Nine Inch Nails
openers were Bauhaus and Peaches
LOCATION:
Friday 6/16 PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ
Saturday 6/17: Nikon at Jones Beach Theater, Wantagh, NY (Long Island)
PRICE:
About $67 after Ticketmaster charges
DETAILS:
CONCESSIONS:
I didn't buy anything at either place, but I noticed at PNC that funnel cake was $5.50. Parking was free at both venues. Which surprised me at PNC because normally they charge $30 for "Premier Parking", which means you can park closer to the door if you're richer than the rest of us who don't mind walking the extra five minutes. But I noticed the lot attendants sent us latecomers into the VIP lot, which I was totally cool with.
VIEW:
FRIDAY: Seat was 11th row center. I could see Trent when the two guys in front of me would stop swaying side to side or when they would sit down.
SATURDAY: Not sure of the exact row I was in, but maybe 20somethingth row (Orchestra G, row CC). I was actually alright with not being right up front because I wanted to get a better sense of the light show. However, I was more to the right of the stage, so I still didn't get the full sense. Oh well. Anyway, I could see everything. Except when the couple in front of of me decided to lean in and talk to each other about who knows what for a few minutes, or when they just HAD to hug during the slow songs and "Closer." Note to people who go to shows with me: don't start a full length conversation with me during a show. It's just as bad as talking during a movie. A comment here and there is fine. But if I was one of the two people in this couple, I would have just acted like I couldn't hear them and ignored them for the show.
PRE-SHOW VIBE:
Friday was weird for me. I had class in the city all day and was dead tired from being up too late the night before, so I had to take a nap from 5-6pm. Waking up at dinner time is kind of surreal. Anyway, I had traffic both nights. Friday going to NJ wasn't as bad, but Good Lord going to Long Island SUCKKKKKED. It should have taken me about 1h 15min to get there, but it took 2 hours because I had the misfortune of driving in the neighborhood of the US Open Golf event right as it was letting out. I basically was in a parking lot on the Hutch for almost an hour. Then I was stuck on the Cross Island forever and I still don't know why. Frustrated, I went on a Stern Show Crazy Alice-style cursing spree about Long Island to myself ("F**K YOU US OPEN! F**K YOU HUTCHINSON PARKWAY! Hi Manhattan. F**K YOU CROSS ISLAND!"). Luckily I was actually catching the Stern replay on Sirius at the time, so that kept me from having a total meltdown.
As for the crowd itself, NJ was a little more livelier since they're all boozed up. If I am not mistaken, I don't think Jones Beach serves beer which apparently severely inhibits a crowd. You could drink in the parking lot, but the cops regularly patrol the lot so you have to be all stealthy if you want to tailgate.
I didn't see either opener, except a few seconds of Bauhaus at PNC. Seriously- I walked in, saw him sing the words "Bela Lugosi's Dead", take a bow, then flounce offstage with his flowing black cape. Then the house lights went up before I knew what hit me. I was entertaining the thought of going early to Jones Beach to see Peaches, but just said screw it and went late.
ATTENDANCE:
PNC seemed pretty full but not sold out (capacity of 17,500), and Jones Beach (capacity 14,000) was definitely not sold out. The upper decks were maybe 3/4 full.
AUDIENCE:
I guess I was expecting a lot of Goth types, but there really weren't many. Most people had my something-on-a-black-t-shirt-and-jeans fashion sense. I'd say the crowd was mostly my age or slightly older.
WARDROBE:
The band wore all black and Trent looked like he went to the Fashion School of Henry Rollins. I haven't seen him around lately, so his new look kind of caught me off guard.
BACK IN THE DAY:
NOW:
STAGE SET:
Industrial Disco. I don't know how else to describe it.
The iron rods were really utilized as a lighting display. The unit would rise and fall curtain-style at different times, so sometimes the band would be behind it, sometimes it would only be partially lowered, and sometimes it was totally raised. It's hard to describe in words, so visit this link: NIN at PNC which also contains crappy YouTube video from Friday night's show.
ARI RATING (ADRENALINE RUSH INDEX - 1-10):
Frame of reference:
1= I sat in my chair motionless and felt no emotional connection
10=I walked out bruised and high off nothing but the energy of the show
FRIDAY: 10
I've always liked NIN but never got to see them live, so I just went for something to do with my night. Two songs in, I was already floored and decided to go Saturday night. The crowd was way into it and the energy was high-everyone clapping, dancing, jumping along with Trent, etc.
SATURDAY: 6
I wasn't as into it as the night before. I think it's just that Jones Beach is such a sprawling amphitheater that it is really hard to draw the crowd in and get them excited. Because of it's layout, PNC is a little more intimate even though the capacity is larger. I've noticed this with the last few shows I've seen at Jones Beach. I have heard it's because they don't serve alcohol, so the crowd isn't in a party mood. But I really think it's just the design. I've sat up in the nosebleed section and it's almost not even worth it because you're up so high that people on stage look like little dots. So I think that makes it really challenging for the performers to connect with them and create that community atmosphere.
SETLIST:
OK I'm not a NIN Superfan so I don't know all the names of the songs. Here's what I remember to the best of my ability:
You Know What You Are?
March of the Pigs
Sin
Terrible Lie
Something I Can Never Have
Wish
Suck
Hurt
Head Like a Hole
Down In It
Hand That Feeds
Closer
Only
Into the Void
There were maybe 4 or 5 other songs I didn't know including a cover of some Joy Division song.
HIGHLIGHTS:
"Sin" was awesome. Also, towards the end of "Closer" where normally it is just that repetitive beat, they mixed it up and went into the breakdown of "The Only Time" and then went back to "Closer". That was such a tease because "The Only Time" is my favorite song by them. I was totally psyched to hear "Suck" because it's pretty old and I didn't think they'd do that one. I don't even like "Down in It", but was a fan of the way they performed it live.
The sound was absolutely incredible (better at PNC), and the band was into every song. Trent's stage presence is such that I now have to put him up there in the Rock God category. He attacks every song with a vengeance. Even when he's dancing while playing the tambourine he looks scary cool. The futuristic light show might have been one of the best I've ever seen. Also, both shows were outdoors (I was covered at PNC though), and the weather was awesome. Both were perfect summer nights.
Trent barely spoke to the crowd at PNC, except thanking us for coming, how the stage setup was weird (not sure what he meant by that) and how it was a nice night. At Jones Beach he mentioned that he was grateful for all this because 5 years ago he wished he was dead (!) and how now he was really happy to finally have a band of really great friends.
LOWLIGHTS:
Jones Beach. *sigh* I'm really weird about this place. I will only go out here if it's a show I REALLY need to see since the crowd pretty much sucks and the commute out there is always ridiculous. For some reason, everyone on the f'ing planet has to drive out to Long Island every time I do. And this is really picky of me, but the wind is obnoxious to the point where it's distracting because I become focused on keeping the hair out of my face so I can see. Note to self: shave head before next Jones Beach show.
DO YOU RECOMMEND THIS SHOW? (YES/NO - EXPLAIN):
Yes. Even though Jones Beach wasn't quite the adrenaline rush I had the night before in NJ, I'm glad I went both nights.
