So on Saturday night I hit up the listening party at Limelight Avalon for the upcoming NIN album. Attendees who preordered the album at the party got a free 7″ containing the new single and a non-album track, so I figured I’d try to get there early, as I’d heard they’d run out of the singles at previous parties. But then it turned out to be the end of the fucking world outside - rainy and unbelievably windy. I figured it wasn’t worth it, so I didn’t get there until about 7:30, when then line was already around the corner. I met up with my friends in line. Others said they’d showed up as early as noon and had been waiting in the rain all day - I bet they felt dumb when it turned out that all of us got in and there were more than enough copies of the single to go around. (I ended up with two.)

I hadn’t been to Limelight since it became Avalon, and I was pretty sad to see what they’ve done to the place. Don’t even get me started on the Giger Room business. But I still had fun. They showed NIN videos while everyone was still coming in and getting drinks and preordering the album, and it was pretty bizarre hearing everyone singing along. Eventually they got around to playing the album, and by the second or third track I was feeling relieved. I had been wondering if it would suck, but while I’m sure it will take a few more listens before I really get a sense of it, it’s safe to say it’s suck-free.

It was 10pm by the time the album was over, and they shooed all the underagers out before playing the album a second time. A couple of the people I was with had to leave because they had movie tickets, and Al and I had been thinking of hitting up Batcave after the party, but we decided that with the weather and everything it made more sense to just call it a night. So I picked up some Grolsch to celebrate the fact that the album didn’t suck, and headed home to drink it with Chris.