When Nine Inch Nails plays at the Fair Park Coliseum on Saturday, it will be the band's third show in Dallas in less than a year. It is also the third time in less than a year that tickets have sold out the day they went on sale.

The mainstream press (excepting a few music magazines and, of course, this newspaper) may have discovered NIN leader Trent Reznor at Woodstock when he ascended to the throne over a mud-caked nation. But rock's newest hero built his career and his fandom the old-fashioned way: He has toured relentlessly, putting on the kinds of shows that people were still buzzing about weeks (months, whatever) later.

Dallas has always been a hot spot for Mr. Reznor and company to play, and since Nine Inch Nails has hit _People_-magazine-popularity, the spectacle has only intensified. A clash of audiences -- first-time scene-hoppers, hard-core faithful, radio listeners, mosh jocks -- pile on top of each other. Get there early, as the crowd is its own show before the show. Surfers ride the floor's sea of heads and are flung high as those packed into stands cheer them on.

And at some point the coliseum will darken, the stage will burst with noise and light, and the rest of the world will disappear.

By Tom Maurstad

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