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Nine Inch Nails

Astoria, London on 31st March 2005
Reviewed by Angela Savage on 29th April 2005

You can't help but feel the anticipation at a Nine Inch Nails gig, with their new album, With Teeth, out on the 5th May this year, and the last tour in Britain being a good five years ago. Not to mention how much you appreciate having a ticket to their gig at the Astoria, when the tickets were pretty much as hard to come by as this year’s Glastonbury tickets.

With an extensive back catalogue, it's hard to imagine what the set-list will include, and that only adds to the excitement. Everyone has their favourite songs. Will they get played? Will Trent Reznor disappoint? Will the new songs live up to the fans’ high expectations? We’re about to find out...

The Dresden Dolls

For a support act, the Dresden Dolls got a very favourable reception from the crowd. Obviously they had won over the crowd that had also been to the previous night, which is a good sign. They are an impressive outfit. Comprising of Amanda Palmer (piano and vocals) and Brian Viglione (drums), they certainly have enough stage presence to capture the crowd for the duration of their set. Combining quirky theatrics with talented instrumentals and striking vocals, the pair work extremely well together. Black Sabbath's War Pigs was perhaps a little too much to take on, but their ambition is impressive. Think Joan Jett mixed with Tori Amos with a slight nut-house feel. I like it.

Rating: 7/10
Website: www.dresdendolls.com

Nine Inch Nails

Although the Nine Inch Nails back-catalogue is an undisputed masterpiece, I feel this performance a little lacklustre to be perfectly honest. It lacked the usual razzmatazz of lighting and visuals, and though that’s the most vital aspect of a gig, I couldn’t help but feel a little cheated. Nine Inch Nails performed all their songs excellently, although with excellent songs, that’s not a great challenge. I think the songs from their new album, are a little... and I hate to use the word "generic", but they don’t meet their usual standards, and they seem to have lost some of their distinctive style. I’ll still give the album a fair listen, but I’m not getting my hopes up. Now, having said all that with my critical hat on, seeing the Nine Inch Nails live is monumentally fabulous, even if Trent Reznor is a little past his prime.

Rating: 8/10
Website: www.nin.com

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