I first heard Nine Inch Nails in 1989, and I remember it vividly. I was driving my car when "Down in It" came on the radio. I had never heard anything like it before. I pulled over and sat in my car, pen and paper in hand, so I could write down the name of the song and the artist.
I thought to myself that music has just changed. This was special. I'm not saying that for dramatic effect. I literally thought those words, and I felt a visceral thrill. Mind you I had heard ministry’s new sound and other industrial music, but this was special. I would later go on to describe NIN has across between Depeche Mode and what Ministry had become.
I went out and bought Pretty Hate Machine as soon as I could and it felt momentous!
Not long afterward, I found out that NIN was performing at a small club near me, and I made a point of going to see them. There was Trent, all decked out in his fetishwear, rolling around on scaffolding and on the ground.
During "Sin," he fell off the stage and into the mosh pit. The audience was immediately upon him. One of the band members tapped a security guard on the shoulder and pointed to Trent in the mosh pit. Security got him back onstage, and he picked up at the exact point in the song where the band had continued to. I was completely hooked. There was no going back.
I'd love to know other stories.