NIN|JA

Last night I saw the NINJA (Nine Inch Nail, Jane's Addcition) concert at Cricket Pavillion in Phoenix, AZ. I didn't have any set expectations for the show as I have never seen Jane's Addiction before; but I did see NIN open up for David Bowie in 1995. They were spectacular and I was left scraching my head as to why they were opening up for David Bowie... who is 25 years past his time. But I digress.

We arrived to the show after Street Sweeper performed. We had lawn seats and hadn't made our way into the lawn yet when the first headliner took the stage. I was quite curious as to who was actually going to merit top billing on this tour months before the concert. I did some poking around on internet forums to get some answers and I didn't find any defnitive responses as to the format of the show. I read that NIN was going to be the main act. I also read that Jane's Addiction was going to be the main act. And I also read that they were considering alternating the order per show. So I didn't know what to expect up until showtime.

The first main act started playing as we were getting settled in and it was NIN. I immediately shook my head and said to myself 'you gotta be kidding me'. Don't get me wrong, I love JA. But

it has been rumored that this was it for NIN and this would be their final tour. If this were the case I would think NIN would get top billing without question. But I was looking forward to both bands so the order was not a huge issue for me. But to me it would have made more sense for JA to open up for NIN. But anyway, on to the show. A brief history lesson if you are not familiar with NIN. NIN is pretty much Trent Reznor. He writes and produces the music, and is the singer. He basically makes the music and then when it comes time to tour he compiles a group of hired guns to play the instruments. The first couple of songs were not their best ('Home' and '1,000,000'). I question coming out with those songs. As a concert goer for many years I say the best approach is to come out with something strong and knock 'em in the teeth with something powerful that everyone knows. That would have been a better way to get the crowd going early. But then they started playing some of their better songs and I started getting into it more. Their fifth song was one of (if not my favorite) NIN song - 'Something I can never have'. If you don't know this song, it's pretty much Reznor belting out some really powerful and dark lyrics over industrial riffs. I must say that was worth the price of admission right there. Reznor's voice is still amazing after all these years. And he gives such an intense performance during those songs. I will admit that I had chills during that song. He has a phenominal voice. And he made all the girls melt over the course of his performance. The energy level picked up after that with some more up-tempo songs leading up to 'Head like a hole'; everyone went crazy for that song as it's the NIN anthom for an industrial age. They nailed it. They ended their set with 'Hurt'. Another winning performance by Reznor. He had the whole audience in his hands. I can't emphasize what an amazing singer this guy is. He's got a perfect voice for that genre. That was their final song but I could have listened to them for another hour. The bantor in between songs was minimal and set including the light show was bare bones. But I'm ok with that. Never been a huge fan for lame theatrics. To me that usually means that the band isn't good enought to carry their show with the music and talent. A great set for NIN. My only complaint was that the big screens were not functioning for the first have of their show. That was dissapointing for all of us lawn jockies.

The break between NIN and JA was short. One cool thing JA did was when the lights went down they showed a clip from a movie called 'The River Wild' with Kevin Bacon and Meryl Streep. This was an actual scene from the movie where a young boy was admiring Kevin's Jane's Addiction hat. The boy went on to comment how he had wished he got to see JA before they broke up. Then the curtian dropped and JA started rocking. That was pretty cool. I actually remember that scene in the movie.... well because that's what I do. Remember every stupid piece of useless detail from movies. JA as a whole was much more mellow than I figured they would be. Granted they have been doing their thing for many years and those guys must be in their forties. Definitely a different vibe than NIN. Much more of a melodic and musical emphasis. One noteable item to mention here is that this was the original Jane's Addiction including their original bass player and guitar player - Dave Navarro, who did a stint with the Red Hot Chilli Peppers for some time. So that was kind of a big deal. Physically, Perry Ferrell is looking his age. Full head of hair but his face looks like an old saddle bag. Wheras Dave Navarro looks the part of a full on rock guiarist. Shirt off, ripped, all tatted up - belting out guitar riff after guitar riff. And I must admit Navarro is a much better guitar player than I ever gave him credit for. I never really envisioned him as a solid axe man; but he proved to be quite talented and during some of the songs where they extended, Navarro got to flex his guitar muscles and bust out some bluesy riffs and tear it up. That was pretty cool. JA focused mainly on their old staples. Which is perfectly fine with me. I am a huge fan of Nothing's Shocking. They played Ocean Size, Ted just admin it..., Summertime Rolls, Mountain Song, Pigs in Zen and of course Jane Says. Perry Ferrell played with the crowd during the course of their whole set. Much more bantor than Reznor. Overall I say that JA was enteraining. Not a heck of a lot of energy from the crowd though. That was quite dissapointing. I don't know what it was, but it wasn't that lively for NIN either. One gripe I have with the JA set was they played nothing from Strays (2003). I think that was a quality album and I think they should have played at least one song. Oh well.

Overall the both shows were entertaining. Boths bands had their own different vibe respectively. The crowd was a little too laxed for my taste. But both bands had solid performances and I would recommend catching this tour if you get a chance.

-Jim