March 8, 1988 was the day I went to the Fox Theatre with my parents my younger sister Stephanie to see Linda Ronstadt when she was promoting her Mariachi album Canciones de mi Padre. I don’t remember much about the show other than Ronstadt singing songs from that album as it was entirely in Spanish yet the venue was tremendous. I haven’t been to the Fox Theatre since then as I have no idea why until this past May when I went to collect tickets to see Nine Inch Nails and the Jesus & Mary Chain in the second of two shows both bands are playing at the Fox Theatre making it my first time at the venue in 30 years.
Since this is the fifth time I will have seen NIN, I knew it was going to be a big deal yet at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta is an even bigger deal as they’re sharing the bill with the Jesus & Mary Chain whom NIN had opened for back in 1990. 28 years later, the two share the bill as arriving into the Fox Theatre around 6:40 PM as once I walked in. I went to a place that is very special. Other venues I went to have their moments but there is something about the Fox Theatre that carries an air of history and beauty that is indescribable. From the staircases, the lounges, and the halls. It’s a place that has a special aura that can’t be duplicated as I was in awe of what I was seeing. Once I found my seat which was the farthest nosebleed seat of the venue but directly in front of the stage. Just seeing the entire theatre, the balconies, and lights is really a thing of beauty.
At 7 PM, the opening act in Tobacco appeared on stage for a 30 minute set that had some interesting visuals with a couple of 3D spheres at each side of the stage with strange visuals. The music had its moments but I eventually found myself becoming bored by it as he got a decent reception. There were a few cuts that were danceable but the rest was just noise that I found to be un-engaging. After a break between performances, the Jesus & Mary Chain arrived at 7:50 PM to the sounds of the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds as a great introduction as the lights dimmed. Then comes the opening bars of Just Like Honey which shocked me as that song is really my favorite song of theirs as once Jim Reid’s voice appears. I knew I was in for a trance as this was a band that delivered from start to finish.
Consisting of Jim and guitarist William Reid along with guitarist Scott Van Ryper, bassist Mark Crozer, and drummer Brian Young along with a female backing vocalist for Just Like Honey. Things got more intense in the song Head On as I knew I was in for a damn good performance from a band that was once notorious for playing 20-minute sets in the past due to the Reid brothers’ notorious onstage fights. Instead, they played a 50-minute set filled with such classics songs as Blues from a Gun, Far Gone and Out, I Hate Rock N’ Roll, Reverence, Cracking Up, and a couple of deep cut in In a Hole from Psychocandy and Between Planets from Automatic. From their most recent album in Damage and Joy, two songs Amputation and All Things Pass are played as it showed the band still offering the goods. The band itself was loud and intense though their performance didn’t show it with Jim Reid just being straightforward and always clutching on the microphone stand while William Reid focuses on the guitar.
The Jesus & Mary Chain as a whole are just phenomenal as the chemistry in the entire band is solid in terms of the musicianship and energy. If one was to put this band against anything else that is on the charts right now or trending on radio and YouTube. The Jesus & Mary Chain would put everyone to shame as they were just tight in the performance as my ears were ringing a bit after the performance but it felt good. Not since Bauhaus in 2006 when they toured with NIN had I not been impressed by a band from the past just deliver as if age didn’t slow them down. After their performance ended at 8:45 PM where they got a great reception, there was a break between performances where I walked around the theatre and the lounges just soaking in the atmosphere of the location.
Everyone in the theatre were cool as I chatted up with a couple who had last seen NIN five years ago at the Philips Arena which I also attended as they too preferred this venue. The guy I think was from South America as he had seen David Bowie during the Sound + Vision tour of 1990 and still had his old T-shirt as I was envious of him as I had the chance to see Bowie in 1995 but unfortunate events happened. At around 9:10-9:15 PM, the lights at the theatre turned off as NIN arrived onstage with the opening bars of the infamous live-only track Now I’m Nothing which they haven’t performed since 2009. It would lead to Terrible Lie as it kicked things off with a bang though I think I saw Trent tripped before the end of the song when he was walking past Ilan Rubin’s drum riser.
The band that consists of vocalist/guitarist/keyboardist Trent Reznor, guitarist/keyboardist Robin Finck, keyboardist Atticus Ross, keyboardist/bassist/guitarist Alessandro Cortini and drummer/keyboardist/guitarist Ilan Rubin is definitely the most intense and blistering line-up of NIN that I have seen in the five times I had seen them live. I always felt that NIN in a five-piece outfit is at its strongest and they just kicked a lot of ass from start to finish. The musicianship is top-notch as the chemistry within the band is incredible with Finck always running around on stage while Rubin is just a beast on the drums. Cortini on his own set-up riser of keyboards and guitars had a presence of himself while Ross doesn’t really do much movement yet he manages to do a lot with what he’s doing as a musician.
Known for also putting on immense lighting and such, NIN has once again delivered in terms of what they can do visually where the lights and stage set-ups are on point. The usage of colors in lights definitely help set a mood yet it is the performance of Copy of A that is really the most impressive with its homage to the stuff Talking Heads did with Stop Making Sense. The lights they used in front of the stage would create these amazing shadows that would keep moving at a certain frame speed definitely shows a band that is willing to take risks to put on a show that delivers on what an audience would pay for. The attention to detail in the lighting and moods help solidify NIN as a live act that continuously pushes the boundaries of what can be done.
