Nine Inch Nails kicked off their first North American tour since 1995 this week in band
leader Trent Reznor's home city of Cleveland, Ohio (April 12 at the Cleveland State
University Convocation Center). The five man industrial rock onslaught (propelled by
drummer Jerome Dillon, bass player Danny Lohner, keyboardist Charlie Clouser, and
guitarist Robin Finck) took the stage, following a largely well-received opening set from
Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan's new project Perfect Circle, and began an
anonymous rendition of "Somewhat Damaged" (off last year's critically acclaimed The
Fragile). Reznor and company performed the song from behind a giant, black curtain,
which dropped to reveal the band, decked out in military fatigues. While stark, white
lights burned and images flickered across the video monitor set-up, NIN treated the
near-sellout crowd to an oldie, Pretty Hate Machine's "Terrible Lie." Reznor continued to
mine his past glories with the Downward Spiral rocker "March of the Pigs," and the set
ending "Closer," and (PHM's) "Head Like A Hole," however, the encores were largely
drawn from his latest epic. "Starfuckers Inc.," reportedly set to be the group's next single,
and "The Day the World Went Away," segued into NIN's traditional show stopper, the
ballad "Hurt," which reportedly induced a mass sing-a-long. Reznor's road show pulls
into the Detroit Area tonight.
