It was the summer of 1994 and I had just discovered Soundgarden's SuperUnknown. Growing up on classics like The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and Pink Floyd, I had greatly ignored modern bands, but now found myself staring at a snowy-peaked mountain of music with only a month to climb before the start of high school in the fall. Pre-Internet, I did what any resourceful fourteen year-old would do when placed in this situation: I joined Columbia House.
My very first CD was The Downward Spiral.
I've wanted to see Nine Inch Nails live ever since that day fifteen (FIFTEEN!) years ago, and it must have been fate that I wouldn't catch Trent Reznor in concert until his very last tour under the Nine Inch Nails name. NIN has been traveling with Jane's Addiction for most of the Wave Goodbye tour, but with Lollapalooza coming to Chicago this Summer, Perry Ferrell and company sat out this show, leaving Tom Morello and his Street Sweeper Social Club to open for Trent at the Charter One Pavilion Friday. Then, with darkness falling over Lake Michigan and the stage smoke machines set to full, Reznor appeared out of the mist.
Nine Inch Nails played a ridiculous set covering all twenty years of their history, starting with old favorites like "Terrible Lie" before moving into the meat of The Downward Spiral. An early highlight came when Trent introduced "I'm Afraid of Americans" as "a little something I did with David Bowie." This transitioned into a more downbeat series featuring tracks like "Give Up" and "The Fragile" before erupting into an explosive triple of "Wish", "Survivalism", and "Mr. Self Destruct" (easily the climax of the show). The obligatory rendition of "Hurt" (I always cry when I hear that song) was followed by "The Hand That Feeds", which got the crowd boiling for "Head Like a Hole" and a perfect finish to a perfect concert.
Thumbs and set list are below. See my Flickr for more photos.
Nine Inch Nails // Chicago, IL // May 29, 2009
- Somewhat Damaged
- Terrible Lie
- Heresy
- March of the Pigs
- Piggy
- Metal
- The Becoming
- I'm Afraid of Americans
- Burn
- Gave Up
- The Frail
- La Mer
- The Fragile
- Gone, Still
- The Way Out is Through
- Wish
- Survivalism
- Mr. Self Destruct
- Suck
- The Day the World Went Away
- Hurt
- The Hand That Feeds
- Head Like a Hole
Tags: Nine Inch Nails, Trent Reznor
