In Concert : Nine Inch Nails

Boston Orpheum May 12th

Remember when Industrial Music ? I do but it seems like NIN is the last mainstream practicionor at this point. But he hasn't lost his edge and can still bang out the heavy guitar layered on top of the Industrial beats.

Life is good for Trent right now. Sold out concert tour. Number one album in the country. And he still puts on a helluva a show. Dressed in black jeans and a black tank top, he reminded me of a Goth Freddy Mercury and when playing guitar, he looked more like he was masturbating. But this was two hours of onslaught. High intensity with short breaks to play the piano before going on to more aggressive stuff. I loved the lights but behind the stage they seemed like a computer about to go blue screen and in addition to continual strobes, the spots spent most of the night flashing while directed at the audience from behind the band. It's cool but just reinforces the intensity. After a sweaty two hours, I was ready to go home. But I would go again in the middle.

He focused on the old stuff. I only caught one song from fragile (somewhat damaged). Every song from Broken (except physical and the instrumental). The high lights from pretty hate machine and downward spiral. I think he played the whole new album and there seem to be some promising songs here, but the crowd clearly quieted when they appeared. You don't need to know the new songs because he has a fairly predictable song writing pattern: drum/key board intro, guitar assault, wailing lyrics. I must admit thought that "hand that feeds" came off as almost a dance song. "Terrible Lie" was a big highlight (I would love to see a reggae/Dub version of Sin). "March of the pigs" and "hurt" stood out simply for the peaceful contrast of the piano/lyrics to the guitar onslaught. As we careened towards the end, double shot of "suck"/"gave up" brought home what this was all about before finishing with "head like a hole" which almost seemed a little tame and preachy after going through the raw emotion of broken and "reptile."

Trent took turns humping the mike and the guitarist. He has basically three poses when singing : hang on to the mike with both hands, raise one hand over the head like a wave, raise both hands over the head and give the double wave. He has lightened up though. He said thank you twice and some claim he was even smiling. Gone clean and sober, he's buffed up and is clearly hitting the weights pretty hard.

Band was solid. Bram, you would have looked bassist Jeordi White (formerly know as Twiggy Ramirez of Marilyn Manson) who strutted the stage slamming the bass. Some of the new songs allowed the guitarist to wander a little into a more layered sound than old NIN. Keyboardist and drummer didn't do anything great but did provide a solid backing. The most interesting songs were the ones that toned down the keyboards and became more bass driven, but we always go back to that industrial beat. But these guys were just sidekicks and the show was about Trent.

Dresden Dolls was a relation. I don;t really know how to describe them. It's a guy and a girl, a keyboard and a drum set. They've been called Goth and cabaret, but neither does them justice. Think Tori Amos when she cared playing with a crazed drummer (who after two songs stood and yelled "get on your feet!!! This is a rock and roll show!!!). Songs went from ballads to covers of "war Pigs" and "karma police." As proof of their talent and the power of a good drummer, I never like karma police but they did an excellent version. Went out and bought the album today. See them in concert if you can. I can't really describe what they do, but they do it well.