Even before attending Nine Inch Nails 02 show, I had high expectations. I remember seeing full-mark reviews of their With Teeth shows from a few years earlier and hearing much about Trent Reznor’s electric stage presence, I had high hopes. But even with these very high expectations, I left their concert feelings surprised and completely in awe of NIN more than I had ever been before.
It was their only London date in the ‘Wave Goodbye’ tour, a title that sparked rumours of a split, but the band later confirmed that although the band were not disbanding, it would be their last tour. They were also joined by a recently reformed Jane’s Addiction as well as Denmark-based alt-rockers Mew. The latter played a painfully short set, the 20-minute slot they had was nowhere near enough for a band of their talent, but despite this songs like ‘The Zookeepers Boy’ and ‘Special’ went down a treat with the crowd, and for a support band the sound quality was impressive – NIN are clearly a band who look after their support acts.
Jane’s Addiction followed and performed a much longer set; and although frontman Perry Farrell continually reminded me of Ben Stiller’s Derek Zoolander character with his flamboyant gestures and glittery outfit, his stage presence and ability to get the crowd screaming for more was impressive. They played to a crowd clearly familiar with their music, and their mostly greatest hits set had the crowd screaming along to the words of ‘Oceansize’ and marvelling at Dave Navarro’s killer riffs. Although it was a rather showy performance, Jane’s Addiction did what they do best – entertain. Now, Trent’s appearance on stage was some what of a surprise – the roadies were still on stage setting up, and the lights were still on. Yet on strolled Trent Reznor, momentarilty confusing the unprepared crowd as he launched into ‘Now I’m Nothing/Terrible Lie’. For a first number, it was astounding – the sheer enthusiasm and energy that seeped from the band rapidly spread to the crowd, and Reznor, clearly unable to contain his energy, managed to throw a keyboard, a microphone, and a guitar all during the first number. This launching of musical instruments and various other objects was frequent throughout the show; the microphone stand had to be replaced by a roadie at the beginning of nearly every song.
NIN played a fairly mixed set; from newer tracks like ’1,000,000′ to old favourites like ‘March of the Pigs’, all were recieved with the same enthusiasm from fans. It struck me not long after they’d started playing that their live gigs stand out so much from so many other bands out there because of the way they put their all into their live shows – they play every song as if it’s their last song. By the end Trent was literally dripping; red faced and neck-pulsing, yet he never stopped to take a break, and never lowered that high standard of performance we’d grown accustomed to. Performances of ‘The Becoming’, ‘Wish’, and a cover of Bowie’s ‘I’m Afraid of American’s were particularly strong, but there wasn’t a song that disappointed or could be viewed as a ‘weaker’ performance. Hearing an audience in its thousands screaming ‘GOD IS DEAD, AND NO-ONE CARES!’ at the top of their lungs was a real sight to be seen, and just goes to show the sheer audacity of Nine Inch Nails music but how loved it is by so many.
After a flawless version of ‘Down In It!’, Trent thanked the crowd for their enthusiasm and goes on to introduce the one and only Gary Numan, causing gasps and screams all over the stadium – something that evidently no-one had seen coming! They performed ‘Metal’ and then flew straight into ‘Cars’, cue more manic screaming of ‘WE LOVE YOU GARY!’ and the entire stadium chanting along to a song that defined new wave.
A hard act to follow undoubtedly, but something that NIN proved even they could achieve – ‘The Hand That Feeds’ and ‘Head Like A Hole’ had the crowd shaking their heads and dancing as though their lives depended on it, and the night was concluded with the classic ‘Hurt’ which saw lights appear all over the mass crowd and the audience break into song again to sing the anthem of a troubled nation – ‘I will let you down, I will make you hurt’. A fitting end to what was, quite possibly, the best concert i’ve ever witnessed. My only worry now is that every other concert I attend from now on won’t live up to this standard.
