Concert: Nine Inch Nails (6/6)

As many know, this is Nine Inch Nails’ last tour for an indefinite period of time, which adds a bit to the importance of this show, a well as the others on this tour. Technically it’s a co-headlining tour with Jane’s Addiction, but I’ll explain later why I didn’t include them in the post title. This concert was at PNC Banks Arts Center in Holmdel New Jersey. The venue was a large outdoor amphitheater, and thankfully the seats I had were not bad at all, a bit high but centered enough that it was easy to see the entire stage.

Since Patrick and I had prerelease tickets we were able to enter the venue (but not the seating area) early. Due to this, we were able to hear the Nine Inch Nails sound checks, which were a bit cool to hear, but ultimately getting in early wasn’t that big of a deal. Finally, after about an hour of waiting around the main plaza we were able to enter the amphitheater and take our seats. After about another half hour, the opening act Street Sweeper Social Club took the stage, and their show was quite entertaining. Despite not often listening to hip-hop/rap, I quite enjoyed the rapping of vocalist Boots Riley. I used to consider Tom Morello to be an overrated guitarist, but he completely rocked the house. The highlight was his shredding solo that ended with him playing his guitar with his tongue (yeah, it was epic). At the end of the show he also threw his guitar backstage for a crew member to catch, which was also pretty awesome. All in all their show was very entertaining and I will definitely be checking out their CD that comes out this month.

Pretty soon after Street Sweeper left the stage, the NIN song “Pinion” began to play over the PA and the crowd went wild as Reznor and co. took the stage. At this point, the sun had begun to set, meaning that the high production values of a Nine Inch Nails show were in full effect (their light shows are simply breathtaking). The next hour and a half was an incredible cathartic experience. Fan favorites such as “March of the Pigs”, “Hurt”, “Head Like a Hole”, “Discipline”, and “1,000,000″ were all played, but quite a lot of lesser played songs such as “Reptile” and “Meet Your Master” were played, keeping the set list exciting and fun. “Mr. Self Destruct” might have been the emotional high point of the show. I sang along to all the songs, like many others, and lost myself in the experience.

So to put it short, Nine Inch Nails was incredible. Too bad Jane’s Addiction is nowhere good enough to follow up such an experience. I had never really heard anything by the band before so I had an open mind going in to their show, but to be honest I didn’t enjoy it at all. To me, all the songs sounded the same and the singer’s voice irritated me. Patrick and I left a little over halfway through their set, which I felt was more than enough time to give them a fair chance.

Nevertheless, Nine Inch Nails alone was more than worth the price of admission. Their show was simply breathtaking, and I’m glad I’ve had the opportunity to see them live before the project is put on hold in a just a few months. If you have the chance, definitely try and see them. I’ll post links to pictures soon if I find any.

Setlist:

1. Pinion (over the PA)
2. Wish
3. Last
4. Discipline
5. March of the Pigs
6. Reptile
7. Meet Your Master
8. Gave Up
9. La Mer
10. Non-Entity
11. The Way Out Is Through
12. Mr. Self Destruct
13. 1,000,000
14. Echoplex
15. Survivalism
16. The Good Soldier
17. The Hand That Feeds
18. Head Like A Hole
19. Hurt (Encore)