This was the first time I'd seen Nine Inch Nails in concert. I've been a fan for quite sometime since buying their debut album Pretty Hate Machine back in the late 80's. It's one of a handful of albums that would be considered my all time favorites; albums that are great from beginning to end. There were some great songs on The Downward Spiral, but The Fragile wasn't a big hit with me and I stopped following the band at this point.

I don't keep up with celebrity gossip, but recently read (by way of my Google RSS Reader) that Trent had gotten engaged to the lead singer of West Indian Girl. So, it was obviously not coincidence that some of the songs played between Street Sweeper Social Club and NIN were WIG songs. At least he has good taste in music. WIG is a fun band to check out. I saw them at Street Scene(insert link) and at the Belly Up Tavern (insert link).

The set list was a mix from most of the NIN collection. I didn't recognize a good portion of them. It was also a surprisingly short set, one hour and 10 minutes, which makes me think the choice of having an opening act wasn't a good one. With the amount of material they have you would expect a good hour and 1/2.

The huge TV screens that sit on either side of the stage weren't on until around the middle of the set. It seemed intentional and certainly makes you focus on the stage rather than the monitors even if later in the show some douche bag is wiggling his laser pointer on the screen.

I didn't recognize the first couple of songs, but leading into the 3^rd song (Terrible Lie) were some technical difficulties. Their monitors were on, but the PA wasn't. It was a quick fix that elicited the comment from Trent "any more problems and I'll tear the fucking PA down." After this little incident the song was delivered flawlessly. Listening to the song made me see how good of a rock song this was. Until that moment it never occurred to me because of the era this album was released. The music was considered Progressive / Industrial and sat with its peers Nitzer Ebb, Front 242, etc.

The rock songs throughout the set were delivered just how you would expect them to be...with intensity. Trent is a great front man and brought it. His vocals were equally as good. The other song that they played off of Pretty Hate Machine was Head Like a Hole. It brought the house down. If you're a fan or just know a few of their songs or none at all, check them out live, it's worth the price of admission.