I'm in ur internets, taking a blog.

Whoo, it's been a week now since I saw Nine Inch Nails and I guess I should gush all about it now. Pretty good night, lots of great songs, drama, malfunctions and even a Trent Reznor hissy fit (!!).



Set list for the night:

Somewhat Damaged
You Know What You Are?
Sin
March Of The Pigs
Piggy
The Beginning Of The End
Survivalism
Ruiner
Burn
Gave Up
Help Me I Am In Hell
Me, I'm Not*
The Frail
The Good Soldier
Wish
Only **
Capital G
Suck
Hurt***
The Hand That Feeds
Head Like a Hole****

(asterix marks = DRAMA and will be explained soon)

Anyway, this was my first time seeing NIN, after just missing out on them in late 2005. They actually played at a larger venue back then, but this time we were all crammed into the inner city Metro nightclub, which had thankfully gone under a facelift since the last time I was there as a teenybopper.
Here's a good shot of it from the show 2 nights after from the official NIN site (I'm still waiting to see pics my friend took from the night we went)



We were worried that this gig wouldn't go ahead, since NIN cancelled the two prior shows in Sydney due to Trent losing his voice, or something. But I guess the few days rest worked for him, since it was still on. Rocking up to the venus with some friends, I felt quiet alienated by the fact that I think I was one of the very few people lining up who wasn't wearing black anywhere, especially with all the goths that came out to play. Don't think I've ever seen as many corsets in one area before. I fixed my lack of black once inside though by getting one of the new "Art Is Resistance" Year Zero T's (very cool).
Doors opened at 8, got some drinks and the T while waiting for the support band which came on at 9 (and sounded like an industrial drug fucked poor man's John Lennon) and cleared off within the half hour, then waiting til 10 for NIN.
Trent eventually came on, still pretty beefy but hadn't bothered to shave in quite a while.
What a way to open a concert though. Somewhat Damaged and You Know What You Are? are songs to get people in the mood for fighting. Or wrist cutting.
I was totally stoked that they played Sin and Ruiner, and found it neat they managed to fit in 5 songs from the new album (though I was hanging for Vessel), though the new material didn't always fit in with the older catelogue. The concert the night after they included Hyperpower! from YZ in the line up, No You Don't from the Fragile and Dead Souls (!!!) from the Crow Soundtrack.

Anyway, what made the night extra memorable was the DRAMA.

First: Computer rig malfunction on Me, I'm Not.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XdS50e8iqQ

Me, I'm Not and also The Good Soldier are songs they only just recently added to their shows sinc ethey got into Australia, and I think before this they had only managed to play Me, I'm Not about twice or so, heh.

Second: Only, the broken guitar remix.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOtCjBr0Iuw

At least the song ended up getting played in the end. But all the technical screw ups would be cheezing Trent a bit...

Third: Hurt heckling
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnX_UPfoy-s

Yup, some drunk idiot was actually calling out stuff to Trent during Hurt, and Trent actually stopped right in the middle of the song to address the guy. Obviously pissed off, TR goes straight into The Hand That Feeds and that was the end of the concert, not bothering to play the last song on the set list which he's been playing to cap off every show of the tour thus far, Head Like a Hole.

Overall, a great night and the band played well - Aaron North was doing some crazy guitar fu and Trent sounded pretty well for a guy with a bad throat, but in the end where was just a bit of a sour taste left in the mouth due to what happened at the end. But in the end that just makes it a little bit more memorable I think. :)

Alot of the other songs played on the nights down here in Melb can be found on YouTube pretty easily.

Also, an interesting interview with Trent here by one of our main newspapers, where Trent rails his own record company for being rip-off artists. There was also another in a different paper which panned him a little bit for losing his cool on the first Melbourne gig.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21741980-2902,00.html?from=public_rss

Well it's just over halfway through the MICF and the show I am somewhat affiliated with, Insert Name Here (The Prequel Sequel) is going strong. I've been to about 4 of the shows so far and there's an awesome line up of genuinely hilarious and hilariously bad short films to see in the line-up, plus some winners from last year (such as the ever loved "Kung Fu Kitties"), with Jaymie at the front of it all as this years workhorse, and doing pretty well for it.

The show runs at 6 pm on Sundays and Wednesdays at Bar Open, 317 Brunswick street (which is a few doors up from the cnr of Johnston and Brunswick street).

Also, for those city bound tomorrow, be at the Melbourne Town Hall (Crn of Collins and Swanston Street) at 4pm to see INH show host and comedian Jaymie Wilson plus fellow comedian Dead Eizenburg (plus countless others) ransack the area in zombie makeup and garb. It'll definitely be something to see.
I'll be there snapping pictures for sure.

Just waiting for some reviews for the show - if they're anything like last years, that'll be great.

Speaking of great shows, I saw Zack Adam's Elevator (uplate!) on Wednesday night with a lady friend and it was pretty damn funny. I met him last year at the Adelaide Fringe and caught his show at last years MICF and it was pretty good, so it was a no brainer to check out his new one this year. It was a fun show with a theatric bent that really held the attention of the audience in an involving way - not by actual participation but maybe it was something to do with the cosy atmosphere of the venue, or the fact that Zack (or Shane, I should say) performed as if he was actually speaking to the members of the audience, rather than just a sea of faces. 
He's got another show at Pony on the 25th I think so anybody in the vicinity of Melbourne should check it out. I even got a free badge. You won't though. But it's cute.

His myspace: http://www.myspace.com/zackadamselevator  

Unrelated stuff: I bought the new NIN album today (Year Zero), may do a little thing about it later. I heard alot of it off their own website, but I have a thing about actually getting to own the albums - having the packaging and CD in your hot little hands. Will definitely give it a work out very soon.

After missing out on Muse TWICE in 2004, I finally got to see them last week at Festival Hall. About damn time if you ask me. I've been following the band since 2000 I think, since I heard their first single released here (Muscle Museum) and went on to get their first album - so it's been a long time coming.

All I can say is that this is a band that is made to be seen live. There's a bit of theatrics to the show - videos and animations shown on curtainy type screens, strobe lights that flash in sync with well timed drum beats, a piano with a LED display, giant inflated balls released into the crowd and smoke machines out the wazoo - but the most impressive part of seeing them live is to hear and see them play. There's some bands out there that can not even come close to matching the musical quality of how they sound on an album (a testiment that some bands are either too overproduced for their own good or that their shortcomings are just masked too well in the studio),  but Muse actually matched and went above anything you'd hear on a CD player.

Alot of the songs were from the new album - Super Massive Blackhole had some newbies dancing while Knights of Cydonia was reserved for the climatic last encore, and tracks like Hysteria and Time Is Running Out which came from their previous (some would say mainstream breakthrough) album got some of the loudest cheers, though some older gems like Sunburn (from the first album Showbiz), Plug-in Baby and Citzen Erased had some of the hardcore fans down in the pit bouncing and cheering appreciatively.

Personal highlights was getting to hear Map of the Problematique live, and the rush of recognising the intro riff of Stockholm Syndrome. I'm a little bit sad I didn't get to hear Muscle Museum or Hyper Music live, but for a hour and a half concert they coverered alot of their hits and fan favorites, so I can't complain at all.

The play list was as follows...

Take A Bow
Hysteria
Supermassive Black Hole
Butterflies And Hurricanes
Map Of The Problematique
City Of Delusion
Citizen Erased
Sunburn
Apocalypse Please
Invincible
Time Is Running Out
Plug In Baby

Soldier's Poem
Starlight
Stockholm Syndrome

Knights Of Cydonia

A great image was Matt being spotlighted inbetween songs, as he ran to the opposite side of the stage (the side I was on), right up on the edge near the speakers and starter playing the opening riff of Plug In Baby with a wide grin on his face. Too cool.

I might edit some pics in, if any that I sneakily snapped turn out.
Anyway, it was awesome. The end!

I'm kinda behind when it comes to movies that have come out in the last year or so, and I actually somehow havn't seen a fair few flicks in my life that by popular opinion, I should have. Example: I havn't seen any of the Godfather movies. I havn't seen Scarface or E.T., and I definitely havn't seen Titantic... but that was actually by my choice, I have to admit. ;]

So! I'm making myself a list of movies which I either havn't seen, or saw so long ago that I can't remember them, and from this list I'll try and go hire them all out to watch. I'll update this list as I add to it, and knock off the ones I eventually watch.

To watch:
Garage Days
Pi
Buckaroo Banzai
Time Bandits
The Godfather trilogy
Scarface
Heat
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1 + 2 (rewatch)
E.T.
The Professional (rewatch)
Cronos/Chronos
Four Rooms
Any Rocky movie?
Dr. Strangelove
Crash (the one with people wanting to bonk each other in accident wrecks)
Joy Luck Club (I guess...)
Lilo and Stitch
The Highlander (rewatch)
Wall Street
Robocop
Flash Gordon (rewatch)
Child's Play series
Rob Roy
Silence of the Lambs (rewatch)
Gangs of New York
The Last Samurai
Animal House
Orgazmo (rewatch)
Sideways
House of flying daggers
The Jacket
Big Fish
Labyrinth (rewatch)
The Dark Crystal (rewatch)
Interview with a Vampire
Fear and loathing in Las Vegas
Bad Santa
Oldboy
American Werewolf in London
Creepshow
The Hitcher (original)
Fast times at Ridgemont High
The Amityville Horror
House of Wax (remake)
They
Repo Man
Near Dark
The Dead Zone
Stay Alive
Dirty Deeds
A Life Less Ordainary (rewatch)
Young Frankenstein
The Fly
District B13
They Live
I *heart* Huckabees
Slackers
SLC Punk!
Reality Bites
The Benchwarmers
The Ringer
Freddy Got Fongered
The Adventures of Braon Munchausen
Brazil
The Last Kiss
Videodrome
Heavy Metal
Stick It
Primer
Mad Max I, II, Beyond Thunderdome
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure + Bogus Journey (rewatch)
Time After Time
A boy and his dog
Dreamscape



Recently watched (which were on the "to watch" list):
Cry Wolf
The Faculty (rewatch)
You, Me and Dupree
Hard Candy
Pulse
The Corpse Bride
Bachelor Party
Bram Stoker's Dracula
Little Shop of Horrors
Thank You For Smoking
Grave of the Fireflies
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
Blue Velvet
Dune
The City of Lost Children (rewatch)
The Devil's Backbone
Tank Girl
Johnny Pneumonic
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (remake)
Waiting...
The Running Man
Legend
Mirrormask
Snakes on a plane
Proof
Nacho Libre
Angel Heart
Jacob's Ladder
Munich
North Country
Borat
Chicken Little
Stay
Punch Drunk Love
Brick
Escape from L.A. (rewatch)
Battle Royale
A Very Long Engagement
Wallace & Grommit: Curse of the wererabbit
Pan's Labyrinth
The Departed
High Fidelity (rewatch)

Have already watched (your suggestions):
Boondock Saints
Princess Bride
Any Monty Python
The Prestige
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The Shawshank Redemption
The Machinist
Howl's Moving Castle
Ghost in the Shell
Ninja Scroll

Kelly - "shoes"

This is so hilariously screwed up, I can't stop watching it. I wouldn't be surprised if in the coming weeks the 'net will be littered with "I'm gonna betchslap ya, shetbag!".

Anyway, watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMF2Eb0Wa_I

Or on "Kelly"s myspace: http://www.myspace.com/kellylikesshoes 

It's 5 minutes until it hits the 6th of the 6th, 06.
If I see the apocalypse coming, I'll give you guys on the other side of the world a heads up, ok? Or will that happen at 6:06 am on the 6th second?

I hope we don't die. There's so many things left unsaid. My life didn't have enough threesomes, car chases, or talking animal sidekicks.

Well, the Insert Name Here show finished up last night, with a smaller and quieter crowd compared to the other nights. It was a "best of" from the shorts shown from the other 3 nights, though I don't think the lineup was structured too well. It was lacking some of the comedic elements that the other line-ups had. Even the normally crow pleasing Kung Fu Kitties seemed to have lost it's punch this night. Not sure if it was the weather, or that it was the final night of the Comedy Festival, or that maybe it was all in my head and just that I was tired.

"Zack Adams" turned up to the show at least, which was nice of him. I saw his show the night before, the final one, which was hilarious and a great effort by what's basically a one man team. It wasn't a stand up act, but more of a comedic theatre performance with stand up elements weaved in, but it also had heart to it too.

So, it's all over now for this festival. What's next? Who knows... we're onto something here it seems, maybe. Just depends on where to take it.
I'm kinda dissapointed that some people I know that I invited to come see it never did. I mean, it's kinda a big thing really, and the fact that they couldn't come and be supportive makes me wonder.

Anyway, after the show, went out with Jaymie (the main INH conceptualist) and some other friend for drinks and eats. Got some pizza, played some pool, did shots and drank beer - I think J did a shot of everything behind the counter, hilarious. Then we played drunken Daytona (which I won). Friend left, so J and I went back into the city. Tried to get into the Hi-Fi bar, cause the official MICF closing party was on at 11pm, but we were about half an hour too early. So we were hanging out the front of the Melbourne Town Hall where I spotted Marcus Jones, Hoodwinked host (which J was a part of and which I saw down at the Adelaide Fringe Festival), so went and said hi to him. We then all went to the bar in the town hall... forgot what it's called, but we ran into and saw alot of other comedians there, including some bigger names like Dave Callahan, one of the Umbilical Brothers, Gatesy from Tripod. I ended up being camera bitch alot, taking pics for Marcus and J, though I got 1 or 2 for myself. Being so tired, and knowing J and his friends would be out til 4-5 in the morning, I departed from there with the intent of getting much needed sleep.

Next year I shouldn't have so much on my plate at the same time as all of this, and hopefully can unwind and soak it all up a bit more. But it's been fun! I was a part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2006.

Well, the final Insert Name Here show (of which I've been a part of) for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival is on this Sunday, the 7th. So if you're in Melbourne, have $10 to blow and want to get hugged alot for actually showing up, check out the details at http://www.insertnamehere.com.au/ .

Speaking of, another positive review! Needless to say, we're all pretty astounded, har har.

http://www.thegroggysquirrel.com/issues/26/article/Insert+Name+Here

But seriously, some of the stuff that's been shown throughout the shows have been pretty hilarious. After it's over, we're going to maybe put some stuff up on an official site so that those of you not blessed to be Australian can check it all out.