Trent Reznor wants us to help Eric!

I'll repost it in his own words because I can't say it better.

A Letter from Trent: 

This is for something important. Eric De La Cruz is dying and needs a heart transplant. He keeps getting turned down for a transplant list because he's on Nevada Medicaid, and there are no transplant centers in Nevada. We want to get involved and hopefully so do you, so we're extending a hand. His sister Veronica (former Anchor and Internet Correspondent for CNN) has started a campaign to save his life. 

Eric's situation shines a bright light on a broken health care system, and his particular set of problems are being addressed on the political front, aiming for reform in addition to the need for immediate financial help to keep him alive TODAY. I think we can help with the latter. 

Here's what we're offering - three options: 

If you have a ticket to a NIN/JA show: if you donate $1,000 to this cause, we'll invite you to come hang out with us before the NIN/JA show of your choice. You and a guest can watch NIN and Street Sweeper Social Club's soundchecks, eat dinner backstage with us, take pics / get autographs and watch the show from the side of the stage if you'd like. 

If you donate $300, you and a friend can join us for NIN and SSSC's soundchecks and a handshaking / hug session before doors open at the NIN/JA show of your choice. 

If you do NOT have a ticket to a NIN/JA show: if you donate $1,200 to this cause, we'll invite you to come hang out with us before the NIN/ JA show of your choice and provide 2 tickets (best available). You and a guest can watch soundcheck, eat dinner backstage with us, take pics / get autographs and watch the show from the side of the stage if you'd like. 

100% of the money collected from this will go directly to Eric's fund. 

I hope you'll consider helping out with this. 

Sincerely, Trent Reznor 

If you are a NIN fan or just would like to help someone in need, please go here and make a donation. There you will find all the NIN options, an option to simply donate $10, and links to more information about Eric. I hope you find it in your heart to help out.

OMG OMG OMG

The trip to Vegas was nothing short of EPIC! We ended up staying at the Palazzo and now I don't think I could imagine staying anywhere else. We were so spoiled! We saw Cirque du Soleil O and loved it. Next time I want to go see KÀ. They were actually our first choice but were on vacatio while we were there. One of the things Chris wanted to do while we were there was to collect as many different $1 chips as we could from the casinos. After A LOT of walking, we managed to collect quite a few!


That Sunday was Trent Reznor's 44th birthday so a bunch of NIN fans got together to have a birthday party at Hofbräuhaus in his honor. For me, the best part of the night was finally meeting so many NINies that I had gotten to know through Twitter. Mad love to my Twitter Bitches! In case you're wondering, Trent wasn't there, but we still had a great time. I'll put some video of the festivities up when I get it cleaned up (meaning: making sure I don't look too stupid).

The NIN/JA concert was amazing! I bought presale tickets through Jane's, so we got into the venue before the general public. If we'd had general admission, we could certainly have gotten a place on the security rail, but I was perfectly happy to have my 2nd row seats. The tickets were souvenir quality and they didn't even tear them at the venue. Seriously, they were pretty fancy!


For some reason Street Sweeper Social Club didn't open the show, so Nine Inch Nails went on first. Of course, it wouldn't be a NIN concert unless something went wrong, so this time it was the smoke machines setting the fire alarms off in the venue. Luckily, it didn't cause too much of a delay and Trent, Robin, Justin and Ilan put on quite a show! The set list was probably one only a devoted fan would fully appreciate but NIN is so amazing live that even casual fans loved it...

01. Somewhat Damaged
02. Terrible Lie
03. Heresy
04. March Of The Pigs
05. The Frail
06. Piggy
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 (You're So)
17. The Hand That Feeds
18. Head Like A Hole
19. Hurt

Closing the show was Jane's Addiction and they did not disappoint! Perry Farrell is an amazing showman. His commentary was entertaining and he was energetic and animated, despite his recent leg injury. I never thought of him as particularly attractive but he looked damn good that night! Of course, the highlight of any Jane's show is Dave Navarro (shirtless Dave, as we so affectionately call him). Not only is he incredibly good looking, but he is also an amazingly talented guitar player.


The Jane's set list was as follows:

Three Days
Whores
Ain't No Right
Pigs in Zen
Then She Did...
Mountain Song
Had a Dad
Been Caught Stealing
Ted, Just Admit it...
Ocean Size
Summertime Rolls
Stop!
Jane Says

You didn't have to be a Jane's Addiction fan to appreciate what an amazing performance it was. People who had attended shows earlier in the tour said that it was their best yet. I believe it! The only negative about this concert was that it made me really want to go to another concert locally!

Chris took a ton of pictures at the concert which can be found here. He got some really amazing shots like the one below. We also have a ton of video footage that I'm working on making into something viewable. I couldn't believe that Trent fought with the venues to relax the camera/video policy. He really loves his fans and wanted us to take home memories of what could be the last NIN tour EVER. Thanks, Trent, we love you!

There really are no words for how happy I am with my whole Vegas experience. You can be sure that we will be planning another trip out there. In the meantime, I'll be looking for decent tickets to see NIN/JA in Maryland. If I an come up with $1200, I might donate to Trent's Help Out and Hang Out campaign to help Eric De La Cruz get a heart transplant. It's a lot of money, but it would be worth it. I'll probably make another post about this specifically later.

Getting ready for Vegas!

I'm still pinching myself, because I'm having a hard time believing that I'm getting on a plane to Las Vegas on Friday. Two months ago, I didn't think this trip was anything more than a a great idea. We weren't even planning a vacation, let alone an amazing one like this. Here's how it happened...

I was determined to see Nine Inch Nails one more time, since this is their last tour. When I found out that they were touring with a newly reunited Jane's Addiction (NIN/JA Tour 2009!), I was even more determined to attend at least one show. After looking at the list of tour dates and venues, it was obvious that the Las Vegas show was the "dream" show. I was pretty settled on going to see them in Maryland, since I knew at least one other person already planning to go to that one and it was probably the closest to us anyway.

Chris was the one who threw the idea of going to see NIN in Vegas. I thought he was kidding, but after talking about it a bit, it sounded more and more of a real possibility, BUT the logistics had to be worked out. There was no way we were going to bring the whole family, so we had to convince our moms to come down from Jersey to watch the kids. Somehow, they agreed. The next step was actually getting tickets to the show. This was the part that stressed me the most. Even though the venue is small, I obviously wanted to get the best seats possible. I was able to get 2nd row seats (blue dots, below) through the Jane's Addiction presale. 

We've also planned to do a few other things while we're there. So far, we're planning to go see to see Cirque du Soleil O, and to attend a NIN fan get together in honor of Trent Reznor's birthday. Of course, I'm sure we'll do some gambling and laying out by the pool. The most important part of this vacation is relaxing! So, from Friday, May 15th until Tuesday, May 19th, I plan to enjoy myself A LOT. Whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas... except for maybe some pictures and videos from our adventures. ;)