Live-Metal.Net - Concerts: NIN

The Electric Factory
May 19, 2005
Philadelphia, PA.

By JEFF MAKI

It had been 11 years since I had seen Nine Inch Nails live with Marilyn Manson and the Jim Rose Circus. What I got was a solid performance by one of the greatest rock icons of our time.

Dresden Dolls
We arrived a little late to the show but managed to catch the last few songs of the Dresden Dolls’ set. I'm not sure what to make of this band, and I'm confused as to why they are on Roadrunner Records. They are anything but metal. Nonetheless, I was kind of impressed.

The Dresden Dolls are made up of Amanda Palmer on piano vocals and Brian Viglione on drums. That's it, a two person band. You could best describe the Dresden Dolls as a more artsy and weirded-out Cranberries (yeah, the 90s alternative band). The songs I heard were kind of catchy, but gloomy at the same time. "Half-Jack" caught my ear, and definitely resembled the aforementioned Cranberries. The songs seemed to drag, and there's not much you can do with just two people. If you’re in the mood for something off the wall and different, I recommend them.

Nine Inch Nails
NIN took the stage after about a 30-minute set, opening with "The Frail" into "The Wretched." As the crowd surged forward, NIN proceeded to deliver the hits, including "March of the Pigs," "Piggy," "Terrible Lie," "Wish," "Burn" (a nice surprise), "Suck," "Gave Up," "Starfuckers Inc.," "The Day the World Went Away," "Closer," "The Hand that Feeds," and "Hurt." It was literally a greatest hits set, with a few new tracks thrown in the mix. The crowd responded best to songs from Broken (my favorite NIN album) and Pretty Hate Machine.

The 2005 version of Trent Reznor is not the skinny guy in fishnets of a decade ago. Trent stomped and stalked about the stage in like Glenn Danzig. He has definitely been in the weight room. It was kind of weird to see this huge, muscle-bound guy, playing the more pop-oriented songs from Pretty Hate Machine. It was still good, don’t get me wrong, just kind of funny.

The stage set-up was hard on the eyes, with a wall of synchronized lights behind the band. Maybe I'm getting older, but when the strobes went off, my eyes hurt so bad I thought I was going to have a seizure. Still, it was a neat little set up for this club tour. The band seemed to be plagued by sound problems off and on all night. When Trent's mic cut out during "Head Like A Hole" he went nuts, yelling, “Something’s about to get broken!” He followed that by throwing mic stands at the sound guy, throwing instruments and other equipment, and storming around the stage. It reminded me of the “March of the Pigs” video. The sound didn't effect the set much. The With Teeth touring band sounded like a pretty tight-knit group.

Highlights for me were "Terrible Lie," "Wish," "Burn" and my favorite, "March Of The Pigs."

Set List:
The Frail
The Wretched
You Know What You Are?
The Line Begins to Blur
March of the Pigs
Piggy
Terrible Lie
Burn
Closer (with The Only Time breakdown)
Reptile
The Big Comedown
Gave Up
The Day the World Went Away
Suck
No, You Don't
Even Deeper
Wish
Hurt
The Hand That Feeds
Starfuckers, Inc.
Head Like a Hole