NINJA 2009

Friday night in Charlotte.  NINJA 2009 tour.

Street Sweeper Social Club

Nine Inch Nails

Jane's Addiction

Super sweet to see.  But in reality, quite "bittersweet".  Observe a February post on nin.com:

Towards the beginning of my career in Nine Inch Nails, our biggest break came in the form of an invitation to perform a series of shows with Jane's Addiction. These performances essentially created and defined the term "alternative" rock in the US, created an ongoing festival franchise that is still thriving (Lollapalooza), set the stage for Nirvana to shift popular taste a few months later, and were really fucking FUN to play and attend - truly the best times I've had. The shows were epic. So epic, they propelled NIN to the "next level" (whatever that means), but caused Jane's to implode. The band broke up at the end of that tour.

Fast forward to the present. Corporate rock STILL sucks. A friend tells me they saw the original Jane's lineup play a tiny show in LA that was unbelievable. I break out my Jane's records and am amazed by how vital they sound. These guys were the real deal and in this current climate mostly dominated by poseurs and pussies it was refreshing to hear something that sounded dangerous, volatile, beautiful and SINCERE. Emails were sent, phone calls were made, dinner was arranged, ideas were discussed and the next thing I know we're in the studio experimenting. We laugh, we get to know each other, we cry, we yell, we almost quit, we record LOTS of guitar solos, we discuss, we actually begin to all communicate, we yell some more, we become FRIENDS, we laugh again and we do some great things. I get to see first hand why they broke up all those years ago but I also get the chance to see four distinct personalities that become an INCREDIBLE band when they're in the same room.

In NIN world, 2009 marks the 20th anniversary of our first releases. I've been thinking for some time now it's time to make NIN disappear for a while. Last year's "Lights in the Sky" tour was something I'm quite proud of and seems like the culmination of what I could pull off in terms of an elaborate production. It was also quite difficult to pull off technically and physically night after night and left us all a bit dazed. After some thought, we decided to book a last run of shows across the globe this year. The approach to these shows is quite different from last year - much more raw, spontaneous and less scripted. Fun for us and a different way for you to see us and wave goodbye. I reached out to Jane's to see if they'd want to join us across the US and we all felt it could be a great thing. 

Will it work? Will it resonate in the marketplace? Who knows. Is there big record label marketing dollars to convince you to attend? Nope. Does it feel right to us and does it seem like it will be fun for us and you? Yes it does. Look for tour dates soon and I hope to see you out there.

Trent

"Disappear for a while"? Ugh.  And from The Guardian in the UK:

...it's hard to know what Reznor has in mind. He may simply be retiring the NIN name – or he may be retiring from music altogether. The last time Nine Inch Nails "disappeared", after 1999's The Fragile, it took six years for Reznor to return. That gap stands in stark contrast to the past four years, which has seen the group release four separate albums.

Sigh...

The final(?) setlist from one of the many multiple Nine Inch Nails concerts I've seen.  I'm already pining for a return, and they're not even fully gone yet..

home
somewhat damaged
wish
march of the pigs
piggy
metal
i'm afraid of americans
head down
burn
gave up
la mer
the fragile
non-entity
the downward spiral
survivalism
suck
--------
hurt
the hand that feeds
head like a hole

And here's my mid-concert "tweets" from my seat (and one from this morning):

SPEAK UP! I CAN'T HEAR YOU VERY WELL THIS MORNING!!!!! 44 minutes ago

I'm going to go out on a limb and say perry farrell is a little more flamboyant than trent reznor. GREAT SHOW! - about 11 hours ago

Jane's addiction next. Last time for a long time to hear "bow down before the one you serve / you're going to get what you deserve"? - about 12 hours ago

NIN up next. The "wave goodbye" tour. Shirts say 1989-2009. No tours for "quite a few years" according to the internets. I am sad. - about 14 hours ago

"Street sweeper social club" onstage now. Tom morello RAWKS. - about 15 hours ago