I went to the Nine Inch Nails concert at the Xcel Energy Center last night.
It was my first Nine Inch Nails concert, and it was certainly… interesting.
NIN was a middle school favorite. I love Closer and the Perfect Drug …you know, the anthems.
This was the opening night of NIN’s Tension 2013 tour.
There were some technical glitches and he was a little tardy. Nothing serious though.
A substantial part of the concert was spent on the band’s new album, which I didn’t find terribly exciting. He did something like 5 or 6 new songs in a row, which most people didn’t seem to know.
The new material was supported by a pretty intense light show, but that did not make up for Trent Reznor’s lackluster performance.
It feels like he doesn’t know how to perform his new material.
He spent most of the new songs cemented in the same place and let his two sassy backup singers and the light show do most of the work.
Trent started playing some of his classics toward the end of the concert and that’s when the real show started. The gimmicky light show gave way to Trent flying around the stage and leading a huge sing-along.
The concert was okay but I don’t think anyone was blown away.
It’s sort of odd seeing NIN mellow out, but at least he’s still touring and performing.
Let’s just remember the good times though…
Nine Inch Nails: March Of The Pigs (1994) from Nine Inch Nails on Vimeo.
Edit: Explosions in the Sky was the opening band. Think Sigur Ros without the cool vocals. Definitely not stadium material.