[kj] (OT) NIN

[Bette Dillinger]

I read in one review that Trent Reznor is an heir to a large fortune.  I am not saying money is happiness, but it does make a nice down payment.  Do any of the musos floating around here know what he is heir to?  It is something electrical (I am *so* technical in my descriptions, I know)........
 

> Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2009 12:37:48 +1300

> From: bq at soundgardener.co.nz

> To: gathering at misera.net

> Subject: Re: [kj] (OT) Jane's Addiction at Echoplex in LA Last Night

> 

> Gonna be 'interesting' to see how the NIN / Jane's Addiction shows pan out.

> 

> My impressions of last night's NIN gig:

> 

> Meh. With the emphasis on the 'eh'.

> 

> I TRIED to like NIN. I went to all the effort of stealing Trentnor's

> life's work, listening to it on train and plane journeys, walking in to

> work and feeling incongruously anti-social (and anachronistic) while

> docile passersby passed by, oblivious to the fact that I was listening to

> something that sounded like a hardcore remake of the Metropolis soundtrack

> (1994 Crack Remix).

> 

> ...familiarised myself with Pretty Hate Machine (I passed on the 2/3 of

> his album collection where he remixes his own stuff…yawn), which I had

> never picked up before because of the awful name.

> 

> So I was relatively familiar with NIN, at least moreso than previously,

> when my appreciation was limited to the Quake soundtrack (sounds like Tool

> lite) and "that song that Johnny Cash does better." And Perfect

> Drug...which always had me scratching my head as to why it was on such

> high rotate. (Surely these guys do better stuff than this?)

> 

> The opening band's promo photo looked so shit I didn't even bother

> listening to anything online to see what they were like. (This admittedly

> renders the rest of my review useless due to extreme prejudice but

> hey...just being honest. Don't pretend you're not the same).

> 

> NIN - sound quality was mildly mucky, not awful, and probably not their

> fault. Smallish crowd for the venue (half to two thirds of the ~10 000

> seat venue filled). Good light show, basic but good impact. Overall...some

> pretty solid material. A fair bit of it sounds samey to me, and I really

> wouldn’t rate them up there with their 90s contemporaries (Soundgarden,

> Tool, Rage Against the Machine, Ministry) for impact, depth, breadth, or

> range. Anyway, a *relatively* solid gig, but a few things gave away that

> it was a phone-in, in a disappointing way. Practically no acknowledgement

> of the crowd, no encore, and “this is probably going to be our last show

> in New Zealand" quoth Trentnor half-way through, in one of the perhaps two

> times he deigned to address the audience. Seemed to fuck half the audience

> off, and rightly so. That was it, not "hey this might be the last time I

> play here so let's rip shit up." More like..."this is probably the last

> time I'm gonna fuck you up the ass, not sure if I can come, anyway, just

> thought I'd share...FYI. Now breathe out and clench."

> 

> Yeah no worries, thanks for the newsflash, it's certainly gonna be the

> last time you get any money from me (I bought 2 tix), and a lot of others

> in the crowd like me who have seen better, more considerate bands try to

> disguise a phone-in, or dredge up enough energy from the crowd to find

> some reason to enjoy being there.

> 

> No encore despite most of the crowd giving it heaps for 10 mins, futiley

> as the stage was dismantled immediately the black-clad phoners in left.

> 

> That was the more objective impression. This is what part of me really

> thinks:

> 

> Go home and polish your Grammys and play Hurt to yourself on your synth

> you never-really-has-been. There's a reason I wasn't into NIN and I'm glad

> I had my suspicions confirmed. 80% of their songs sound the same. Sub par

> lyrics, predictable anthems for 14-year old sexually ambivalent teens to

> half-heartedly self-harm to in the privacy of their bedrooms in between

> Evanescence CDs.

> 

> Note to self: Don't ever bend over backwards trying to like something you

> don't.

> 

> > Jane's Addiction, reunited with original bass player Eric Avery has been

> > doing a few low key warm-up bar and club shows in LA the past few months

> > before they go out on tour with Nine Inch Nails in late Spring. I caught

> > last night's show at the Echoplex club which was their third appearance

> > together since all four members began working together again.

> >

> > It turned out to be an excellent if short show, mostly better than the

> > tiny

> > El Cid bar show #2 which I caught last December. Only things I think El

> > Cid

> > was marginally better was being a tiny club, much more intense energy from

> > the crowd that show. I think Perry sounded better there as well.

> >

> > It had been raining really hard much of the day in Southern California and

> > I

> > was really on the fence about going or not right up to about 6pm. I went

> > for it and got to the Echoplex (in Echo Park) around 8:15 and a huge line

> > of 200 - 300 people was winding along the building and it quickly because

> > obvious some people didn't have or even know about the RSVP thing. Light

> > rain had just stopped and it was cool but at least dry. The line started

> > moving as they left small groups of about 10 - 15 people in at a time to

> > get

> > their ID checked for a wristband, then get their ID checked against a list

> > at the door from the website registration rsvps. Saw a couple people

> > turned

> > away in front of me but later saw them inside so its possible they had

> > enough room for people who basically walked up to see the show after the

> > majority of RSVP'ers got in. Considering my own feelings this method of

> > getting people in the show could have turned into a real mess, it seems

> > like

> > it turned out to be well run with few problems.

> >

> > My first time at Echoplex. Kind of a weird room, the mixing desk kinda

> > bisects the club in half so if your in the back, you gotta stand on some

> > boxes to get a decent view. Pretty laid back, almost too mellow of a

> > crowd

> > especially for the opening band "Dot," which was kind of a more ambient,

> > dissonant noise version of Secret Machines. Band shows some promise, but

> > the singer was hardly audible, partly because he rarely projected himself

> > but moreso because the vocals were mixed way too far down (same for Perry

> > during Jane's set). They got a decent response from the crowd, more

> > respect

> > than actual adoration. Frankly, I thought they were boring.

> >

> > There was a long wait, made somewhat manageable by the selections whoever

> > was DJ'ing played a good amount of Killing Joke ("Change"), Bauhaus,

> > Cramps

> > ("New Kind Of Kick" got a huge response), Bowie and a few other favs on

> > the

> > PA.

> >

> > About 11:15, Jane's strolled on the stage and ground into Up The Beach. I

> > think it was played half a step down and a bit slower. Eric had more room

> > to

> > prowl and stomp tonight so he'd either be doing his tribal stomp to songs

> > like Mountain Song or Ocean Size or locked into his zone often staring up

> > at

> > the ceiling playing Pigs in Zen. Tonight, Dave was more on the mark most

> > of

> > the show that the 2nd show, Perkins was simply 100% a precision human

> > piledriver. The man is simply an incredible drummer. Perry unfortunately

> > I

> > have to say was the weak link. Not a lot of power in his voice, didn't

> > really make a lot of use of his little echo toolbox and took a lot longer

> > than the rest of the band to loosen up as the set progressed. I will say

> > when they got to Been Caught Stealing, he was up with the rest of the band

> > and loosened up enough to bullshit and introduce most of the remaining

> > songs.

> >

> > I do think in a lot of ways this reunion, especially how Perry carries

> > himself these days reminds me of the recent David Lee Roth/Van Halen

> > reunion

> > in the way both frontmen have dropped the more manic, physical aspect of

> > their stage persona due to age and are more like Vegas car dealers doing

> > their shtick for the rubes. At times, Perry was genuinely funny but when

> > he

> > used forced, awkward analogies to introduce each of the last few songs, it

> > got hackneyed.

> >

> > Most of the songs from a performance standpoint sounded excellent.

> > Mountain

> > Song is played by Dave a bit differently now, a bit more RAWK! like

> > someone

> > like Billy Duffy would play the tune. The band was very tight with one

> > major

> > exception. The only song I thought kinda missed the mark was the one I was

> > most excited to hear, Ted, which lacked an "edge" it's had in the past and

> > never really got out of third gear and came close to falling apart the

> > last

> > couple minutes as the band kind of careened a bit out of time with each

> > other.

> >

> > But I'll tell you what, "Stop" was fucking perfect. Clearly the best

> > performed song of the set and got great audience participation. "Had a

> > Dad"

> > and "Ocean Size" ended the 2 song encore and the short barely hour long

> > set

> > was done.

> >

> >>From a crowd standpoint, the asshole factor was low but there were a few

> > lobcocks who'd careen around like big, sweaty, smelly dreidels. One

> > grinning drunk slob who looked like Seth Rogan got hoisted up for some

> > crowd

> > surfing and got maybe 5 feet before being dumped on the ground like a sack

> > of shit. He later wound up getting on the stage on Erics side and then

> > flopped off the stage like a beached whale.

> >

> > All n' all though, a great night even if it was too short and I *really*

> > wanted to hear "Three Days."

> >

> > Setlist:

> >

> > Up The Beach

> > Trip Away (on the setlist but not played)

> > Whores

> > 1%

> > Ain't No Right

> > Mountain Song

> > Been Caught Stealing

> > Ted Just Admit It.

> > Stop!

> > (encore)

> > Had a Dad

> > Ocean Size

> >

> > T.B.

> >

> > _______________________________________________

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> >

> 

> 

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