First off - let's get it out of the way - Nine Inch Nails announced from the Bonnaroo stage that this would be their last ever US show. Trent Reznor has been saying they would be taking a LONG break from touring after this tour, but this is the first he has publicly said it would be their last show in the States (they are headed to Europe on this tour next). Probably just something said after fatigure - I'm sure after a long hiatus he will rethink things, as Reznor after all is NIN for all intents and purposes. But who knows.
90 mins into the latenite set, which had already been tailored into a 1am saturday night at a festival style show, reznor annouced,after introducing the band, that this will be the last US NIN show, as per reznor "I just can't do this to myself anymore" after thanking the audience and the fans who have stuck with nine inch nails all these years"
The set was already an atypical one, likely specifially crafted to be more exploratory for this particular set time. A song they wrote with Saul Williams was played, the members of Dillinger Escape Plan (playing Sun) came out for a even-thrashier-than-usual "Wish", one of the encores was the cover of Joy Division's "Dead Souls" (off The Crow soundtrack), etc. No "Closer", though they did pull off a stunning "Hurt" as the final track.
The set to my eyes seemed to have some of the oddities/slower tracks that he was playing on the NINJA tour with Janes just recently, as well as a few of the ambient interludes from last years tour. It was not the tour de force of last year's Lollapalooza headline slot- the stage show wasn't as built out and the setlist wasn't packed with classes. Very cool show and glad to see something so different. We'll call it #4 for the weekend so far. (
Sunday will be a lighter day for me. Probably a good thing for my sanity and stamina.
