Wave Goodbye - Nine Inch Nails Live in Noblesville, IN

A few friends and I went to Noblesville, Indiana last Saturday to catch Nine Inch Nails play one of the shows on their last tour for a very long time. NIN has been my favorite band for awhile, so I had mixed feelings about this possibly being the last time I would ever see Trent Reznor and co. perform live. Sadly I could only make it to one show on the tour, but at least I'd get to see them one more time.

The North American leg of NIN's Wave Goodbye tour was also dubbed the NIN|JA 2009 tour because NIN was co-headlining with Jane's Addiction (with Jane's Addiction playing last). Opening of both bands was Street Sweeper Social Club, the new Tom Morello project, and they did not disappoint. Singer Boots Riley comes across less angry, but just as socially conscious, as Rage Against the Machine singer Zach de la Rocha. Boots did well, but Morello was easily the star of their performance. The man puts on quite a show; if you ever have a chance to see him perform live I highly recommend it. SSSC played through a handful of original songs and a great cover of M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" before their set ended with the Jane's Addiction members crashing the stage with birthday cake to wish Morello a happy birthday.

One of the best parts of the show was the location of our seats. I knew were in the front-left section, on the inside aisle of row J. What I did not know is that row J was the fifth row from the stage. We had unbelievable seats, and since NIN was allowing nearly all cameras into the show, it meant I had the possibility to take some amazing pictures. These really are some of the best pictures I've ever done. The people in front of us were mostly a bunch of Jane's Addiction fans who thankfully got bored of NIN after a few songs and left their seats, giving us a mostly-unobstructed view of the stage. I couldn't believe our luck.

I've now seen Nine Inch Nails in concert six times, but this was easily the best performance of the bunch. If this is indeed the last NIN tour ever, then Trent Reznor is going out guns-blazing. Instead of playing a greatest-hits type set list to appeal to the more casual fans or people there to see Jane's Addiction, NIN played through a blistering set of deep cuts and rare songs. "I Do Not Want This," "Mr. Self-Destruct," and "Physical" were loud, raw, and angry. "Metal" was a huge highlight, as was the instrumental version of "The Downward Spiral"--I never would have picked either of those for good live songs and they were fantastic. The "Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)" remix was cool to see and "The Fragile" was incredible.

The weather turned crazy a few songs into NIN's set, with pouring rain, thunder and lightning, and even tornado warning sirens. Apparently the sirens were going off during most of "Metal", but I was so close to the stage I couldn't hear anything else. We didn't even realize it was raining until I felt a mist blowing on me, and turned around to see the poor suckers on the lawn getting drenched. Kudos to those who stuck it out (and there were many).

New drummer Ilan Rubin had some big shoes to fill by taking over for Josh Freese and he was more than up to the task. Ilan absolutely destroyed every song. The biggest highlight for him was a pummeling finish to "Wish"; I've seen that song six times, and this was easily the best performance of it. In fact, all the old songs seemed fresh and energetic. "The Hand That Feeds" and "Head Like a Hole"--while way too overplayed on the radio--are still the perfect one-two punch for closing NIN shows. The energy during both those songs was unbelievable. Even "Survivalism" was great, and I'd really grown tired of seeing that one live.

Without a doubt, the perfect way to close the show was with "Hurt". Encores have been rare for this tour, so I really thought the show was over after "Head Like a Hole". However, Trent had made several comments about how great the audience was, and he rewarded the fans by returning for an encore. Once again, this was one of the best performances of "Hurt" I've seen. It was moving and emotional, and it was a song that got everyone involved. The one thing I wish I'd been able to take a picture of was when I turned around during "Hurt" and saw the entire amphitheater lit up in a sea of lighters and cell phones. It was an incredible sight. Then the song ended and we got one final wave goodbye.

I was not at all pleased that Jane's would be the last band performing each night--I'm not a big Jane's Addiction fan--but I thought they were entertaining to watch. They are certainly skilled musicians, although singer Perry Farrell feels the need to make the dumbest comments in between songs ("I sing with my balls!" Yes, he actually said that) and guitarist Dave Navarro can't perform unless he's strutting around shirtless, striking iconic rock-star poses every five seconds. I didn't mind watching them, but I ended up leaving after five songs because everyone I was with hated them. In the end I'm glad we left early because a section of I-74 was closed on the way home, and our trip took much longer than it should have.

I've already uploaded some of my pictures, and there are even more that I'd like to post on this blog, but I don't want to get too carried away. What I'd like to ask you to do is please go view them all on my flickr page (shameless plug, I know). These are really some of the best photos I've ever taken and I'm very proud of them. I don't say this to pat myself on the back--a lot of it was pure luck, and I had to ask the advice of two friends to see what settings to use--but I couldn't have asked for better results. There are few things that make me happier than the combination of an amazing concert and some awesome photos.


Set:

Home
1,000,000
Discipline
March Of The Pigs
Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)
Metal
Meet Your Master
Head Down
I Do Not Want This
Gave Up
The Fragile
The Downward Spiral
Wish
Survivalism
Mr. Self-Destruct
Physical (You're So)
The Good Soldier
The Hand That Feeds
Head Like A Hole

(encore)
Hurt

Street Sweeper Social Club

Jane's Addiction