Yes, I saw Nine Inch Nails twice in the span of a week. To make a long story short, Keagan and I bought tickets for this show first, and when his friends wanted to see the Vienna show, we weren’t gonna turn down the opportunity to join them. The last time I saw a band twice on the same tour was The Faint back in 2008, for similar reasons. At any rate, I won’t repeat what I already described there and will focus on what made this show different than the last.
[Trent, Atticus, and Alessandro on the second stage for “Ruiner”.]
I skipped most of the Boys Noize set because I wasn’t particularly interested in a second round. No hate, it just felt a bit stifling to be in the seats for a techno set, and I again wasn’t really feeling that vibe. The sudden shift to Trent Reznor at the keyboard was still just as cool, and this time he started with “A Minute to Breathe” from the Before the Flood (2016) soundtrack. The rest of the first half of the show was the same, which had me a bit nervous that there wouldn’t be much further variation. Regardless, it was still just as good, and I had even better seats, so the view was great and I was able to get up and move a bit, which made up for the lack of variety.
[Copies of Trent for “Copy of A”.]
But when Trent and Atticus joined Boys Noize on the second stage, after repeating “Vessel”, they started switching things up. “Only” was on par with the other mid-period remixes, but “I Do Not Want This” was a total surprise. It was certainly a strange choice, but the radical reinterpretation worked. And then “Sin”! That was a delight. The techno version didn’t even feel that far off from the original, and they kept a lot of the original samples and sounds.
[Trent, Atticus, and Boys Noize on the second stage.]
And back with the full band on the main stage, the deviations continued. “Somewhat Damaged” finally filled my desire for something from The Fragile (1999), and it rocked harder than “1,000,000” did at the last show. And while I missed “I’m Afraid of Americans”, “Burn” was a welcome addition, and the live performance was perhaps even more intense. It went hard. The rest of the final set was the same, but also had the same level of focused yet free energy.
[The band on the main stage, with Robin projected in the background.]
In terms of both performance and staging, this show matched the Vienna show, which is to say it was excellent. I was again transported to another place full of memories and associations I don’t always want to access, yet it felt comfortable, safe, and catharctic. I didn’t have quite the same level of immersion as the first time, simply because there was less surprise and pure excitement. But the crowd was more energetic, my seat was an upgrade, and the sound was perhaps even a notch better (perhaps due to the seat). I really appreciated the setlist variations, and this might’ve even been the better overall set. It’s hard to judge. They were both absolute top notch.
[Trent and Atticus on the second stage for the techno set, projected on the curtain around the main stage.]
Here’s the setlist:
Second stage:
01. A Minute to Breathe [Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross song; Trent solo]
02. Ruiner
03. Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)
Main stage:
04. Wish
05. March of the Pigs
06. Reptile
07. The Lovers
08. Copy of A
09. Gave Up
Second stage with Boys Noize:
10. Vessel
11. Only
12. I Do Not Want This
13. Sin
Main stage:
14. Somewhat Damaged
15. Heresy
16. Closer / The Only Time [partial]
17. The Perfect Drug
18. Burn
19. Head Like a Hole
20. Hurt
Scores:
Boys Noize: didn’t see enough to judge!
Nine Inch Nails: A+
Thanks to Keagan and Dave!
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