Just drove back (in the rain, but safely) from Toronto, arrived very early this morning. The show was fantastic as expected, even though Trent was pretty sick for the second half of the show and even though there was seemingly a lot of technical problems. Poor Josh, that must of been so embarassing when the screen ****ed up during Echoplex. Most people didn't even notice but anyway. From what I see the crew isn't quite used to all the production and I'm sure it will all get much tighter as the tour rages on.
True indeed. FYI Trent's not sick, just got a rough throat from singing early in the tour that he is working through. He'll be fine.
As of for the performances, it was pretty much stellar. I really like what you add to the band. NIN never really had bass players, they were all guitar players who could manage to play. With you and Robin back in the band, NIN live is gaining a lot of credibility and artistic maturity, compared to the last incarnation which was just wilder and "thrashier".
Thank you VERY much, and that is exactly the intent.
I REALLY enjoyed the Year Zero and Ghosts tracks. I honestly wish you guys played more of the laptop based tracks and more of the instrumental stuff, but I know Trent is afraid it might bore people. That might be the problem when you're touring arenas : your letting in much more than just the hardcore fans who'll go crazy at everything, a lot of people came for the singles. I suggest a club tour heavy on Ghosts and Year Zero tracks
Good idea...something I actually suggested as well. Who knows? The Ghosts and Year Zero stuff is very important to all of us, so it's possible that it will have a finer focus at some point.
The bass was indeed very clear. Only criticism : the upright bass during the Ghosts tracks was too low in the mix. It was fine when you played those very low, atmospheric notes with the bow, but I could barely hear it during Piggy.
Thanks for letting me know.
I also really like your work during those rendition of In This Twilight and God Given. It's really cool that you reinterpret the songs and make it your own : those two songs (which I loved on the records) are even better live.
Great. Those are two favorites of mine, for sure...great to hear they are coming over in a cool way.
Something I'm wondering : what do you hear in your in-ear mix? Do you hear the clicktrack or are you all relying exclusively on Josh to keep in time? I'm asking cause this show's production is very heavy and I'm guessing everything is synched.
You'd be surprised at what isn't synced. I don't hear click usually, no. Josh does most of the time. But there are times (some that would surprise you), where the production actually follows what WE play. We're doing some fairly bleeding edge things up there with regards to what is "talking" to what, but that's about as specific as I can get.
So anyway, my mind was totally blown away, haven't really had time to sleep, can't stop thinking about the gig and can't wait to see the show again in Worcester. One final question : have you played all the songs that you rehearsed yet or can we expect more surprises as the tour goes along?
I will simply say that no, we have not played all the songs we rehearsed. And I'll have to leave it at that. 
But thank you for the thoughts, and I'm glad that you liked it.
Best,
JMJ
