Headed to Irvine around 5:30 from Huntington Beach, rush hour traffic really log jammed around John Wayne airport making a simple 20 minute drive stretch out to almost an hour. Irvine Verizon is notoriously shitty getting in and out of because of the single road leading in and out and the non-existent traffic control by Irvine's finest. So as always, I parked in the free main lot on the isle near the $20 parking lot for what I figured should be an easy exit after the show (more on that later). I had packed a backpack with my old analog Hi8 camcorder, my digital camera, a bunch of batteries, tapes, bottled water and a bunch of other shit.
Getting my ticket at the Jane's will call window was a piece of cake although it appeared they had all the GA Pit tickets in one pile in no discernable order in a box so the chick had to sort through every ticket to find mine with my name on it. Another benefit of buying the ticket through Jane's (or NIN's) website was that I didn't have to wait in the huge, slow moving line to get in the venue, those ticket holders got to get in right at the front. The downside was despite all the shit I was carrying, they wouldn't allow the backpack(!) itself. So I had to walk back to my car and figure out what I wanted to carry in and what I wanted to leave in the car. So I took the camcorder, batteries and tape in my pockets and left everything else except my ID and money.
Got in and down to the sparsely filled pit about 5 minutes before Street Sweeper Social Club came on for a 30 minute set. IMO, they come off as a slightly watered down version of Rage Against The Machine - they have the same vibe and themes but the anger and overt aggression isn't nearly as intense. A lot more edgy than Audioslave though. Tom Morello is as always pretty amazing on guitar and singer Boots Riley makes for a formidable frontman. It kinda bugged me that one of their songs is basically The Clash's "Straight To Hell" with new lyrics. Still, an enjoyable set and I filmed their opening song which killed the first of 3 batteries I brought with me which made me nervous that lugging all this shit was gonna be a waste of time.
Nine Inch Nails came on just as it was getting dark and the venue was still only 2/3rds full as many people were still rushing to their seats. Really no warning, just the start of "Now I'm Nothing" as the band comes on stage. The run of songs between 1,000,000 and Reptile made for probably the best half hour of NIN I've caught in the 6 or 7 times I've seen them since '91. Of course, finally seeing Heresy live was the peak of the set for me. Around a really punkish version of March Of The Pigs, a small group started moshing in the center of the pit but it never got out of hand although it was kinda funny watching these knuckleheads try to keep things going during slow, mellow songs like "The Way Out Is Through."
As we all know, NIN have been playing drastically different sets every night this tour, there is no way to predict what the next song will be and as Trent said midway through the set, "we aren't playing the hits" which ultimately led to no "Closer" or "Hurt" (which was on the setlist as the last song). The stage is basically their gear cluttered in a rather confining space that almost looks like a rehearsal studio with a really massive bank of strobing lights on the back wall. The sets seem to be geared towards the hardcore NIN fan and also appear to challenge the patience of the casual or first timer who's expecting either the hits and/or a non-stop agro-fest. Still plenty of great deep cuts but a stretch of songs starting with "The Fragile" that seemed to lose the general audience and killed the momentum of the first half of the show that never really picked back up except for during "Wish" until the last two songs of the set. Trent has assembled a really lean, no-frills band and stage show for this tour and I have to hand it to the guy, he really gives 110% and was soaked by the end of the set. Onstage, he's a real tough character to read. I can't tell if he's enjoying his performance and the crowds reaction (or lack of). He just goes through the set in a very focused way with very little interaction with his audience beyond an occasional "thank you."
After NIN ended their set, I tried getting a shirt and maybe a drink but the lines were simply retardedly slow at every stand so I blew that off and went back down in the pit with only minutes to spare before Jane's came on. The opening video clip from "River's Edge with Kevin Bacon was all fucked up which led to some booing in the audience which followed into the opening bass lines of "Three Days." More than ever after seeing this shaky opening and Perrys very weak, tentative vocals on the song, I am convinced that while a noble experiment that perhaps under the most ideal of circumstances would work as a atmospheric introduction to Jane's set, Three Days is *not* the right opening song for a big crowd.
The band was tight and powerful throughout their set. I really can't fault anyone's playing although Dave's solos/tone on some songs is a bit too "rawk" these days, I really can't complain although I don't care for his wah peddle shortcuts on Mountain Song's solo. Also, tuning *way* down really affects the overall vibe and tempo of some songs like Whores and Had A Dad in particular which had more plod than swing this tour. Which leads to Perry......
There's a huge divide between the good and bad in Perry 2009. On one hand, his overall stage persona and even goofy dress style works good as and maybe better than any time since 1991. As a frontman, he's turned into Diamond David Lee Roth circa 1983. However, like Roth in '83, his voice has also really lost whatever edge and meager power it once had. He has to sing in a lower key and his vocals on Three Days were so weak and tentative, I thought he was suffering from a cold although he did improve sporadically throughout the rest of the set. But then he'd barely murmur unintelligible vocals for songs like "Ted~". He rarely used his little echo box to any noticeable effect as he seemed more preoccupied being Toastmaster General of Irvine. Still, weak singing aside, he held the crowd in his hand the entire show and was physically running around the stage like his little leg injury was a thing of the past.
Eric generally kept to his zone on stage left and sounded great. It was pretty cool watching him play bass sitting casually on the PA cabinets on the side of the stage with his feet kicking around like a little kid at the beach for Summertime Rolls. Perkins was his usual monster on the kit, the guy is just an incredible drummer. I can also hear some double bass drumming on the tail end of Three Days so there is a reason for the double bass kit, guys.
Overall, while this is "Jane's" as far as purists are concerned, it is a very different animal than 1987 - 1991. I hate to say it, but this tour at least looks to be a cash grab on the back of nostalgia of what this band did over 2 decades ago. They love playing in front of big audiences, they love playing the old songs but there's a very strange dynamic within the band right now that's tough to put a finger on. Make no mistake, there were moments of near transcendence that equaled anything I recall from seeing them on the Nothings Shocking and Ritual tours but there were also some major instances where I felt I was watching a band stuck in cabaret. Perry's big rock star silliness and Eric's odd disappearance before the band could take their final bows at the end of their set only accentuates this. They *need* to start taking big chances with the set beyond shuffling a couple songs in the running order. And that doesn't even address new music in the future to lend any sort of legitimacy to this reunion beyond a cash grab.
The one thing that kind of seems like a missed opportunity is the fact both bands don't get together either as a '95 NIN/Bowie style transition between the two acts or as a song or two jam at the end of the night.
The crowd was generally really well behaved, at least in the pit. Asshole factor was almost non-existent - I was expecting a *lot* more moshing, especially for NIN's set based on previous shows. It was never overly crowded and I could move pretty freely anywhere I wanted to be as long as it was about 10 feet back from the stage. The sound for all three bands was near perfect. Getting out of the parking lot after the show was a major ordeal. There's really no good way to get out in a reasonable amount of time unless you skip a song or two and leave early at the end of the show. It took a fucking hour to get out and 15 minutes to drive home.
Filming turned out to be a bit of a headache and was the only real negative for me not totally getting into and enjoying the show. Because my camcorder is old standard def, bulky and had a built-in big LED screen and thus a bit heavy coupled with the fact I had to hold it over heads in front of me to get an unobstructed view, it became a marathon for my arms after a while. Add to that I was constantly aware of declining battery power, switching the tape and keeping a eye out for someone crashing into me, taping did take away a bit from my enjoyment of the show. A long way from the old days of '80 - '83 when I'd use my AIWA deck with the mics taped to my shoulders and still enjoy the show without worrying overmuch about taping a concert.
I wound up recording SSSC opening song, the first half of NIN's set and a couple songs later in their set and all of Jane's set. After reviewing some of the footage, I discovered that the sound badly clipped on the bass so while visually most of the footage looks really good, it sounds pretty rough. I'm in the process of uploading a few multi-song raw clips to YouTube which I'll link later today. Once a really good sounding torrent of the show comes out, I'll probably wed my footage to the better sounding audio. All said and done, I salute tapers who sacrifice some measure of their enjoyment of concerts for people like myself to listen and watch later. I won't be doing this again.
Overall, even though I saw Jane's 2 of the 3 club shows they did before this tour, rag a bit on Perry and I'm a bit burned out on NIN (although if that sept Hollywood Palladium show pans out - I'm there!) , I can say without a doubt this was a overall great show and well worth catching for those sitting on the fence about going or not. I also want to say the way both bands treat there fans this tour as far as how smooth and generous the prime tickets were made available as well as the unrestricted taping policy really made this show a special event for me.
Heresy and Mr Self Destruct
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xJeoPvHD_0
Mountain Song and Had A Dad
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ik2GwiMSa1c
Once I download a decent sounding recording from the show, I'll wed the audio to my video footage and re-upload.
T.B.
