Live With Teeth

You're keeping in step
In the line
Got your chin held high and you feel just fine
Because you do
What you're told
But inside your heart it is black and it's hollow and it's cold
-Nine Inch Nails, "The Hand that Feeds"

Don't call it a comeback, but everyone's favourite industrial rock overlord Trent Reznor is back. A whole lot has happened in the six years since The Fragile came out, so dude has obviously had some time to think. His new album is now on the market, and although it's not as stellar as many fans expected, a few of us were fortunate enough to hear some of the songs up close and personal.

With a fresh new lineup containing some experienced (Twiggy Ramirez, bass) and newer (Aaron North, formerly of the Icarus Line, guitar) talent, Nine Inch Nails rolled into Toronto Tuesday night for a relatively intimate evening at the Kool Haus. For the initial With Teeth tour, they're hitting clubs in major markets across the continent, rather than arenas. And that definitely made for a unique and nostalgiac experience.

It wasn't the usual visual spectacle. The stage was very basic and stripped-down, but it definitely fit the experience. The set was by and large strictly the rockers, and given the small venue, lasers and video screens would have been nothing but distracting. NIN tore through a set of new ones, the radio hits, and even a few obscure ones that I didn't even expect. It was only my third time seeing them in the past 11 years, and although it wasn't the best, it was a refreshing new live experience from such an established live act of that calibre. That said, I'm still totally stoked for the arena tour this summer/fall.

Nine Inch Nails, 05.10.05, Kool Haus, Toronto:

The Frail
The Wretched
You Know What You Are?
The Line Begins to Blur
Piggy
Terrible Lie
Burn
Closer
Reptile
The Big Come Down
Gave Up
The Day the World Went Away
Suck
Even Deeper
Wish
Hurt
The Hand That Feeds
Starfuckers
Head Like a Hole

Posted by waub at May 12, 2005 09:21 PM