Trent Reznor is a rock god.

Even though it’s been long time since the height of their rock and roll stardom, Nine Inch Nails is still worth listening to. Nothing has changed, they just looked older but the music is still the same. Industrial rock at its finest.

Weeks before the concert, I prepped up by listening to some NIN songs. If you’re following me in Twitter, you’ll notice I blip NIN songs .

I was there with my girlfriend Karla at the patron area of the Araneta Coliseum waiting for the show to start. The whole Araneta Coliseum was like a convention of Pinoy rock artists and enthusiasts. It’s like Saguijo but it’s much bigger. Lots of familiar faces from the band scene were there. I can’t help but see them because we’re at the patron area and they’re just right in front of us (VIP area).

(Ely Buendia of Pupil)

Anyway, we went inside Araneta Coliseum at around 7:00 pm and it’s still half full. The front act, Pupil, started to perform around 7:30 pm. Pupil performed “Different Worlds” as their first song. Then they played “Matador”, “Animal Lover”, “Disconnection Notice”, “Set me Apart” and “Here I Go Again” (not in order). They’re supposed to do only 5 songs but they had to do one more song; probably NIN hasn’t arrived in Araneta Coliseum yet due to heavy traffic. (it was Cory Aquino’s Funeral Procession). By the way, they have a guest keyboardist who performed with them. She’s Amanda Ling, the ex-keyboardist of the Singapore-based Indie Band, Electrico.

(Yan Yuzon of Pupil with Amanda Ling)

The VIP area has the most number of people then the patron area’s next. Actually, the patron area ticket holders can have access in the VIP area because there’s no barricade. We can freely walk. Anyway, I didn’t bother going there anymore because I’m already comfortable in my area. In fact, it’s much easier to jump and slamdance in the patron area compared to the VIP because it’s much spacious.

After more than 45 minutes of waiting, Nine Inch Nails finally set foot onstage and immediately started to perform. Everybody stood up when they performed their first song and never sat down all throughout the show.

Hearing them perform live is really magical. They sound exactly how they sounded in their albums. For me, this is the best live performance I have ever seen in my entire life. NIN was filled with so much energy that they did not even rest in between songs. There wasn’t much talking on the part of Trent Reznor. I think he only spoke after performing 4 songs.

It’s good that digicams were allowed so Karla was able to take some videos. We would have to upload it (when we have the time) and i’ll update this blogpost soon.

Again, thanks to Splintr.com for the complimentary patron ticket. You guys rock and congratulations!

Here is the set list that Nine Inch Nails performed for their Wave Goodbye Tour in Manila:

1. Somewhat Damaged
2. Terrible Lie
3. Heresy
4. March of the Pigs
5. Piggy
6. Closer!
7. Neptile
8. The becoming
9. I’m Afraid of Americans
10. Burn
11. Gave Up
12. La mer
13. The Fragile
14. Non Entity
15. Gone, Still
16. Downward Spiral
17. Wish
18. Survivalism
19. Mr. Self Destruct
20. Echoplex
21. The Day the World Went Away
22. Dead Souls!
23. Hand that Feeds
24. Head Like a Hole
25. Hurt (best performance!)

(from Splintr.com)

Nine Inch Nails will be performing here in Manila on August 5, 2009 at the Araneta Coliseum. The organizer, Splintr.com, announced that Pupil will be the local opening act for the band. Pupil was personally chosen by Nine Inch Nails. Wow, isn’t this awesome? I hope that I can watch the gig (crossing fingers).

Tickets are now available through Ticketnet.

You may view the Inquirer article about this news here.