NIN Tension Tour, Rexall Place, Edmonton, Alberta. Nov 24 2013

Not a bitterly cold evening for late November, but a cluster fuck at the front door. Rexall Place opened up late and those who were patiently waiting in an orderly manner were surrounded by ignorant fucks who couldn’t wait their turn. This caused a little Tension!

Not a great start. However the merch stand was orderly and sustenance was ready to go.

Three piece LA outfit Autolux were up first. On the go for ten plus years. Shoe-gaze noise rock at it’s finest. If you are in to this genre, then one can only assume you have a level of hearing that only exists on Mars or further afield. Justine Frischmann called and she wants her Elastica back!

Autolux appeared to be trying to produce a full on ballet here. Swan Lake? Maybe. But they just didn’t seem to manage to point their toes and plie with finesse. In all honesty, it’s easy for a non musician to say that it looks fairly easy to make those wheeeee waaaaa noises with your electrical instrument, but it’s been tried and it’s really not. Have you impressed the audience? Probably not a great deal, as most of them are still fetching beer and smoking outside the lobby. The crowd on the floor is here early to get close to Trent Reznor and that’s all there is to it. Obviously Reznor is impressed and that is probably all that counts? On a high; your drummer is a girl named Carla Azar and she is shit hot, bassist Eugene needs to pull his fucking pants up and Greg Edwards, looking at the floor doesn’t impress the folk that came to look into your eyes!

Is there only one hairdresser in LA?

Nine Inch Nails really is just Trent Reznors stage name. It has to be, he is the only surviving member of the original line up. Yes, yes, it is his project, but fucking with the flow and energy is not always productive. Here and now in 2013 proves just that. Reznor should really bring back the 2007 boys, Geordie White and Aaron North. They were on fire, just check out the YouTube footage from UK shows of that year in Reading and Leeds.

No contest.

Industrial is Reznors middle name. But sensory overload is not a necessity. The noise, the vibe, is the thing that gets a show moving, visual stimulation is great, until your entire audience is on the floor having epileptic seizures. It is clever, and it is mesmerizing, but in this case it is far too much. Check out some Rammestein for tips perhaps? We could all use a cannon full of Jizz!

Of course most of those in attendance were probably blown away with this show. Some in section 120 were over reacting so much that it made them appear mentally impaired. Dude, you really don’t need to look at your buddy for approval every other bar. He is just as unaware of the words as you are and he has far less, er, rhythm.

In all reality Oscar winner Reznor is probably just having another bout of good luck and while he incorporates Jane Fondas workout into his shows, middle aged balding blokes, those who missed out in the early days, are paying good money to see whether or not this band is turning out to be a bad car wreck, rubber necking on the weekend for something to do when the Hockeys teams are not in town. More of a minor fender bender it seems. For a dude who moves like an itchy spider monkey in Max Walls pants, Reznor is still mostly with the game plan. He has choreographed, calculated and collaborated. His musicians are good, with the exception of drummer IIan Rubin and Robin Finck who are fucking amazing. Lisa Fischer and Sharlotte Gibson are just the icing on the cake. A very clever addition. However the power, energy and electricity is gone. Add as many lights as you like. Without that special presence it just misses the mark.

Edmonton was the last place to see the production of the day. It was good, the music was the same as it has been for years and Reznor can still sing and quite obviously still believes in himself, but the oomph has gone. The fans are all grown up and those who pretend to know what it’s all about, most just don’t and never will. Over 50% of the musicians on stage didn’t live this show, they were just there to play and that is a crying shame…

Pictures courtesy of Google

Headbangerwoman Nov 28 2013

Live shots are property of TiTT