[NOTE: This post is re-written for entry to the Citypages Critic of the Year Contest:]


NIN Concert Review – 11 Rocktober, 2005

After washing away the blood and sweat (some of it my own) left behind after an evening with Trent Reznor, et al. I am ready to give a reasonable recounting of the Nine Inch Nails concert at the Xcel Energy Center.

The venue: Two words; Fuh Sillities. Plenty of places to load up and unload your bladder. Clean clean clean. Fantastic sound system. Well done.

The crowd: I have been to all NIN concerts here in MN since the Downward Spiral tour, and the crowd has changed substantially over the years. Very few in the crowd wore the faded black gang colors of my industrial/goth brethren. Many of them look like people you stood in line next to at Rainbow last week. Ages ran the gamut.

The show: Trent Reznor does not talk much in concert. He does not take requests. He does not care if you mosh while he plays peaceful, minimalist movements like “Right Where It Belongs”. He does not care if you stand unmoving and transfixed, your lighter in the air during “Hurt”. He does not care if the crowd sings the chorus to “Terrible Lie” so loudly that he does not have to. He does not care if you cower in fear for your life while the crowd becomes blissfully suicidal during the encore, “Bite The Hand That Feeds”.

He does not care. Period. The man is pissed off and willing to share, and hardly mellowed with age. His anger is still contagious and therapeutic. This is church for me and many others. Hallelujah.

Conrad Zero

Labels: Concert, music reviews, NIN, Open Letter