Dougie and I went to the Nine Inch Nails show in Indianapolis last night. It was fantastic. Even better than the U.S. Bank show earlier this year.
The less said about the first opening act, Peaches, the better. At least Bauhaus was entertaining. Doug and I both agreed that they're better than Peaches or Moving Units from the February show. Peter Murphy was funny to watch.
NIN took the stage around 9:15. For this outdoor leg of the tour they ditched the whole cloth screen for this big metal grate that descends from the ceiling (think of those metal grates they pull down over store doors and you'll get the idea). The grate has lights in it that they can turn on and off and use to make different designs and animations. They had some screens at the back of the stage again with different light patterns to. Unlike the other show, there was no intro music like Pnion to tip you off. The band just crept onto stage right as the roadies were leaving, with Trent picking up the mic and starting into Somewhat Damaged, which made for a fantastic opener.
From there the grate went up and they followed with a flurry of fast songs like You Know What You Are?, Terrible Lie, and March of the Pigs. After that we got a much-needed breather with Something I Can Never Have, and then the expected Closer. For that song they had just the center portion of the screen come down with red lights, and Trent standing in front and behind it. It was great to see some instrumentals in the show with Help Me I Am In Hell and a shortened version of La Mer. That led right into fantastic Into the Void, which was followed by an ever better The Big Come Down. They played the full-band version of Non-Entity which is a non-album song Trent wrote on piano for a Katrina benefit last year. They pulled out Down In It near the end, which was fantastic. Suck has been a staple of their live shows in the past, show it was good to finally hear it. Then Peter Murphy of Bauhaus came out to sing with Trent on a song called Final Solution, a cover of Pere Ubu (who?). Then they finished with the usual closing songs.
I was really kicking myself for not bringing a camera. We were in the pit again, and when the show started we were in the back of the front third of the pit (if that makes sense) in between Trent and guitarist Aaron North. Then during March of the Pigs when everyone started pushing and moshing like crazy, I saw an opening and made my way further up front until I was about five or six (very squished) people back from the rail. I was about three feet away from Aaron when he dove into the crowd during that song. Had he dove straight out from where he was on stage, and not towards the middle of the pit, he probably would have been on top of me. Anyways, when I pushed up I left Doug behind in the process, so he was in our old spot about five people behind me. I kept trying to get his attention to tell him to come up with me, and he finally had a chance when the pit got real crazy again on Gave Up. The pit was insane the whole time, and we were really tired by the end of the night from all the jumping and trying not to get knocked over. Some guy next to me got hit in the face during March so I gave him my handkerchief for his bloody nose. Thank goodness the weather wasn't really hot, because it was hot enough in the pit. By the end we were literally soaked in sweat.
Trent commented several times about how great and energetic the crowd was. He said that they are almost done touring and that they're going to take a few months off the finish the new album he's been working on, and they'll be back early next year. With his track record, you can't help but be skeptical about a new album being released in under two years, but we can hope.
The venue was really nice. Doug and I walked around up by the lawn in between sets, and the view from there puts Riverbend to shame. After the show I was dying of thirst, so I made my way over to a food booth that was still open. I guess they were supposed to close at 11, because the people in front of me got their drinks, and I stepped up to ask for water. Before I could say anything, the attendants looked me straight in the eyes, and the proceeded to pull the wooden door down right in my face. But kudos to the people who were standing outside giving away free cans of Full Throttle energy drinks. Then the venue set off a bunch of big fireworks as we were waiting to get out of the lot.
The full set:
Somewhat Damaged
You Know What You Are?
Terrible Lie
March Of The Pigs
Something I Can Never Have
Closer
Burn
Gave Up
Help Me I Am In Hell
Non-Entity
Only
Wish
La Mer
Into The Void
The Big Come Down
Suck
Down In It
Hurt
Final Solution (w/ Peter Murphy)
The Hand That Feeds
Head Like A Hole
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