238
edits
Changes
no edit summary
We pulled up to an abandoned warehouse; there were random people standing on the roof and around the entrance. We were led inside; there were more people inside, and AIR flags hanging from the roof. The people inside all had neat black shirts with white AIR flags on them. There also was a mural with the angel, the guy with the face mask, and the robot with a skull inside from the mural in London with "Art is Resistance" written on the bottom. There was a camera when we first walked in and then another one inside. Neil Czerno gave a talk about how we should give a shit and change the world. I was rather cynical about his talk at first, but he redeemed himself by noting that we shouldn't just blindly accept what he was saying and that we should change the world in small ways. He also told us that we were stupid for allowing them to herd us like cattle onto a bus to who knows where with no form of communication (and for carrying around cellphones like tracking devices) and that we'd be dead if they were really after us. After his talk, we were led over the river and through the woods (the warehouse complex was rather large). We were stopped briefly before we entered a room with many lights and lots of equipment.
The opening notes of TBOTE began playing, and I was 3 feet away from Jeordie White on the far end of the line (and 10ft away from Trent Reznor, that's the closest that I'll ever get to NIN). There were about 50 people there, so it was a very small, intimate show. They then played Survivalism, Last, MOTP, WITT, and then The Frail. I'd honestly thought that I was going to have to wait six months or more to hear TBOTE, Survivalism, Last, and WITT live. There were people there filming the show with cameras, and Rob was taking shots of the band. There was a large AIR flag painted on the wall behind the band. I knew that something was going to happen because you could see flashing lights outside during The Frail. Policemen in riot gear (they looked like carbon copies of the ones in the Survivalism video) entered the building. They also had quite a few devices like firecrackers that made noises that sounded like gun shots and that sparked; I got a very good look at them because I was near the door that they used to enter. The resistance personnel pushed us out of the rooms after the cops entered. There seemed to be a few people detained, but I'm not quite sure how they were chosen, because the six people were all cell phone people with their guests. I should have known that something was going to happen after I saw the 20 song set list that included The Perfect Drug. We were herded back on the bus after a run through the complex and driven back to our cars.
The people on the bus told us to be on the lookout for more graffiti, murals, and ads, and that they'd be in touch with the people with the cellphones."