Some of you may recall that I, at the last minute, threw together a trip to see Nine Inch Nails, one of my absolute favorite musicians (the name really refers to Trent Reznor), on his alleged “Wave Goodbye” tour. According to ominous threats on NIN.com, this is his last tour, and since I had been trying to see them live for years, I knew I had to get off my hindquarters and put a concentrated effort in. The only date we could swing was today, at a venue just south of San Diego. It’s now or never.
The location was the Cricket Wireless Amphitheater, a lovely outdoor pavillion nestled loosely in a gorgeous California mountain range, or at least something that looks like one. This kind of stark, raw beauty matched the aesthetic of Nine Inch Nails overall quite well. Often mistaken for his countless imitators, Reznor hasn’t really done the whole “goth eye make up” look in some time, and his music hasn’t attempted to appeal to that crowd. The stuff is dark, certainly, but it’s got a bit more maturity to it. Proof of this is in NIN fans, who are assembled from a wide range of tastes and backgrounds.
The opening act, which I rountinely ignore, was a band called “Street Sweeper Social Club,” and above their stage was a flag with the image of a boombox whose speakers were replaced with twin miniguns. As it turned out, the band was a charity effort, they petitioned the crowd earnestly to get involved in feeding the homeless, which seemed to be the basis of their identity as a band. Even more surprising, their guitarist was my favorite axeman of all time, none other than sir Tom Morello. A Harvard-educated madman and passionate activist, Tom does things with a guitar that make no sense. His original band, Rage Against the Machine, printed a disclaimer on their CD sleeves that read: “All sounds made by guitar, bass, drum and vocals,” mainly because no one believed any person could make a six-string electric produce those noises. Midway through their set, Morello cradled his Stratocaster in his arms like a child and, by means unknown, made it sound like a flock of chirping birds. He also did some other things involving tuning the guitar on the fly which produced sonic experiences I can’t really put into words; the weird thing is, the noises he makes are always in key with the song he’s playing. If you haven’t heard this guy, you don’t know what you’re missing (don’t listen to his solo stuff, though, he doesn’t do it there).
It got even more exciting.
For the band’s last song, Trent Reznor craftily snuck onto the stage and took over vocal duties. It took me about ten seconds to realize that my favorite guitarist ever was playing on the same stage with one my favorite musicians ever. My mouth hung open, I just got still and tried to take still photographs with my eyes. I would have paid three times what I did for my ticket if I’d known I was going to get to see this once-in-a-lifetime pairing. The best part was, instead of doing some song that I’d never heard of, they took on MC5′s classic “Kick Out the Jams.” I love that song, and they absolutely went crazy on it. It was a special moment.
The other remarkable thing about this concert was that it ran on time. At 7:30 on the dot, the opening band got going. At around 8:15 on the nose, Nine Inch Nails thundered onto the stage. I’ve never seen a gig do that, not even tiny little ones in smelly beer halls. The trade-off was, Reznor hit a little technical snaffoo in the first few bars of “Terrible Lie,” causing a twenty second pause as frantic technicians darted around the stage with their heads down, trying to solve the problem. A slightly peeved Trent approached the mic apologetically a moment later and asked, “Can you hear me now?” We went crazy, so he responded, “Awesome. It wouldn’t really be Nine Inch Nails concert if something didn’t f*** up. Next time, I tear the PA system apart.” Since concert audiences love you for almost anything, we all cheered. In fairness to him, his delivery had a levity that doesn’t translate here.
The actual show was a stunner, visually and sonically. Reznor puts on an almost perfect show in my opinion: he’s enthusiastic and physical, but he also takes the musical performance seriously, and doesn’t get distracted by headbanging. On top of that, a massive set of back-lit stage lights flash hot white strobes, cool blue streaks, and red stabs in time with the music, while giant waves of smoke pour on the audience. The effect is actually quite beautiful: the band is sihlouetted against the fiery light and smoke, the music pumping through the speakers. Again, it’s dark but decidedly un-gothic, which I appreicate.
I’m not promising that you’ll like the music, because I know many of you don’t, but if you dare to get an idea, take a look: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZfCA2M12tE&feature=player_embedded.
I have very good luck with my personal favorites getting chosen for setlists, it happens at almost every concert I attend. This one was no different, they hit “Wish” about half-way through the concert. A Grammy winning masterpiece, “Wish” is a frenetic, fist-forward marauder of a heavy metal song. Angry, chainsaw guitars explode over top of a syncopated four on the floor rhythm that marches like a tribal chant. The lyrics are the same crap about alienation and whatever, poetry has never been Reznor’s gift, but they function to heighten the mood and I was very impressed with how Reznor handled his vocal performance in a live setting. These are not easy songs to sing, most of them include shredding your throat at some point, and yet he skimps out on very few high notes and delivers a credibly vicious attack on each one. It helps that the rest of the band (which is always an assortment of hired guns, Trent is the only actual member of NIN) seemed more than capable of picing up slack; sometimes they would chime in to bolster his performance, sometimes they would take over entirely for a few bars. They did a nice job. I was also pleased by the inclusion of “The Fragile,” a wonderful, spooky love song which contains one of my favorite NIN lyrics in its refrain: “I won’t let you fall apart.” It sounds sarcastic, but in the song itself it’s meant very honestly, and I find it oddly touching and sympathetic.
Of course, as an encore, Reznor turned in a spirited performance of “Hurt,” the minimalist ballad about loss and sin that Johnny Cash famously covered right before his death. Most NIN fans admire the alternative but still prefer the original, and in the hushed whisper of Trent’s performance, you could hear the entire audience singing along to every word. It was perhaps the most tranquil three minutes I have ever experienced at a concert, the lilt of the music in the air bringing the entire audience of thousands to a dead stop. Moreover, it was a fitting coda, a relevant nod to Nine Inch Nails’ dual loyalty to chaos and stillness in their music. Again, the chorus here is an example of Trent doing some fine work on the lyrical front (which is sadly not always true): “What have I become, my sweetest friend? Everyone I know goes away in the end. And you could have it all, my empire of dirt. I will let you down, I will make you hurt.” The music adds an incredible tenderness to these words, a private confessional where an arrogant narrator breaks down and admits their sins. Cash covered it for a reason.
So a fine evening, one of the better concerts I’ve attended.
And on top of all that, you missed the LA earhquake !