Nine Inch Nails – Brisbane Riverstage 7th May 2007
‘And god himself will reach his fucking arm through’ cause it’s about to start raining tonight for NINs return after a year and a bit since the last tour. After trying to fawn off an extra ticket for free (harder than you’d expect), I ended up giving it to a random. I went into a sea of black fishnets and shiny leather pants. This is a bit of an odd tour. It’s meant to be ‘live and up close’, but this stop of the tour is at a venue that can be used as an outdoor festival. There’s minimal lighting and stage equipment, but there’s food stalls on top of the hill. No back drop on stage, just bare brick wall. This is live and intimate done in a large amphitheatre. Quite odd.
Sarena Maneesh are the support band, I was unfamiliar with them. And after tonight, I’ll probably stay unfamiliar with them. Their wall of guitar sounds didn’t mesh with the stagnant vocal deliveries making every song sound same-y.
The lights popped on after they left to reveal yet more black haircuts and big black boots. It wasn’t long before the lights popped off again to reveal the night sky was looking clogged with low hung grey clouds. I hadn’t even factored into the equation that it might rain at this open air venue. It’s Brisbane. A distorted bass cranked up with no intro music(no Pinion at a NIN gig? whoulda thunk it), and a pummel of drums came into create a live intro for HYPERPOWER!. It’s a little bit modified from the album version and sans Trent on stage as well. It only last a few minutes before it leads right into The Beginning of the End. Sweet I think, they are playing songs from the new album, it’s going to be an album launch style show, not a greatest hits. There is almost no lighting at the start of the song and the only real light comes from house lights behind the stage, it kicks in half way through with flash strobes and some ‘operating lab’ white dish strobes. Could’ve been a mix-up at the start with the lights. The song sounds vibrant, and trent is in a camo jacket and unshaven with a spiked haircut that makes him look like Columbian Drug Cartel that he talks about on his websites. It’s a fast hitting momentum and the crowd is loving it so much they unfold into Survivalism. Regradless if people don’t like this song as an album track, it translates well live and even has crowd participation in the chorus. The rain is suddenly highlighted when lights point to the crowd to reveal just how hard it’s pouring down. To keep the congregation riled up we step into a Downward Sprial mini set March of the Pigs, Piggy, Heresy and Closer. MotP and Heresy have been changed up a little big with slightly different bass lines which work well. Closer has the same Only Time breakdown as the last time they came. By the time Burn and Gave Up came up, the rain is starting to seep through to my forehead, but with the strobe lights, it looks cool as fuck, and adds a bit of atmosphere to the place. I start to wonder though, where are the new songs amongst all of this? Help Me I am in Hell lonely vacates the stage to Aaron and Alessandro make atmospherics (crowd hand claps too) of the song before the disciplined chops of Josh hammering on Eraser come in. This is why Josh Freese is in demand as a drummer. He’s entertaining as well as a disciplined hitter. The songs beat remains the same for about two minutes, but he turns it into a martial arts strike fest that is really interesting to watch. La Mer played by Trent, Alessandro and Aaron softens the mood. And in a jolt to the momentum of the show Wish comes straight in followed by No You Don’t. My fear that Year Zero is going to be left with the first two songs is only kept alive when Suck, the Big Comedown, Down in It and Only come up. Some of these songs I’d never even seen live before, but felt like I knew them too well anyway to care. Hurt sounds great as a piano driven ballad, even with indistinguishable yelling from certain people in the crowd before the entire band brings the song to a close.
They quickly delve into The Hand that Feeds and Head Like a Hole and leave the stage with house music into to make sure there’s no inkling of an encore. The rain has died off now as well.
I have to say I’m over the ‘greatest hits’ sets that Australia gets. It worked for the Big Day Out. Was enjoyable as a comeback show in 2005. But there’s a new album out, where’s the new sense of urgency to get these songs heard in a live environment? And on a personal note, no We’re in this Together? It was still a mostly great show, but dragged at the end. I was happiest in the first 5 songs.
and Josh Freese was going ballistic in No You Don't. Some tool kept yelling out something during Hurt, I suppose you always get them at concerts. It started raining during one of the songs, can't remember which one but it suited the mood perfectly.
