Hi,
> I tried ngx_lua but I might've been doing something wrong. It
> complained that I am not allowed to use "proxy_pass" following a
> content rewrite.
you should read the documentatrion carefully:
http://wiki.nginx.org/HttpLuaModule#content_by_lua
"Do not use this directive and other content handler directives in the same location.
For example, this directive and the proxy_pass directive should not be used in the same location."
what you can do is use the access_by_lua or rewrite_by_lua - directive
cheers,
mex