Nine Inch Nails and Bauhaus (6-23-06)
June 27, 2006 - 10:35 a.m.
So, Nine Inch Nails and Bauhaus, Friday night. Friggin� awesome!
Admittedly, I was somewhat wishing it could have been Radiohead or Tool instead. Both bands made recent stops in Boston, but that meant snarly Boston traffic, crazy ticket prices, and an indoor venue. Sorry, kids, three strikes.
But then, there was Bauhaus. Big plus. So much so, in fact, that Tim�s friend Neil joined us. That�s one of the nice things about lawn seats. You can always add on, provided the show hasn�t already sold out.
My coworker, Tina, made it a foursome. Tina, who always has razzed me about digging the music I so dig. Tina, whose last concert was Barry Manilow. It turns out she heard some of NIN�s new stuff on the radio (on that metal station that is too stuck in the hair band �80s for my liking), and SHE LIKED IT. She proudly confessed this to me a few months back. And when I mentioned getting my ticket, her ears pricked up. �Yeah? Where are they playing? When?�
Welcome to the dark side, Tina.
(We�ll discuss a ritualistic destruction of those Barry CD�s some other time. Just kidding. That is, unless you really want to�)
Since Tim and Neil live on one side of the Bay and Tina and I on the other, we decided to go in two cars and meet up in the parking lot. The plan was to skip the first band, whoever the hell they were, and enter in time to see Bauhaus. We ascended the stairs to the lawn, and part way up, I noticed a sign I don�t recall seeing before. I took a picture of it with my (new toy) camera phone.
MOSHING MAY TAKE PLACE
BE AWARE OF YOUR
SURROUNDINGS
MOSHING AND ENTERING A
MOSHING AREA MAY BE
DANGEROUS AND BE AT YOUR OWN
RISK
(I question the grammar in that last sentence. Nevertheless, I want a sign like this. Just to have.)
The lawn was wet, of course, but we brought garbage bags to sit on. Others had done likewise, but a lot of people were sitting on blankets. I guess they like that peed your pants feeling. We ended up not sitting at all but rather standing at the three-foot chain link fence that separated us poor folks from the elite class of concertgoers who purchased actual seats in which to sit. Bully for them. I prefer lawn seats, and not just for the lower price. I prefer to be free to move about. I prefer not running the risk of being trapped next to some assholes for an entire concert. I prefer not to swelter in crowded quarters. I really prefer not hyperventilating in dense crowds. And if it should rain (thunderstorms were predicted), I will enjoy the cooling effect and/or don my hooded windbreaker.
Bauhaus did a nice one-hour set. It�s been many years since their last album, and I was pleased that they didn�t come off looking and sounding like musical dinosaurs who just needed some money in a bad way. (I will say, though, that Peter Murphy could have eased up on the bird flapping towards the end of the set.) Unfortunately, much of the audience was too young/too clueless to know the band.
I was certain they would close their set with a nice, long rendition of �Bela Lugosi�s Dead.� When they exited the stage, sans Bela, Tim and I presumed they would be back for a brief encore. Not so. No Bela. Not at all. Tim, Neil, and I all would have lost a lot of money on that bet. But still, a damn good set.
By this time, those unsold seats abutting the lawn area were starting to look good. No roof overhead (yea for crowded crowd loathing me), but an actual seat nonetheless. Some young guns standing nearby were working the area, hoping to incite a mass storming of the fence when NIN took the stage. That is, too many fence climbers for a paltry few security folks to stop.
I knew better. I�m experienced. If, at showtime, the number of unsold open air seats was roughly equal to the number of us lawnies, we would be PERMITTED to take them.
I was right.
Just prior to NIN taking the stage, we got the go-ahead. Now, don�t you know, most of those damn fools headed for the first two rows. Nuh-uh. Ain�t gonna work. Too many people, too few seats. Some of them would end up WAY off from center stage, possibly with a view of a BEAM. We scooted in the eighth or tenth row and sat just a tad off from center where we could also get a nice view of one of the jumbotron screens, with no one around us. Sweet.
We enjoyed the between bands concert ambience � balloons (courtesy of the generous people from Trojan) and Clove cigarettes. Not much pot, at least not where we were. Fine by me; cloves are a nicer fragrance by far.
Then Trent and his boys came out and blew Bauhaus away.
There was no mistaking who was headlining. This was the fourth time I�ve seen NIN (the first being the maiden tour of Lollapalooza in �91), and I�d say it was hands down the best. Certainly, this is, in part, because they have more material to draw from, but, perhaps even more so, it could be that this band was tighter than previous versions of Trent�s touring band. Because they were TIGHT. They sounded like they had been playing together for far more than a year or so. Of course, when you have Josh Freese (drums) and Jeordie White (bass) of A Perfect Circle�s latest incarnation, yeah, you know the rhythm section is going to be solid.
Mmmmmm, Jeordie.
The digital light screens and panels added just the right amount of visual accompaniment. Very cool shit.
I was pleasantly surprised by how much material from Pretty Hate Machine was performed. And when Trent made one of his switches from guitar to keyboard for �Something I Can Never Have� � yeah, it might have been a shift in climate � but, geez, my nipples got hard.
NIN played for an hour and forty-five or so. The predicted rain? Thunderstorms? Not a drop. All along, I had a feeling it would work out for us. The weather gods were on our side. Thank you.
A reconsideration: Lately, I�ve been thinking that Maynard was taking over the god of the genre pedestal from Trent. Not so fast there. I now believe there is room for two. And as I reported to Suzanne, who wanted to go but was in New York attending her daughters� dance competition, Trent is Trent, but I�m liking me some Jeordie White right now. Yeah, baby. Yeah.
Best t-shirt: I SCORED HIGH ON MY DRUG TEST
My verdict:
Good noise. I�m still in heaven. Or should that be hell, but at a really good party?
Autumn
Trick or Treat - November 02, 2007
Autumn Has Left the Building - July 19, 2007
The Nail - June 04, 2007
Ungolding - June 01, 2007
Bollocks - May 29, 2007