[kj] Nine Inch Nails/Janes Addiction in Irvine, CA

[Alexander Smith]

Nice, detailed reporting there. Much appreciated. Don't feel so bad  
about missing it now.

Alex in NYC



On May 21, 2009, at 4:20 PM, The Mighty TB wrote:


> Headed to Irvine around 5:30 from Huntington Beach, rush hour  

> traffic really log jammed around John Wayne airport making a simple  

> 20 minute drive stretch out to almost an hour. Irvine Verizon is  

> notoriously shitty getting in and out of because of the single road  

> leading in and out and the non-existent traffic control by Irvine's  

> finest. So as always, I parked in the free main lot on the isle near  

> the $20 parking lot for what I figured should be an easy exit after  

> the show (more on that later). I had packed a backpack with my old  

> analog Hi8 camcorder, my digital camera, a bunch of batteries,  

> tapes, bottled water and a bunch of other shit.

>

> Getting my ticket at the Jane's will call window was a piece of cake  

> although it appeared they had all the GA Pit tickets in one pile in  

> no discernable order in a box so the chick had to sort through every  

> ticket to find mine with my name on it. Another benefit of buying  

> the ticket through Jane's (or NIN's) website was that I didn't have  

> to wait in the huge, slow moving line to get in the venue, those  

> ticket holders got to get in right at the front. The downside was  

> despite all the shit I was carrying, they wouldn't allow the  

> backpack(!) itself. So I had to walk back to my car and figure out  

> what I wanted to carry in and what I wanted to leave in the car. So  

> I took the camcorder, batteries and tape in my pockets and left  

> everything else except my ID and money.

>

> Got in and down to the sparsely filled pit about 5 minutes before  

> Street Sweeper Social Club came on for a 30 minute set. IMO, they  

> come off as a slightly watered down version of Rage Against The  

> Machine - they have the same vibe and themes but the anger and overt  

> aggression isn't nearly as intense. A lot more edgy than Audioslave  

> though. Tom Morello is as always pretty amazing on guitar and singer  

> Boots Riley makes for a formidable frontman. It kinda bugged me that  

> one of their songs is basically The Clash's "Straight To Hell" with  

> new lyrics. Still, an enjoyable set and I filmed their opening song  

> which killed the first of 3 batteries I brought with me which made  

> me nervous that lugging all this shit was gonna be a waste of time.

>

> Nine Inch Nails came on just as it was getting dark and the venue  

> was still only 2/3rds full as many people were still rushing to  

> their seats. Really no warning, just the start of "Now I'm Nothing"  

> as the band comes on stage. The run of songs between 1,000,000 and  

> Reptile made for probably the best half hour of NIN I've caught in  

> the 6 or 7 times I've seen them since '91. Of course, finally seeing  

> Heresy live was the peak of the set for me. Around a really punkish  

> version of March Of The Pigs, a small group started moshing in the  

> center of the pit but it never got out of hand although it was kinda  

> funny watching these knuckleheads try to keep things going during  

> slow, mellow songs like "The Way Out Is Through."

>

> As NIN have been playing drastically different sets every night this  

> tour, there is no way to predict what the next song will be and as  

> Trent said midway through the set, "we aren't playing the hits"  

> which ultimately led to no "Closer" or "Hurt" (which was on the  

> setlist as the last song). The stage is basically their gear  

> cluttered in a rather confining space that almost looks like a  

> rehearsal studio with a really massive bank of strobing lights on  

> the back wall. The sets seem to be geared towards the hardcore NIN  

> fan and also appear to challenge the patience of the casual or fist  

> timer who's expecting either the hits and/or a non-stop agro-fest.  

> Still plenty of great deep cuts but a stretch of songs starting with  

> "The Fragile" that seemed to loss the general audience and killed  

> the momentum of the first half of the show that never really picked  

> back up except for during "Wish" until the last two songs of the  

> set. Trent has assembled a really lean, no-frills band and stage  

> show for this tour and I have to hand it to the guy, he really gives  

> 110% and was soaked by the end of the set. Onstage, he's a real  

> tough character to read. I can't tell if he's enjoying his  

> performance and the crowds reaction (or lack of). He just goes  

> through the set in a very focused way with very little interaction  

> with his audience beyond an occasional "thank you."

>

> After NIN ended their set, I tried getting a shirt and maybe a drink  

> but the lines were simply retardedly slow at every stand so I blew  

> that off and went back down in the pit with only minutes to spare  

> before Jane's came on. The opening video clip from "River's Edge  

> with Kevin Bacon was all fucked up which led to some booing in the  

> audience which followed into the opening bass lines of "Three Days."  

> More than ever after seeing this shaky opening and Perrys very weak,  

> tentative vocals on the song, I am convinced that while a noble  

> experiment that perhaps under the most ideal of circumstances would  

> work as a atmospheric introduction to Jane's set, Three Days is  

> *not* the right opening song for a big crowd.

>

> The band was tight and powerful throughout their set. I really can't  

> fault anyone's playing although Dave's solos/tone on some songs is a  

> bit too "rawk" these days, I really can't complain although I don't  

> care for his wah peddle shortcuts on Mountain Song's solo. Also,  

> tuning *way* down really affects the overall vibe and tempo of some  

> songs like Whores and Had A Dad in particular which had more plod  

> than swing this tour. Which leads to Perry......

>

> There's a huge divide between the good and bad in Perry 2009. On one  

> hand, his overall stage persona and even goofy dress style works  

> good as and maybe better than any time since 1991. As a frontman,  

> he's turned into Diamond David Lee Roth circa 1983. However, like  

> Roth in '83, his voice has also really lost whatever edge and meager  

> power it once had. He has to sing in a lower key and his vocals on  

> Three Days were so weak and tentative, I thought he was suffering  

> from a cold although he did improve sporadically throughout the rest  

> of the set. But then he'd barely murmur unintelligible vocals for  

> songs like "Ted~". He rarely used his little echo box to any  

> noticeable effect as he seemed more preoccupied being Toastmaster  

> General of Irvine. Still, weak singing aside, he held the crowd in  

> his hand the entire show and was physically running around the stage  

> like his little leg injury was a thing of the past.

>

> Eric generally kept to his zone on stage left and sounded great. It  

> was pretty cool watching him play bass sitting casually on the PA  

> cabinets on the side of the stage with his feet kicking around like  

> a little kid at the beach for Summertime Rolls. Perkins was his  

> usual monster on the kit, the guy is just an incredible drummer. I  

> can also hear some double bass drumming on the tail end of Three  

> Days so there is a reason for the double bass kit, guys.

>

> Overall, while this is "Jane's" as far as purists are concerned, it  

> is a very different animal than 1987 - 1991. I hate to say it, but  

> this tour at least looks to be a cash grab on the back of nostalgia  

> of what this band did over 2 decades ago. They love playing in front  

> of big audiences, they love playing the old songs but there's a very  

> strange dynamic within the band right now that's tough to put a  

> finger on. Make no mistake, there were moments of near transcendence  

> that equaled anything I recall from seeing them on the Nothings  

> Shocking and Ritual tours such as the very brief bit inbetween songs  

> where Perry mention Jane's first show at this venue in the late 80's  

> with Social Distortion and X and the band played a short sample of  

> X's "Hungry Wolf."  But there were also some major instances where I  

> felt I was watching a band stuck in cabaret. Perry's big rock star  

> silliness and Eric's odd disappearance before the band could take  

> their final bows at the end of their set only accentuates this. They  

> *need* to start taking big chances with the set beyond shuffling a  

> couple songs in the running order. And that doesn't even address new  

> music.

>

> The crowd was generally really well behaved, at least in the pit.  

> Asshole factor was almost non-existent - I was expecting a *lot*  

> more moshing, especially for NIN's set based on previous shows. It  

> was never overly crowded and I could move pretty freely anywhere I  

> wanted to be as long as it was about 10 feet back from the stage.  

> The sound for all three bands was near perfect. Getting out of the  

> parking lot after the show was a major ordeal. There's really no  

> good way to get out in a reasonable amount of time unless you skip a  

> song or two and leave early at the end of the show. It took a  

> fucking hour to get out and 15 minutes to drive home.

>

> Filming turned out to be a bit of a headache and was the only real  

> negative for me totally getting into and enjoying the show. Because  

> my camcorder is old standard def, bulky and had a built-in big LED  

> screen and thus a bit heavy coupled with the fact I had to hold it  

> over heads in front of me to get an unobstructed view, it became a  

> marathon for my arms after a while. Add to that I was constantly  

> aware of declining battery power, switching the tape and keeping a  

> eye out for someone crashing into me, taping did take away a bit  

> from my enjoyment of the show. A long way from the old days of '80 -  

> '83 when I'd use my AIWA deck with the mics taped to my shoulders  

> and still enjoy the show without worrying overmuch about taping a  

> concert.

>

> I wound up recording SSSC opening song, the first half of NIN's set  

> and a couple songs later in their set and all of Jane's set. After  

> reviewing some of the footage, I discovered that the sound badly  

> clipped on the bass so while visually most of the footage looks  

> really good, it sounds pretty rough. Once a really good sounding  

> torrent of the show comes out, I'll probably wed my footage to the  

> better sounding audio. I'm in the process of uploading a few raw  

> multi-song clips to YouTube which I'll link later today. All said  

> and done, I salute tapers who sacrifice some measure of their  

> enjoyment of concerts for people like myself to listen and watch  

> later. I won't be doing this again.

>

> Overall, even though I saw Jane's 2 of the 3 club shows they did  

> before this tour, rag a bit on Perry and I'm a bit burned out on  

> NIN, I can say without a doubt this was a overall great show and  

> well worth catching for those sitting on the fence about going or  

> not. I also want to say the way both bands treat there fans this  

> tour as far as how smooth and generous the prime tickets were made  

> available as well as the unrestricted taping policy really made this  

> show a special event for me.

>

> T.B.

>

> Setlist:

>

> Street Sweeper Social Club

> 01. Intro

> 02. Fight! Smash! Win!

> 03. Somewhere In The World Its Midnight

> 04. Paper Planes

> 05. The Oath

> 06. 100 Little Curses

> 07. Promenade

> 08. Nobody Moves (Til We Say Go)

>

> NIN

> 01. Now Im Nothing

> 02. Terrible Lie

> 03. 1,000,000

> 04. Heresy

> 05. March of the Pigs

> 06. Metal

> 07. Reptile

> 08. Survivalism

> 09. The Becoming

> 10. Mr. Self Destruct

> 11. The Fragile

> 12. Gone, Still

> 13. The Way Out Is Through

> 14. Wish

> 15. Echoplex

> 16. The Day The World Went Away

> 17. The Hand That Feeds

> 18. Head Like A Hole

>

> Janes

> 01. Three Days

> 02. Whores

> 03. Ain’t No Right

> 04. Pigs in Zen

> 05. Mountain Song

> 06. Had a Dad

> 07. Been Caught Stealing

> 08. Ted, Just Admit It

> 09. Ocean Size

> 10. Summertime Rolls

> 11. Stop

> 12. Jane Says _______________________________________________

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