I'd like to thank you. For taking the band that has had an incalculable affect on me growing up (and still to this day) by opening the horizons from my "metal kid" roots wide open and improving sonically and physically on the one area I thought could truly be improved upon. For being a major part in what has now become most impressive, far-reaching "arena show" that I've seen ("Lights In The Sky"). For not only being professional but funny, informative, and not only giving advice but taking advice from us here during your stay. For making what appears to be the last legs of touring from one of the most influential bands of our generation absolutely stellar ones in every way in your means. From us fans, I'd like to thank you a great deal: you're making the last time shows the best they could possibly be.
Well!
How do I reply to this? My cup runneth over.
This is the sort of thing that makes it all worthwhile. I read every word, and deeply appreciate it.
Humbled and grateful. THANK YOU.
At your service,
JMJ
How do I reply to this? My cup runneth over.
This is the sort of thing that makes it all worthwhile. I read every word, and deeply appreciate it.
Humbled and grateful. THANK YOU.
At your service,
JMJ
http://vimeo.com/5133409
Another oh-so-very-totally-awesome video. I think this one is extra cool because you can clearly hear Justin singing on the right channel near the end.
Another oh-so-very-totally-awesome video. I think this one is extra cool because you can clearly hear Justin singing on the right channel near the end.
Can't get over how much I love JMJ's tone in that. Never got the chance to see this one played live, but from this video this is probably one of the best sounding live NIN songs. Incredible. Hopefully there's an LA show before the end
Can't get over how much I love JMJ's tone in that. Never got the chance to see this one played live, but from this video this is probably one of the best sounding live NIN songs. Incredible. Hopefully there's an LA show before the end
Im so glad that jmj was chosen instead of Rich Fownes, which I also think is good. Now I dunno if it was coincidence, but in the with teeth tour era I got into beck and just listened to the bombtastic bass lines laid on that album "Midnite Vultures" by a musical genius we all know and are inspired by. Well to say the least I was stoked to see one of the most influential bass players of my time to play live with my favorite band. And it's even more of a pleasure receiving advice here and knowing he cares about us unlike other big time people who just do it for the money. Jmj is among one of the best musician role models in todays industry.
Found this one earlier today. Awesome stuff, the first 30 seconds. JMJ looking after the fans.
"...He's so cute!"
"...He's so cute!"
Jmj is among one of the best musician role models in todays industry.
This can't be said enough, honestly.
After regretting some much that the LITS tour didn't came to europe, I juste can't wait to see you with NIN eventually in Paris next week ...
We NEED monster bass tones here !!
We NEED monster bass tones here !!
