Trent Reznor Returns with the 'Fragility Version 2.0 Tour'.

Review Photos by Kay

By Trent Vanegas

Trent Reznor knows a good crowd when he feels one, and on April
25th at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Nine Inch Nails performed in
front of a raucous crowd waiting for the aggressive industrial-rock band to
return to the stage for almost 5 years.  Indeed, many in the audience were
so young they had never experienced the opportunity to see NIN perform
before, making their anticipation and excitement equally if not more
intense.

At just before 9:30 pm, the instrumental interlude that started playing
after A Perfect Circle (the Maynard Keenan of TOOL side project opening for
NIN on the Fragility Version 2.0 Tour) finished their set segued into the
song Pinion  from the Broken  EP. The lights went down and all hell broke
loose. A large semi-opaque curtain had been drawn around the entire stage
and lights began to strobe from behind, throwing shadows on the curtain
from all sides.

The set started out with Somewhat Damaged, the lead track off the ambitious
double CD, The Fragile,  which was released last Fall. It quickly became
obvious that Trent Reznor was "feeling the crowd" because he became very
interactive with the audience, sneering and tempting to reach out and grab
them. During the third song, March of the Pigs,  he did just that - jumping
between the stage and barricade, howling his lyrics into the faces of those
pinned against the wall - performer & audience becoming one.

The entire set lasted approximately 80 minutes, with songs plucked from
each of his 3 albums and 1 EP. Old favorites like Wish, Head Like a Hole
and Suck  were interspersed with new tracks like The Wretched  and The Day
the Whole World Went Away.   Ear-splitting songs flowed into melodic
instrumental pieces and then back again, seamlessly by design.

During the encore and an extra 20 minutes of music, Trent broke with his
usual style and began talking to the audience. He told the crowd that up
until that show he was having "a bad day" but that the crowd's enthusiasm
had changed all of that.

"There's just something about Michigan," he said in reference to the April
14th show at the Palace of Auburn Hills, where he proclaimed they were the
"best crowd" he'd seen in a long time.

Overall, Nine Inch Nails played an intensely spirited set catering to old
and new fans alike. Vivid images displayed on 3 large and narrow video
screens were used to convey emotive scenes while the music either aged from
the speakers or flowed with fierce calmness.

New songs La Mer  and The Great Below  were highlighted with poetic video
collages that emoted a quiet intensity that can only come from an act like
NIN. The show ended with the quintessential Nine Inch Nails song, Hurt,
from the hugely successful album The Downward Spiral.

Trent Reznor has proven to fans that he puts 110% of himself into his
music. And the very same can be said of his live performances.