Nine Inch Nails played a raucous show at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, CA last night … one night ahead of the final show of the first leg of their North American tour Lights In The Sky. NIN take the stage at The Forum tonight here in SoCal (and, WOOT, I will be there) but here are a few pics that were posted on the official NIN website from last night’s show … including one of Trent Reznor himself engaged in an “important pre-show ritual”:

Because of venue space constraints, I wasn’t able to get the “full” look of the Lights In the Sky show when I saw NIN in Toledo, OH last week so I am very much looking forward to seeing Trent’s vision for the show tonight. To be honest, I’m already planning which shows on the second leg of the tour I’m hoping to attend. Their Western Michigan show coincides with my next trip back home to Detroit so I think I’ll be at the Grand Rapids, MI show and NIN are ending their whole tour in Las Vegas, NV in December … worth a trip to Sin City, I think ;) Folks, I cannot stress enough how much I am looking forward to tonight’s show … I promise to have as many pics as I can snap and a full report tomorrow. Wee!

Will I be running into any of y’all at tonight’s show?

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This past Friday, the official Nine Inch Nails website was updated with a new photo of NIN frontman Trent Reznor pausing backstage on his way to the stage at their tour stop in Philadelphia, PA … check it out:

Hot damn, now this is an awesome picture … whether you’re a NIN fan or not ;) Sarah and I noted that Trent was letting his facial hair grow back when we saw NIN play Toledo, OH last Monday and it looks like he’s been letting it grow since then — oh yes, me likey. Hopefully he’ll have himself a full-on beard by the time I get to see NIN again in Inglewood, CA next weekend.

In other NIN-related news, Pink reader Kent gave me the heads up that Billboard.com has posted a very cool article on the band called 20 Years of Nine Inch Nails in their ongoing Music Milestones feature. I guess I never really realized that since Pretty Hate Machine, NIN’s debut album, was released in 1988 that this year is the band’s 20th anniversary. Wow. In any event, I think all y’all should read the Billboard feature on NIN HERE … I’m pretty sure that even the most hardcore fans will learn (or be reminded of) a few things about this amazing band.

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Last night Sarah and I hightailed it down South to drive into Ohio to see Nine Inch Nails play the SeaGate Convention Center. Now, I new beforehand that the venue would be a small one but it was really pretty effing small. It wasn’t until Trent Reznor announced from the stage that the venue was too small to accommodate all of the stage equipment that I even knew we weren’t getting the “full show” (reading a few reviews on Echoing the Sound further alerted me to the fact that the Toledo show was “amended” a bit to accommodate the smaller venue) … to be honest, I thought the show was amazing so I didn’t miss a thing. That said, I’m very glad that I’m going to the Inglewood, CA show (the last of the US tour) next week cuz now I want to know what I missed last night.

Again, the show was pretty stunning nonetheless … here are a few of the pics that I snapped last night:

After about the 3rd song or so, Trent announced from the stage, “We’re happy to be playing the homecoming dance” referring to the tiny size of the venue. Man, it was just really great being able to see NIN in such an intimate space. After the jump, see the full show setlist, check out a short video that I shot of Trent Reznor talking to the crowd and a funny-ass video that I stumbled upon this morning that features Trent Reznor, has nothing at all to do with last night’s show but is simply NOT TO BE MISSED …

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Nine Inch Nails played a show at The Palace of Auburn Hills here in the suburbs of Detroit, MI on Saturday night and posted a few photos from the show online on their official website … here are a few of those pics:

While I’m marginally bummed that I wasn’t able to get home to Detroit in time to see NIN live at The Palace, I am very much looking forward to seeing the band play at the SeaGate Convention Center in Toledo, OH tonight. Toledo is about 50 mins. south of where my parents live so Sarah and I will be trekking down I-75 this evening to see the guys perform. The SeaGate Center isn’t much bigger than a high school gymnasium so I am very much looking forward to the intimate nature of the show. At last … I will finally be able to see Nine Inch Nails on their current Lights in the Sky Tour of North America … any Michigander/Ohioans gonna meet me in Toledo ce soir?

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Pink reader Jess sends in a few pics from the Nine Inch Nails Lights in the Sky Tour concert stop at the Rexall Place in Edmonton, Alberta in Canada that she attended with her fiancée this week:

After the jump, check out a few photos of the performance and a portion of her report from the show …

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Much to my chagrin, Nine Inch Nails played a secret, private show at the LA Forum last night as a live dress rehearsal for a few very lucky fans. A few weeks ago, NIN uploaded a Google Earth feature on their tour site showing the cities that their Lights in the Sky Tour would be visiting … and then a few days ago, question marks started showing up around the LA area. It turns out that those question marks led people to places that where distributing free tickets for last night’s private rehearsal show. So, while I was flying away from LA last night, NIN was rocking out the Forum for the lucky fans who I now hate with a passion. Okay, not really but I am extremely jealous:

So as not to spoil anything for any of y’all who don’t want to know anything about the upcoming Lights in the Sky Tour, I’m putting the rest of this post behind the cut. After the jump, see some photos taken of last night’s show (including ticket stubs and the limited edition poster) as well as the reported full setlist …

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Trent Reznor has updated the official Nine Inch Nails website with the last of 3 rehearsal videos (click HERE to watch the video for 1,000,000 and click HERE to watch the video for Letting You) that were filmed recently and will be available on the bonus DVD that will come packaged with the retail version of their latest album The Slip, due out on July 22. Here is the rehearsal video for the song Echoplex:

Even tho The Slip is available for FREE DOWNLOAD I am very much interested in picking up the physical CD version of the album. Not only does it come with a bonus DVD of live material (there are at least 5 rehearsal videos on the DVD) but there is a rumor going around that there *may* be a “secret” bonus disc with extra material included as well. Amazon lists the album’s release as a 3-disc set — 1 CD, 1 DVD and another CD? At this point, nothing that Trent Reznor does would surprise me. Is it possible that he may throw in an extra disc of music for his loyal fans who choose to purchase an album he’s already giving away for free? Sure. Is it possible that this rumored bonus disc is merely the fabrication of overzealous fans? Absolutely. In any event, I feel that the release is deffo worth picking up … especially for completists.

Lastly, if you’re interested in tracking the NIN Lights In The Sky Tour via Google Earth, you can download a file HERE that will allow you to zoom in on each city the tour will be visiting and follow the band as they tour North America. Sounds fun. I think only geeks need apply but it’s a neat little option nonetheless.

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