On a Monday evening a couple weeks back, I was driving into Seoul with my wife, late for an appointment. The daily 6-8PM foreign music show was on the radio, and out of the clear blue, a Nine Inch Nails snippet came on and the host jumped into a ‘name that tune’ contest, the prize for which would be tickets to NIN’s first-ever Korean concert on 9/11.

Stunned by the sudden megaton — I hadn’t even heard about the show, and a good act from the West coming to Korea is almost unheard of, let alone one of the greatest in the world — I hesitated and fumbled around for my phone, only to realize that I hadn’t listened to the number. Neither had my wife. Talk about frustration.

Long story short, figuring that the show was sold out and that the contest would have been my last chance, I listened in defeat as four Korean callers hit the jackpot. Total bummer. A few days later, however, I received a most surreal email. From the NIN camp.

In a nutshell, it turns out that among their ranks is a daily reader of 4cr, and he’d noticed that not only do I live in Korea, but I also happen to be a major fan, and he was cool enough to invite me to the show. Suffice to say, I was elated. Like, to the Tingle degree.

They had some time before the show, and as they were interested in seeing the ‘real’ Seoul (in contrast to the touristy stuff), we hooked up and checked out some cool places, the first of which — Kyungdong Shijang, a massive outdoor meat/traditional medicine market that sells everything from live frogs to fungus big as yo’ head — ended up being quite unforgettable. Definitely a place to check out if you ever come to Seoul.

During the course of the day, much of the talk focused on games — the industry’s problems, once-fruitful genres gone stale, Excite Truck vs. MotorStorm, Bad Game Addiction (I call it BGA for short) in the form of Earth Defense Force 2017, and more. I’d always associated NIN with gaming, but I never knew just what a serious, dedicated bunch they are. Good stuff.

Okay, on to the concert. At the last minute, everyone who was supposed to go with me bailed, including backups — sick, stuck at work, fell in the toilet, princesses to save, enemies to smite, you name it. So I ended up going alone. Which I actually don’t mind, as I find I can focus more intently on a show itself when it’s just me.

Some background: I’m not what you might call the ‘common’ fan. Though I’d known NIN’s music since The Downward Spiral, it wasn’t until quite a few years later, spurred on by David Bowie’s Earthling and David Lynch’s Lost Highway — both of which I was a bit late in discovering — that I sought out Trent Reznor’s body of work in-depth and came to develop a real appreciation for his one-of-a-kind genius.

I’ve never witnessed anyone on earth who can channel raw human emotion into word and sound as genuinely and intensely as Reznor, and that, above all else, is why I find his music so utterly captivating. It’s like an unflinching dissection of the human heart.

Having never been to a NIN concert before, I was highly anxious to see how this would play out live, and in the end, I was absolutely and completely blown away. It didn’t simply meet my expectations; it exceeded them exponentially. Three days later, I’m still reeling.

Along with a super-hardcore entourage of Japanese fans who appeared to be following the tour all over the world, I was one of the first in when the doors opened. Said Japanese fans sprinted to the very front at rocket speed, and my casual walk found me right behind them, flanked mostly by Korean twenty-somethings and a few GIs.

The wait had become extremely tense once we passed the thirty-minute mark — Korean fans had waited an eternity to see NIN live, after all — and then, without warning, the arena went dark, the stage billowed forth steam, lights started flashing, and we were blasted with 1.21 GIGAWATTS of raw power. I think my teeth shook.

I’ve been to a lot of loud, awesome concerts over the years, but nothing I’ve ever experienced could in any way compare to NIN’s show, both in musical and audiovisual terms. It was brilliant. The only problem was that the intensity of the moshing up front was such that I couldn’t focus on the performance, so over the course of a few minutes I managed to slip back just enough to really concentrate and take it all in.

I find myself at a loss in seeking to describe the show; it was just that amazing. The sheer energy and precision of Reznor and the band was beyond anything I could’ve imagined, and the crowd could feel it. [Note] This article/interview from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, though over a year old, does a much better job describing the intention and execution of the show than I can, so check it out if you’re interested.

Personal highlights from the main set for me were The Day the World Went Away (badly pictured above), Head Like a Hole (the epic closer), and a deafeningly wicked mid-set electro-tempest manned on the front line by Reznor, Jeordie White, and Aaron North.

The real high point for me, however, was the encore — a brilliantly staged, deeply touching solo rendition of Hurt with a spotlit Reznor up front on piano. Without that final piece, the concert would have been the most amazing I’ve ever experienced; with it, there’s little chance I’ll ever witness a show so incredible.

After saying my goodbyes and telling everybody how blown away I was, I walked back to the subway station, caught a rather empty latenight train, and made sure I didn’t sit near anyone. See below for the reason why.

That’s right, blood on my jeans! And not my blood! Actually, it was all over my jeans, not to mention my shoes and probably my shirt, too, but as they were both black, I was sorta safe. Apparently, someone got a nosebleed or something and bumped into me on their way out. As the subway got more crowded, people started giving me weird looks

In closing, I just wanna send out major thanks to NIN for the 4cr love, the great time, and the incredible show. I really had a blast, and I’m glad you guys dug Korea. Come back soon!