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At the beginning of this month, tucked deep in the dark recesses of Los Angeles, (Inglewood, Ca) one of the Century's most prolific and innovative musical groups took the stage and gave us all a sensory excursion the likes of which we will not soon forget.
Lead by front man Trent Reznor, and backed by a trio of energetic, explosive musicians, Nine Inch Nails in support of their latest releases "The Slip" and "Ghosts I-IV" (both of which were released digitally online at no cost to the listener) unleashed upon the audience the "Lights in The Sky" tour, which was less like a simple concert, and more like a visual eyegasm paired with the best soundtrack you've ever heard.
With an opening act performed thoughtfully by "Deer Hunter" the audience anticipation slowly built to a breaking point. As the stage crew quickly dismantled Deer Hunter's equipment and rushed off the stage, you could feel the tension spread throughout the arena. After waiting for what seemed like an afterlife, the lights went low and the crowd erupted into a roar of appreciation for what they could already tell was going to be a monumentous occasion.
Trent and his band of not so merry men, exploded onto the scene with a combination of "999,999 -1,000,000" and "Letting You" matched equally with the war like flashes of the 30 foot wall of strobes behind them. Struting around the stage in a blood red shirt and black pants, Reznor ignited the powder keg that was the crowd. Jumping out of "Letting You" and right into the chaos inspiring track "March of the Pigs", the crowds explosiveness went from TNT to Atom Bomb. Intrinsically in tune with the beat of the song, the whole arena stopped on a dime as Reznor sang "And Doesn't it Make You Feel Better?" and paused Just long enough for everyone to catch their breath.
If you have never seen a live Nine Inch Nails show, you should make it one of your life's goals. Even if you don't necessarily like the music, Reznor is not one to be out done and always comes up with new and fantastic ways of destroying any thoughts you may have had in terms of what constitutes a live concert. In the "Lights in The Sky" tour, this came in the form of a dangling curtain of lights that was lowered in front of the band, and projected different elements of seasons, like rain and snow. I could spend a week coming up with clever ways of describing this scenic splendor but, it's really something that you can only get the full effect of by standing in a crowd of thousands while tracks from Ghosts I-IV lull you into a well deserved sense of rhythmic bliss.
The "Lights in The Sky" Tour is currently rocking its way across South America, and will be making its way up through Mexico and back to the States mid October. With a set list that is over 2 hours long, including fan favorites like "The Frail", "Head Like a Hole", "The Hand That Feeds", and even "Hurt" this tour is one for the record books. Nine Inch Nails are one of those bands that are consistently innovating both their sound and the way they market themselves. With the real life role playing game matched with the release of "Year Zero" and the ability to download, sample, and remix all the tracks from both "Ghosts I-IV" and "The Slip", it is going to be interesting to see what Trent comes up with next.
Nine Inch Nails can be found online at www.nin.com and you can check out various clips of the "Lights in The Sky" Tour by doing a simple search on YouTube. Make sure to check out the two most recent works "Ghosts I-IV" and "The Slip" out now in stores everywhere!
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