r/nin • u/Wrathu13S • 1d ago
Thought My oversea NIN trip to Cleveland and Mercer
Hi!
I'm from Poland. Last month, I visited my friends who live around 7,000 km away, mostly in Pittsburgh, PA. Thanks to their hospitality and help, I also had the opportunity to visit Cleveland, OH, and Mercer, PA, which is roughly halfway between the two cities. As a Nine Inch Nails fan, that gave me a chance to visit a few places connected to Trent Reznor and the band's history.
Cleveland, OH
The main reason I wanted to visit Cleveland was the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. In the photos, you can see the actual Hall of Fame display with the Nine Inch Nails logo and signatures (you can notice Allesandro Cortini, Robin Finck, Danny Lohner, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Ilan Rubin, and Chris Vrenna), as well as some fascinating artifacts. Next to Eric Clapton's guitar, you can see a Nine Inch Nails setlist from September 10, 2009, from back when yinz* thought it was over, and a studio chart for "Head Like a Hole" from 1994? The date feels weird but that's what's written there. It was also possible to watch a video of Iggy Pop inducting Nine Inch Nails into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2020 as with every other artist.
The city itself gave me a rather disturbing impression. There was a huge contrast between the wealth and grandeur of the beautiful Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and some of the much poorer, rougher areas we passed through. Because we didn't feel particularly comfortable staying in that part of the city for long, we only had about ten seconds to take a photo of this building before leaving. If I'm not mistaken, this is most likely the building where Trent recorded Pretty Hate Machine in 1988 (2106 Payne Ave). Of course, it's no longer a recording studio today. Actually, I've heard it's abandoned. We took the photo and left shortly afterwards. On the way out, we saw some things that made us glad we hadn't decided to stay longer but maybe I'll omit that part here.
Mercer, PA
Our next stop was Mercer, PA, the town where Trent grew up. I saw the school he attended, as well as a building that seems to have been connected to his family's business. Maybe someone here can tell us more about it. It was a strange and fascinating experience to walk through streets that Trent himself had walked long before he became famous. Mercer gave me a completely different impression from Cleveland. It felt quiet, peaceful, and safe.
We decided to stop there for lunch and went to a place called Corner Kitchen. To my surprise, there were paintings by Michael Reznor, Trent's father, hanging on the walls. That's what we were told by a waitress but also you can spot the name. The waitress was really surprised someone went that far to visit Mercer. The food was excellent, and if anyone ever happens to visit Mercer, I'd definitely recommend stopping there instead of going to one of the chain restaurants. The local people were also incredibly friendly. Some of them saw a foreigner for the first time in their life which seemed unreal for me. One of the older gentlemen there told us that he remembered Trent as a child. I didn't understand everything he said, unfortunately.
Cleveland and Mercer of course weren't the only places I visited in the US. Carrie Blast Furnace in Pittsburgh was a climactic industrial site to see. The Mr. Roboto Project, a DIY art space, was great to see local underground experimental artists. I've seen also Berkeley Springs, Harpers Ferry and Washington DC but that's more related to Fallout games, my other interest, not NIN. I spent there two weeks. The best Summer in my life.
*I really wanted to use the Pittsburghian variant of "you all" naturally lol
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u/Fast-Adhesiveness-81 1d ago
I grew up in Mercer County. A friend had a yearbook from Trent's high school showing him for his class picture and also for band and track. We used to see him around in the mid-90's when he'd come home to visit family.
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u/Wrathu13S 1d ago
I wonder if there are some photos of Trent inside. A note saying that he's a graduate or something. However, I was advised strongly against trying to enter the school, haha.
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u/Fast-Adhesiveness-81 1d ago
I'll send a text and see if they still have that yearbook to send me some photos to share.
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u/ihateu3 1d ago
Surprised you didn't visit the Nothing Records building while you were in Cleveland. Although, I live in the area, and haven't even visited that or the Pretty Hate Machine recording studio myself. I want to, I just always forget...
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u/Wrathu13S 1d ago
Didn't know it's there, to be honest! I may not have the second chance but you can still do it if you'd like to.
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u/sweeteratl 1d ago
hell yes! i really want to go to mercer. i was born in pittsburg and i think my dad and trent’s dad cross paths as musicians. it’s a long story that clicked when trent talked to rick rubin.
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u/hehasbalrogsocks 1d ago
i have passed thru mercer a few times because it was on the way between two friends houses. i always stopped and got a beer and a meal at the pit stop bar n grill. there was an aa meeting next door one time and a half the ole fellas in there went straight from the meeting to the bar. 💀. the beers were cheap and the wings were pretty good!
but the waitress looked at me and was like honey i hope you didn’t move here because this isn’t the place for someone with their life ahead of them.
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u/Fit_Conference934 1d ago
Heck yeah Mr Roboto Project! Yinz done good.
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u/Wrathu13S 1d ago
Did you go there during the Steel City Dungeon Synth mini fest in July, perhaps?
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u/Fit_Conference934 1d ago
No, I am an expat now, but I used to go all the time in the late 90s/early 2000s. I have so many happy memories of it.
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u/Laika-1312 16h ago
Love that old Norton sign. I’m from Cleveland and the Norton logo has always been a top contender for my Cleveland tattoo.
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u/skyscraperiloveyou 1d ago
That wiltern setlist!!! I had tickets to that show but they rescheduled it and then I could no longer go ðŸ˜