Nine Inch Nails: Lights in the Sky (Concert review)
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Artist:
Considering the I went to the Nine Inch Nails concert 2 months ago, this post was a long time coming. After the amazing experience I had, I wanted to make this an uber-post with photos, video, the whole shebang. Unfortunately, the overly ambitious expectations I had put on this post made it's creation a daunting task and I ended up putting it off... and putting it off. Well, I'm back, and though this post won't have all the bells and whistles I hope it's able to articulate just how spectacular the show was and maybe convince others to check it out.
The last time I had seen NIN live was a few years ago while they were touring to promote "With Teeth". It was the first time I had seen them live, and it was a big deal for me since I've been a NIN-freak for a while now. Having watched the "And All that Could Have Been" live concert DVD countless time I had high expectations. Though the band's energy was great, and I left with a huge smile on my face, it wasn't the full audio / visual experience I was expecting. This time around not only were my expectations met, they were surpassed.
The opening band was Crystal Castles, an electronic band hailing from Toronto. I've had a post planned for them as well so I'll just say that I love their CD and they are... entertaining... live. The stage was pretty bare-bones at this point so I figured the NIN show was going to be pretty minimal as well. Boy was I wrong. I'll try not to spoil too much of the night's surprises, but even going into the concert with an idea of what will happen won't dampen the awe of seeing it live.
Much of the concert was enhanced by three displays that looked like curtains made of LCD lights; one in the back behind the drummer, one between the him and the guitar / bass / keyboard players, and the last between them and Trent (the lead singer and mastermind behind NIN). These displays acted as interactive layers, displaying video, composite images, and live footage. The video on these curtains would at times hide the band members behind them, become partially transparent to allow them to be seen, and even seem to open holes up to display each band member as they played.
At one point in the show, one of the members went up to the display that had four rows of squares (as seen in the photo above) and by touching each square, he was able to change the beat that the drum machine played. Amazing.
For a better idea of what I'm talking about, you can check out NIN's official YouTube channel.
This was by far the best concert I have ever attended. I highly recomend you check out their tour page as check them out when they come to a town near you. Even if you're not a die-hard fan, the tricked-out displays and video accompaniment alone are worth the ticket price.
Comments (3)
Thanks for posting this review. I've been hearing a lot about the new visual stuff Trent is doing on this tour, sounds awesome. Definitely thinking about making the stop when it comes to town.
Any other details? Set list?
As a "newb" to NIN, I gotta say, the tour sounds awesome. Trent hooked me with Ghosts, then The Slip, and the Lights Over North America sampler.
Sadly, I don't think they're coming to KC, only as close as St. Louis.
kk
I almost didn't go this time because I had missed out on the ticket pre-sale nin.com had (if you haven't checked out the site yet.. it is one of the best band sites out there). It just so happened that my partner won two tickets through work so I actually went for free.
@astronot
Another memorable moment was during Ghosts 17 (I think). The three screens were down; the first (in front of Trent) was transparent, the second screen had some trees, the third had trees around a pond. A few seconds into the song, rain slowly started to come down on the front screen, then the second screen, then rain drops started to appear on the pond in the back. The rain increased in intensity until you could hardly see past it. Then as Trent started to play the xylophone, the rain opened up around him like a bubble so we could see through it. Once again, it's hard to describe but amazing to see in person.
I had to look the setlist up since I have a horrible memory, but the songs played that night were as follows:
1. "999,999"
2. "1,000,000"
3. "Letting You"
4. "Discipline"
5. "March Of The Pigs"
6. "Head Down"
7. "The Frail"
8. "Closer"
9. "Meet Your Master"
10. "Gave Up"
11. "The Warning"
12. "The Great Destroyer"
13. "Ghosts 17"
14. "Ghosts 21"
15. "Ghosts 19"
16. "Ghosts Piggy"
17. "The Greater Good"
18. "Pinion"/"Wish"
19. "Terrible Lie"
20. "Survivalism"
21. "Ghosts 31"
22. "Only"
23. "The Hand That Feeds"
24. "Head Like A Hole"
25. "Echoplex"
26. "God Given"
27. "Getting Smaller"
28. "Hurt"
29. "In This Twilight"
@Konkrypton
That's too bad NIN won't be visiting your area this time around. They have visited Kansas City before so I'm sure you'll get a chance to see them sometime soon. Word is that after The Slip, he's been working on a more polished album to be released (posibly a Year Zero Pt.2 to corispond with an HBO show based on the fiction world it's based in). After that, there's another wolrd-wide tour planned.