Nine Inch Nails - Hordern Pavillion - 19th Aug

Alex Yamakazi - Tuesday, 23 August 2005 - Print Version

Thanks to extensive recent press coverage we all know that Trent Reznor is a recovering alcoholic. I don't know if this was the reason that no alcoholic drinks were allowed in the Hordern, but if it was, then Trent you are a very spiteful man! I can forgive you though because you are also very talented and because I had enough time to guzzle down my drink before you came onstage... however I would have liked to have gotten drunker and you stopped me Trent... you stopped me!

Minor gripes aside it was a great show. No antics, no chit chat, the band were onstage on time and launched straight into proceedings opening with the atmospheric "The Frail" which melded into a bitter and aggressive rendition of "The Wretched". The crowd went wild for the hard industrial sound of old favourites "Wish" & "Sin". These were followed by a track from the new album "The Line Begins To Blur" and then the classic manic live track "March of the Pigs".

Whilst Trent is transformed, looking very different with his shaved head and toned body, he has lost none of his ability to command the full attention of a sell-out crowd. The raw emotional content of Nine Inch Nail's lyrics work perfectly live. Trent is renowned for being a perfectionist and this was reflected through the incredibly tight performance of the band. Credit must be given to the sound crew. I've never heard anyone sound that good in the Hordern.

Trent slowed things down briefly with the touching "Something I Can Never Have" before launching into another couple of tracks from the new album "The Hand That Feeds" and "With Teeth". "With Teeth" in particular was great. It's huge growling sound melding well with the venue and the amped up crowd. Next, a few older tracks "Terrible Lie" and NIN's biggest single "Closer", which of course was received with incredible enthusiasm. Another track off the new album "Home" was followed by "The Big Comedown" and "Burn". The debauched "Reptile" was next followed by another track from "With Teeth", "You Know What You Are" this is another track tailor made for live performance with the crowd chanting along "remember where you came from, remember what you are".

The last six tracks were a truly amazing farewell which almost made up for the lack of encore. First some classic dirty NIN with "Suck", lots of screaming from the girls in the audience as Trent growled the magic line "I am so dirty...on the inside". This gave way to the stark industrial thrash of "Gave Up". "Hurt" was next with Trent sounding as passionate and heartbroken as ever he has done. "Dead Souls" was next which caused a moment of confusion as the crowd tried to work out what Trent was playing before the distinctive beat kicked in. This was followed by "Starfuckers Inc", the only time in the concert that Trent spoke to the crowd and only then because our out of time clapping had apparently thrown him off. The closing track was "Head like a hole" and every audience member who has ever experienced the soulless corporate world screamed along in unison.

An incredibly impressive performance that exceeded all expectation.

Alex Yamakazi