Toothless
It would not be exaggeration to say I had been waiting five-plus years for last night. Ever since I saw Nine Inch Nails perform in Chicago way back in April 2000 on the Fragility v 2.0 tour, I knew that the next time they went on tour I would do whatever it took not only to get tickets but to get floor tickets, just to ensure that I had an optimal viewing experience.
Fragility was incredible. It pioneered the use of giant LCD screens for not only video clips, but also lighting and other stage effects. And, oh yeah, the music absolutely kicked ass. I had been to some good shows, and I've definitely seen acts that were worth catching live again, but never had a show before or since had such an transformative impact.
Granted, that wasn't entirely the doing of the concert. The timing was simply fortuitous in that I really began to discover NIN in a meaningful sense at a time when I was in the middle of a mentally torturous, emotionally abusive friendship. I could not (and still can't) help listening to The Fragile without getting this profound sensation that, lyrically, Trent Reznor had simply decided to describe my personal feelings with tremendous precision. If nothing else, since then I've felt a sort of kinship with Trent in that I can imagine what sorts of anguish and grief he's endured. And ever since, I've just had this transcendant relationship to the entire NIN catalog. Stated simply, if ever I were to try convey such emotions and experience musically, I think I'd just wind up copying Trent (assuming I ever had a millionth of his musical talent) because he's captured it so perfectly.
Last night's show was no different. Much like Fragility, the With Teeth tour has added a multimedial depth to NIN music that overwhelms my sensory perception and achieves that sort of sublime experience.
Actually, as I awaited the beginning of NIN's set, I got a bit anxious. After all, Fragility was such a visually revolutionary production that I had to wonder what could be done for an encore. How could Trent top that? I mean, really, he couldn't. But thankfully, he's still ahead of the curve, even if there's less that's drastically new from With Teeth that will inspire copycats for the next several years.
Vaguely reminiscent of Fragility, With Teeth opened with the band beginning to play behind a curtain. Only this time it wasn't a black curtain in front of a pounding strobe light, but a translucent white one, and this time they didn't remain behind the curtain until the completion of "Somewhat Damaged," but quickly transitioned from "Pinion" to a ripping version of "Love Is Not Enough" as the curtain lifted.
There were many things I really appreciated about this show. For one, there was a terrific mix of songs. The set list featured about half the songs off With Teeth, but ranged far and wide across the NIN catalog, with the better tracks off the debut, Pretty Hate Machine, healthy doses from the classic The Downward Spiral and the epic tour de force The Fragile. But then there were songs off the often overlooked but outstanding extended LP Broken, as well as "Burn" from the "Natural Born Killers" soundtrack and "Deep" from the "Tomb Raider" soundtrack. And, best of all, we got to hear a new, unreleased track, "Not So Pretty Now," which pushes musically in a different direction for Trent. All outstanding choices. There were 22 songs in total they played about two hours, and it was fabulous. Some songs were missing from the set list that I would've loved to have heard, in particular "The Great Below," "Into the Void," "The Day the Whole World Went Away" and "Somewhat Damaged" -- OK, really I wanted to hear The Fragile in its entirety, plus the rest of the NIN catalog. ("The Perfect Drug" springs to mind as a non-Fragile track.) But I can't complain about hearing as much as I did.
Musically, it was also rewarding in that the versions of several songs varied widely from the album versions. While I really, really like "Only" off With Teeth and find its campy, New Wave-ish beat a perfect underpinning for the tongue-in-cheek lyrics (it's also a great dance song), the harder version was sonically powerful. Likewise, variations on "Sin" and others made me feel like I was getting treated to one of the many NIN remix albums that are actually worth eight bucks.
THe highlight of the concert for me, though, was in the middle of the set. The curtain came down again, and suddenly it made sense. As in, it was a sort of mesh material that could be used as a screen onto which video was projected. The best part was during "Right Where It Belongs," when it played a montage of clips of happy people juxtaposed with images of destruction, the perfect illustration of the political (and other) meanings of the song. So, old clips of dozens of couples ballroom dancing in their finest were interspersed with images of supersonic bombers destroying desert landscapes. It was so profoundly tragic and emotionally resonant that I felt close to tears. And then, in case anyone in the crowd was too stupid to pick up on the allusion (and I'm not putting that past this crowd -- more on that later), there was a final scene of ballroom dancing with George and Laura Bush in the middle. That elicited several middle fingers and "fuck yous," and might have been the high-water mark for audience participation.
Seriously, that was the worst part of the entire show. The crowd was practically dead. The overwhelming majority of people in the seats remained on their asses for the entirety of the show, and even down in the floor where I was there wasn't a lot of energy. It was a stark contrast to the raw adrenaline and sweat coursing through the stage and through those few of us in the crowd who actually had a pulse. At one point Trent seemed to look into the stands and almost shrug his shoulders in that sort of "what gives?" way. I felt deeply ashamed to have been in that audience and I also felt embarrassed for Trent and the band to get such a lukewarm reception. I've heard that Seattle crowds are kind of low key, and I know the culture here is laid back, but give it a break. This was the epicenter of the whole grunge movement. Did folks just sort of watch quietly when Nirvana and Pearl Jam were in their primes? At several points in the show I kept being reminded of the lyrics from Nirvana's "In Bloom" ("He's the one/He likes all our pretty songs/And he likes to sing along/And he likes to shoot his gun/But he knows not what it means"). Perhaps this was Kurt Cobain's ode to Seattle concertgoers.
The strange part of the evening was provided by Trent Reznor's physical appearance. It took me at least 20 minutes to get over the fact that he now has a shaved head, and his sleeveless leather shirt revealed some large, well-sculpted arms. He looked more like he just got out of the military rather than a recording studio. It was a bit offputting, if only because it was thoroughly unexpected.
So, in sum, NIN rocked, Seattle crowds sucked, and I will once again wait impatiently and pay whatever it takes to get to see Trent live again.
Fragility was incredible. It pioneered the use of giant LCD screens for not only video clips, but also lighting and other stage effects. And, oh yeah, the music absolutely kicked ass. I had been to some good shows, and I've definitely seen acts that were worth catching live again, but never had a show before or since had such an transformative impact.
Granted, that wasn't entirely the doing of the concert. The timing was simply fortuitous in that I really began to discover NIN in a meaningful sense at a time when I was in the middle of a mentally torturous, emotionally abusive friendship. I could not (and still can't) help listening to The Fragile without getting this profound sensation that, lyrically, Trent Reznor had simply decided to describe my personal feelings with tremendous precision. If nothing else, since then I've felt a sort of kinship with Trent in that I can imagine what sorts of anguish and grief he's endured. And ever since, I've just had this transcendant relationship to the entire NIN catalog. Stated simply, if ever I were to try convey such emotions and experience musically, I think I'd just wind up copying Trent (assuming I ever had a millionth of his musical talent) because he's captured it so perfectly.
Last night's show was no different. Much like Fragility, the With Teeth tour has added a multimedial depth to NIN music that overwhelms my sensory perception and achieves that sort of sublime experience.
Actually, as I awaited the beginning of NIN's set, I got a bit anxious. After all, Fragility was such a visually revolutionary production that I had to wonder what could be done for an encore. How could Trent top that? I mean, really, he couldn't. But thankfully, he's still ahead of the curve, even if there's less that's drastically new from With Teeth that will inspire copycats for the next several years.
Vaguely reminiscent of Fragility, With Teeth opened with the band beginning to play behind a curtain. Only this time it wasn't a black curtain in front of a pounding strobe light, but a translucent white one, and this time they didn't remain behind the curtain until the completion of "Somewhat Damaged," but quickly transitioned from "Pinion" to a ripping version of "Love Is Not Enough" as the curtain lifted.
There were many things I really appreciated about this show. For one, there was a terrific mix of songs. The set list featured about half the songs off With Teeth, but ranged far and wide across the NIN catalog, with the better tracks off the debut, Pretty Hate Machine, healthy doses from the classic The Downward Spiral and the epic tour de force The Fragile. But then there were songs off the often overlooked but outstanding extended LP Broken, as well as "Burn" from the "Natural Born Killers" soundtrack and "Deep" from the "Tomb Raider" soundtrack. And, best of all, we got to hear a new, unreleased track, "Not So Pretty Now," which pushes musically in a different direction for Trent. All outstanding choices. There were 22 songs in total they played about two hours, and it was fabulous. Some songs were missing from the set list that I would've loved to have heard, in particular "The Great Below," "Into the Void," "The Day the Whole World Went Away" and "Somewhat Damaged" -- OK, really I wanted to hear The Fragile in its entirety, plus the rest of the NIN catalog. ("The Perfect Drug" springs to mind as a non-Fragile track.) But I can't complain about hearing as much as I did.
Musically, it was also rewarding in that the versions of several songs varied widely from the album versions. While I really, really like "Only" off With Teeth and find its campy, New Wave-ish beat a perfect underpinning for the tongue-in-cheek lyrics (it's also a great dance song), the harder version was sonically powerful. Likewise, variations on "Sin" and others made me feel like I was getting treated to one of the many NIN remix albums that are actually worth eight bucks.
THe highlight of the concert for me, though, was in the middle of the set. The curtain came down again, and suddenly it made sense. As in, it was a sort of mesh material that could be used as a screen onto which video was projected. The best part was during "Right Where It Belongs," when it played a montage of clips of happy people juxtaposed with images of destruction, the perfect illustration of the political (and other) meanings of the song. So, old clips of dozens of couples ballroom dancing in their finest were interspersed with images of supersonic bombers destroying desert landscapes. It was so profoundly tragic and emotionally resonant that I felt close to tears. And then, in case anyone in the crowd was too stupid to pick up on the allusion (and I'm not putting that past this crowd -- more on that later), there was a final scene of ballroom dancing with George and Laura Bush in the middle. That elicited several middle fingers and "fuck yous," and might have been the high-water mark for audience participation.
Seriously, that was the worst part of the entire show. The crowd was practically dead. The overwhelming majority of people in the seats remained on their asses for the entirety of the show, and even down in the floor where I was there wasn't a lot of energy. It was a stark contrast to the raw adrenaline and sweat coursing through the stage and through those few of us in the crowd who actually had a pulse. At one point Trent seemed to look into the stands and almost shrug his shoulders in that sort of "what gives?" way. I felt deeply ashamed to have been in that audience and I also felt embarrassed for Trent and the band to get such a lukewarm reception. I've heard that Seattle crowds are kind of low key, and I know the culture here is laid back, but give it a break. This was the epicenter of the whole grunge movement. Did folks just sort of watch quietly when Nirvana and Pearl Jam were in their primes? At several points in the show I kept being reminded of the lyrics from Nirvana's "In Bloom" ("He's the one/He likes all our pretty songs/And he likes to sing along/And he likes to shoot his gun/But he knows not what it means"). Perhaps this was Kurt Cobain's ode to Seattle concertgoers.
The strange part of the evening was provided by Trent Reznor's physical appearance. It took me at least 20 minutes to get over the fact that he now has a shaved head, and his sleeveless leather shirt revealed some large, well-sculpted arms. He looked more like he just got out of the military rather than a recording studio. It was a bit offputting, if only because it was thoroughly unexpected.
So, in sum, NIN rocked, Seattle crowds sucked, and I will once again wait impatiently and pay whatever it takes to get to see Trent live again.
posted by Alexander Dubcek | 17:41
3 Comments:
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Sounds like a really amazing show. In fact, I think I will need to go listen to some NIN right now. Did he make any derogatory remarks about local newspapers?
By the way, does anyone know where I can good some good information about tea carts?
Sadly, Trent never mentioned whether he liked to keep extra copies of the Seattle Times on the tour bus for use as toilet paper.
And actually, my site is all about tea carts, so it's really your best source for information about tea carts, obviously. In fact, I started this site with the specific intention of having the comment section be a place where folks could discuss tea carts, since it's a topic so important to me, as reflected by my posts reviewing Nine Inch Nails concerts.
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