The Day The World Went Away*

The email said I should be there no later than 1:15 pm. I took off of work with a group of friends at 12:30 pm, being fully aware that we might run into traffic on the freeway and completely cognizant of the fact that we had to stop for beer. 12:55 pm, we exit the beer store, load up the trunk of my car and head to the venue. I do 85 in a 55 zone, thankfully I'm sober as a stone.

We parked at 1:12 pm and I ran toward the ticket counter to pick up my passes. The formalites were completed in 2 minutes and I was handed my special pass at 1:14 pm. With a minute left to spare, I heaved a huge sigh of relief only to be disappointed when I asked "Is Trent here?". The woman at the counter said "He's running behind by an hour".

So, the next best thing to do when you are just waiting is to pop open beer. We head back to my car, pop the trunk open, play some NIN on the stereo and I sit on the trunk, lean back on the rear glass, drink my beer and just wait for the smoke signal from the event organizers.

An hour passes by and we get the call. And then there was Trent Reznor dressed in a black t-shirt with sunglasses, jeans and black leather shoes. We were only allowed to get one article signed by him and the other band members. I knew I wanted his signature on my CD and I didn't care too much about other band members because he rotates them every year. The five of them were seated in a row with Trent in the middle. I walk up to Justin and hand him my ticket to sign, I pass my ticket along to Robin and then when I get to Trent, in a swift move, I put the ticket back into my jean pocket and hand him my CD.

Me: Hey Trent, I am V. I'm the biggest Indian fan you'll ever meet. (Racist, I agree but I just thought of it on whim.)
Trent: (laughs out loud). Hi V.
Me: Can you sign this CD for me? Can you also say "Right Where It Belongs". (One of the songs.)
Trent: Sure. (scribbles on the CD cover.)
Me: Thank you. I really appreciate it. I hope this is not the end.
Trent: Nah, I've got something else planned. I'll be back.
Me: (smile while I'm still rubbing my eyes in disbelief and walk away.)

I walk to the remaining two band members, hand them my ticket to sign on and wait on the side for a picture with the band. When they are ready for it, Trent shakes my hand again and asks "How are the other Indian fans doing?". I should have said "Good". I should have just smiled. But god knows what happens to me when I'm nervous and I blurted "I'm the only Indian fan you got. Deal with it". He smiled and I felt like an idiot. After the picture, I asked him very politely "Hey Trent, can you please play Terrible Lie?". He says "Oh, we have played that way too often. It's not on the set list anymore". I say "Yeah, I realized it when you didn't play it in Florida". He sports a half-smile and says "Sorry, see you later".

I among many others were invited to watch the whole show on stage and the third song of the concert was "Terrible Lie". I almost screamed "You are a terrible liar".

This was probably the best experience I've ever had when it comes to music. I would have felt the same way if I met James Hetfield, Dave Mustaine, Ozzy Osbourne, David Gilmour, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Roger Waters, Janis Joplin... the list seems endless.

*On a title block so I picked another one of their songs.