October 06, 2005
Concert Review: Nine Inch Nails at the Pepsi Center
Even though there is NOTHING like seeing NIN at the Fillmore earlier this year, the Pepsi Center allows them to do a lot of fun stuff on a much bigger scale.
Tonight was nothing different. Trent went big and, as usual, created an amazing night. One of the people that went with me was a good friend of mine from work, Melissa Anderson. She had never been to a NIN concert, although she is a HUGE fan. It was almost more fun watching her expressions as she experienced NIN live for the first time. My other two partners in crime, DHyde and Brice, gave comic relief when needed (especially during Queens of the Stone Age), but got down to business once NIN took the stage.
First off, the set list (thank goodness we have cell phones with text messaging):
Pinion
Love Is Not Enough
You Know What You Are?
The Line Begins To Blur
March of the Pigs / All the Pigs All Lined Up
Terrible Lie
The Frail / The Wretched
Closer
Burn
Gave Up
Eraser
Right Where It Belongs
Beside You In Time
Wish
Sin
Only
Hurt
The Hand That Feeds
Starf*****s
Head Like A Hole
It was an outstanding concert and Trent and the boys were definitely "on" tonight.
Trent stopped Starf*****s about half way through and told everyone he wanted to just skip the middle part. He said something along the lines of, "I thought it was a good idea at the time, but it's become a big pain in the a$$." So they jumped right to the end...I gotta say: I didn't miss it.
He also took a moment during the pause to say thanks for the good thoughts for Jerome Dillon (their drummer, who is out right now due to some heart issues), and thanked Josh Freese for kicking a$$ in his stead. You truly could not tell that Josh was a replacement drummer. He had picked up the songs perfectly, and those who know the drumming world know that he is well respected, so it's no surprise that he did so well.
Great energy...and the lighting, once again, was outstanding. True, not as great as the Fragility tour, but I don't know if that will be topped for a LONG time. It was really well done, though. They had a nice set of funky LED banks, and during a couple of songs in the middle, they brought down this screen and had some wild images - some political statements, some just plain disturbing - the way we NIN fans like it.
Opening Bands
I thought Autolux was pretty good...you could tell they were not used to the big arenas, but I have a feeling they'll get there. Gotta check them out some more. The lead singer had a good sound to his voice, and reminded me of Richard Patrick from Filter (thanks, Melissa for jogging the memory). They used feedback and distortion as a separate musical instrument, which was interesting.
Queens of the Stone Age were, in a word, boring. I guess I just don't get them, but they weren't that enjoyable. I could go on about his seemingly-rehearsed comments, but anyone reading Echoing The Sound (a great NIN message board) knows that they were definitely rehearsed, and overused at many of the concerts on this tour.
Once again, a night not to forget, and I hope Trent continues to do what he does well: put out good music and put on a GREAT show.
Cheers,
-m-
Comments
How long did the concert last?
Amy - thanks for writing! The NIN part of the concert lasted about 2 hours and 15 minutes with no encore, which I guess is pretty standard for this tour.