Yesterday was our only full day here in Las Vegas, NV and it was chock full of amazingness. After I finished writing yesterday, David and I met up with new friends Rob and Tamar for a bite to eat at Simon here in Palms Place Hotel and Spa. Potent and tasty drinks were paired with delicious sushi, Simon provided us with a sumptuous meal to enjoy while we all hung out together. Getting to meet and hang out with Rob and Tamar was long overdue … I was very happy that we finally got it together and got the chance to hang. They are both incredibly cool people, we had a blast. After our extended late lunch was finished, we parted ways to get ready for the NIN/JA show at The Pearl concert venue inside the Palms Hotel and Casino. While the NIN/JA 2009 Tour is made up of the full sets performed by Nine Inch Nails and Jane’s Addiction (for some reason Street Sweeper Social Club did not perform last night), the NIN portion of the show was been titled Wave Goodbye:

Most of the NIN merch features this logo which really hits home that this is the last time we’ll be seeing NIN on tour for some time. But the show must go on … and I was hellbent on enjoying the show without thinking about anything beyond the performance. It pains me to report this but it appears that the memory card on which I took all of my concert photos is damaged … I am unable to retrieve any of them (altho, I can still view them on my camera). I’ll have to wait until I get home at the end of the week to try and salvage the photos. Instead, here are a few photos that were posted to the official NIN website (and taken by Rob and Leo):

Man, where to begin. The show was spectacular … NIN is in fine form on this tour. They sounded great. And you can absolutely tell that Trent Reznor is very clearly happy. There is a joy in his performance that I don’t think I’ve ever seen before. The mix of old and new songs gave the show a weird feeling … in that the classic songs from the early 90′s intermingled with more recent tracks evoked an entire range of emotion in me. I hadn’t heard Heresy performed in concert since 1995 (I think), it sounded kickass last night. I just had a blast. You can always judge the quality of an audience during NIN‘s performance of Hurt. The Vegas crowd last night was respectful and appreciative of the performance, it all just came together to make a concert to remember. The best songs for me were The Fragile, Gave Up and their Adam Ant cover Physical (You’re So). Here is last night’s full setlist:

01 Somewhat Damaged
02 Terrible Lie
03 Heresy
04 March of the Pigs
05 The Frail
06 Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)
07 Metal
08 The Big Come Down
09 Gave Up
10 The Fragile
11 I Do Not Want This
12 The Downward Spiral
13 Wish
14 Survivalism
15 The Day The World Went Away
16 Physical
17 The Hand That Feeds
18 Head Like a Hole
19 Hurt

The band plays a full set but, for me, it ended way too soon. Trust me, I absolutely understand that TR is showing mad respect for Jane’s Addiction by letting them perform last but it felt so strange for NIN to finish their set and then wait for another band to perform. Jane’s was great but I was really there for NIN. I am so excited that I’ll get to see them again at the end of the month back home in Detroit but I ain’t gonna lie … I’m gonna be bummed as hell after that show. It may be the last NIN show I see for a very, very long time :(

After the show, David bailed and called it a night while I met up with Rob, Tamar and some of their friends. We did some partying in the Playboy Club at the top of The Palms and then spent time on the casino floor gambling (and losing) and drinking and hanging out (until the wee hours of the morning, OY!). It was a really fun night, all around. I urge y’all to see NIN while you can … this tour is not to be missed.

Our time here in Vegas is already over, we leave for NYC in a few hours (which is why today will be a shorter blogging day for me) and will be there for the rest of the week. Much love and thanks goes out to Larry Fink and the entire staff here at the Palms Place Hotel and Spa. They took such amazing care of us, I hope we’ll be able to come back and enjoy their hospitality again.

So … I’ll be working right up until we have to jet and then I’ll be comin’ atcha from the East Side.