R O B O T P A C I F I E R

RP's review of Nin:live 10-17-05

I went to see Nine Inch Nails with The Red Devil, his Devil-wife Penny, and Bill from Ranting and Raving, whom I found out is a Leeroy Jenkins Freedom activist. This is the fourth time I've seen Nin, and funny enough, in a similar fashion to how I saw them 11 years ago...
1. Spring 94 Bomb Factory (small club)
2. Winter 94 Madison Square Garden (arena)
3. Summer 05 Stubb's BBQ (small club)
4. Fall 05 American Airlines Center (arena)
WARNING: IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THIS TOUR LIVE YET AND WANT TO GO IN FRESH, STOP READING NOW.
The Good:
-Band's performance overall..Good...Pretty tight. All the songs were played with alot of energy and stopped on a dime.
-Jeordie White's distorted bass on Burn.
-As opposed to the setlist at Stubb's BBQ, which seemed jarring (something i can never have, then hand that feeds, then terrible lie...ugh) the flow from song to song was great.
-The new drummer, Alex Carapetis. Great Job.
-The girl who had bunny ears on. (see Bill, I'm not "The Man", "I'm cool, I'm hip, I'm with it. dukkadukkadukka.")
-The three overweight dudes with their shirts off, ready to mosh.
-Right Where It Belongs. the live interpretation was amazing.
-The videos used during Eraser, Right Where It Belongs, and Beside You In Time.
*This was the highlight for me. I thought it was brilliantly orchestrated. A curtain came down in front of the set and just like in the Downward Spiral Tour of 94, a video montage began as the band played behind the screen. Starting with Eraser, the imagery was footage of animals eating, attacking each other, and landscapes. I thought to myself.."this video brought to you by the discovery channel." But small things caught my attention. As the band crescendoed to the second part of Eraser, images would repeat but would be warped in some way. For instance, a repeated school of goldfish shot that on the third viewing would be turned red and black. When Trent starts to sing the lyrics to part b of Eraser.."need you/dream you/find you/taste you/fuck you/use you/scar you/break you"...The imagery switches to the Iraq war, soldiers firing weapons, dead bodies, oil rigs, fighter planes etc..as the song explodes in part C with the Trent screaming the the lyrics.."lose me/hate me/smash me/erase me/kill me/kill me/kill me/kill me/kill me/kill me/kill me/kill me/kill me/kill me/kill me/kill me"..he ups the intensity of the imagery..more weapons, explosions, and dead bodies...Juxtaposing these images with his song totally changed the meaning for me. What was a song about one person's self-obsession with his own feelings, became an examination of america's worldview. Two rednecks in front of me who came to rock out to Closer became reallll uncomfortable.
After Eraser, Right Where It Belongs Begins. As Trent sings the lyrics here..excerpt:
What if everything around you/Isn't quite as it seems/What if all the world you think know/Is an elaborate dream?/And if you look at your reflection/Is that all you want it to be?/What if you could look right through the cracks/Would you find yourself - find yourself afraid to see?..a montage begins of money, dead Iraqi civilian casualites(exceptionally graphic), an American soldier tapping his gun against the head of an enemy combantant during an interrogation, images of the white ideal happy family, and more Iraq War footage. So, again, putting these images with the lyrics he's singing, he questions the ideals that America holds and questions our illusions of our feeling of being "right" in the world. He showed footage few news outlets would show you. A repeated shot (two-three times at least) of a room of men in black tie and formal wear dancing with women in white formal wear was used, i thought, as an example of american "values" and conformity..The fourth time you see a close up of a couple dancing...and it's George Bush dancing with his wife, Laura. (The crowd actually cheered) I hope most of the audience saw something similar to what I saw. This combination of imagery and lyrics wasn't only an attempt to shock but to try and make a point. He challenges you to really examine the cost what you believe, that it's not that simple as flags, eagles, and anthems. I believe he was specifically targeting anyone who was right-wing, republican, or pro-Iraq war. The two rednecks in front of me left during this song and didn't return. I thought it was great that Trent would take his Nin world out of a myopic expression of one person's feelings and recontextualize it to criticize a worldview. He really impressed me with this.
-Head Like A Hole. I don't listen to this much on my own, but live, it really rocks.
The Bad...well, not Bad, but Not So Much:
Everyone pretty much kicked ass, but the lead guitarist, Aaron North, rocked a little too much. He was so into it he could barely play the his parts coherently. There were some surprises, namely the bassist, Jeordie White, and Trent inviting the audience to clap along to march of the pigs and the hand that feeds. A goth revival? wtf? Anyway, overall, a great show, I'd recommend it. Oh yeah, Queens on the Stoneage forgot to flip the "cool switch" for their set, I'm a fan but this performance..eh...maybe next time, guys.
*credit where credit is due...I was so tired, I was foggy of what came after Beside You In Time...so I found the setlist here.

posted by rp @ 3:38 PM