The Top 100 Reading Bands Of The 2000s No.13: Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails
21st Century Appearances: 2007 Main Stage
The Defining Reading Moment: Trent sweating his arse off and closing an absolutely ferocious set with a heartfelt rendition of “Hurt” on the piano to an enthralled crowd. Cue the mass sing-along.
A career spanning over 20 years, Grammy Awards, fame, worldwide record sales in excess of 30 million to date and some of the most innovative industrial music ever produced. So, why the hell have Nine Inch Nails only graced the Reading Stage once? Well, it’s a question that begs to be answered, especially when you witness the utter brilliance of Trent and his cohorts in a live environment. And they did not disappoint the assembled throng that Sunday night in ’07.
It was a delectable blend of the old and new with the band kicking off the festivities by showcasing tracks from their then-new concept album “Year Zero”. Set opener, the explosive “Hyperpower!” with it’s driving synths and samples gives way to “The Beginning of the End” and there were a couple more thrown in for good measure amongst a long list of NIN classics. The belligerent “March of the Pigs” never sounded so brutally huge, and the raw aggression of “Wish” proved the perfect soundtrack to mosh away your angst to.
The epilepsy inducing audio-visuals only serve to heighten the sensory experience and with an encore that would bring a tear to the most hardened industrial loving metaller’s eye (“The Hand That Feeds”, “Head Like A Hole” and “Hurt”) it’s game, set and match to the ‘Nails. Reznor has never been a shy boy and had quite a bit to say with regards to grunge stalwarts The Smashing Pumpkins prior to NIN’s performance. That said, he retained a dignified silence apart from wholeheartedly thanking the audience at various points during the set. If Billy Corgan had been anywhere in the vicinity, it’s probably safe to say that he was shitting himself after witnessing such an event.
Incredible showmanship, stage presence and fucking brilliant songs, here’s to hoping that the rumours about Nine Inch Nails coming off this “indefinite” hiatus have an ounce of truth to them. This band’s music is the antithesis of the traditional indie sound that has, for many, become synonymous with Reading over the past five or six years. It would be a real selling point to have some bands with a harder edge back on the bill again and the festival itself has had some top class metal acts on in the late 90′s and early ’00′s. And judging by the reaction in the video below, it certainly wouldn’t displease the masses! Sophie Maughan
Trent is Nine Inch Nails, he has always been the band but on tour he can’t do it alone and when he rocked up at Reading he brought some of the best hired guns around including drummer to the stars Josh Freese (The Vandals, A Perfect Circle, Devo, Weezer, Guns n’ Roses) and former Marilyn Manson guitarist Jeordie White. That much talent on stage at once was only going to bring good things.
The show itself was all everyone has come to expect from Nine Inch Nails, suitably dark and heavier than hell. The bass was so deep and booming it was less heard than it was felt through the body on monster tracks like “Closer” and “Survivalism”. However it was the band’s closer, “Hurt”, that pushed the show into the stratosphere. Johnny Cash famously covered Reznor’s track on the last album released before his death and that recording divided opinion over original vs. cover, but even the most ardent Cash fanatic couldn’t have been moved by NIN’s taking back of their track that night. Adam McCartney
