Nine Inch Nails
November 8th - the Garden (formerly Boston...Happy birthday, Mom)
I think I've let this jell in my mind enough. I've been thinking about why I like Nine Inch Nails so much. Then I read an interview in the Globe with Ben Folds where I think he explained it well. He told a story about Bruce Lee. In Enter the Dragon, Bruce Lee says "do not be angry. Use your anger." In a sentance, I think that captures how I feel about Trent and the boys.
Music is about connecting with emotion. Certain songs bring back memories or emotions. While some people have "grown up" and find NIN "whiny" or "adolescent," I think the reality is that we all have had those feelings at one time or another. Trent is about anger, loss of control, lashing out at the people who don't believe in you or hold you back. I remember those feelings and think most people do. Your parents wouldn't let you go out or girlfriend dumped you or a teacher who didn't think you were worth the effort. The key, as Mr Lee points out, is to use those emotions to motivate yourself and direct the energy in a constructive way rather than let them control you. Don't deny your feelings but use them to achieve (it makes sense to me).
When I hear a NIN song, either in concert or on the radio, I get that emotional rush. But its more about intensity than anger. It's carthartic but keeps you grounded in your own history and in touch with your emotions.
This show delivered everything I expected. We had great seats, about twenty rows back ont he floor, right in the center (I was a little worried about a mosh pit breaking out even through companian Pat is over six feet and not small). While there were short comings at the previous NIN show , these had been addressed. Trent cut the stupid haircut and now a straight forward crew cut. He wasn't as pumped up as earlier and now looks like a skinnier version of Henry Rollins. The guitar and drums were turned up and the keyboards turned down (although an important part of the show. He played around two hours and played everything. Even a song like the hand that feeds which is basically a dance song rocked harder. The fragile was generally ignored except for a couple of the slow dirges. But he went deep into the catalog for songs like "suck" (okay they always play this event though its not a NIN songs and "Dead Souls" (one of my favorites which I never heard before). After third song, he broke a string and reacted by slamming the guitar to the ground, shattering the neck into little pieces.
He stalked the stage and snarled through the whole concert. But despite the anger, he was down right chatty and welcoming tot he crowd. After the third song, he told the crowd "this is a historic night for NIN...It is the last time we will play...With seats on the floor. It's my own g-d fault for not reading the contract and I promise you it will never happen again. They say it's for your safety but this place is f-ing sh-thole." (when I saw NIN at the old Garden on the the Downward Spiral tour, during the first song, the crowd ripped up the seats and tossed them into a pile despite security). Plus many other four letter words. And while though out the night he would cuss out the Garden management or the facility (whatever it takes to motivate you - see first paragraph), he profusely thanked the fans and seemed to be enjoying himself.
I would say the weak spot was half way through, a screen descended. You could see the band but they projected a video which was pretty much the same video they had back in 94 but updated the political leaders. First this doesn't work because Trent's music is personal not political so to go there was a bit of a stretch. Secondly, they played all the slow songs adding "right where it belongs" from the new album and cuminating with hurt. Now this is great and I love it, but they never regained the momentum they had in the first half of the show. They should have done this interlude earlier or at the end just to keep the energy level high.
The opening acts were fantastic. This was really four and a half hours of great music. I never heard of Death from above 1979 before. It was only two guys but they put out a tremendous amount of sound. I've seen Queens of the Stone Age but this time they really impressed me with straight ahead rock and roll and solid musicianship.
All in all, a great time. Cannot wait to do it again.
Now we proceed to the adult section or "blue." First of all, my companion for the evening was Pat Duff which is sorta of like scoring the first touchdown in a game when it comes to events. More importantly he can verify that all I write is true. But the crowd was rather mixed, more suburban than the crowd fromt he premium. I could mention the overweight hip hop white guy in the track suit who danced all night or Pat's blazer. But the highlight were the two girls in front of us. We walked in around 7:15 and DFA1979 was already in full sing and the place is 10% full. But these two chicks sitting right in front of us are rocking out. We figure they are friends of the band. We chat between sets - nice girls, they invite us to smoke cigarettes , we pass, comment between us on their attractiveness. During the Queens set, the whole picture becomes apparent. They like each other ALOT and in addition to dancing, don't mind grinding and touching each other in a way I won't call inappropriate because I enjoyed it. After the set, people are offering them money. We talk some more - they are flight attendants for American (but too young to go ont he big jets yet - regional only). They only escalated their behavior for NIN (again no complaints). I think the big blond one flashed Pat. Nice girls, but the show we got is usually at least priced in high three digit to low four range. It just goes to show you never know what you're going to see.
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