Photo: Shirlaine Forrest
A trip to these shores by Trent Reznor is a rarity – one that only a few years ago he promised would never happen again. Thankfully, his mind is changeable, but no one tonight appears to be letting go of this opportunity - so The O2 is packed to the rafters for this unique version of industrial rock.
If those people attending were hoping for some personality from the band tonight, they're out of luck. Nine Inch Nails tour with an ever changing line-up of musicians focused around Reznor, and he's not in much of a talkative mood. But what he has in store instead is an invasion of the senses. Starting on a muted note with 'Me, I'm not', the aural assault fully begins by the time '1,000,000' gets under way, with its screaming synths and searing guitars.
Watch Nine Inch Nails playing 'Wish' at the O2 Arena below
A mix of songs spanning Nine Inch Nails' full discography then proceeds. Yet even playing the high energy tracks like 'March of Pigs' and 'Piggy', it seems like the band are holding something back. What that is becomes clear by the time the seedy sounding 'Closer' begins and the digital screens behind the band start to be put to good use.
From rainbow outlines to digital distortion, a vast array of mind boggling visuals sync up to the music creating a full blast to the senses. Few artists I've seen have ever managed to turn their performance into such an audiovisual experience, and there are audible gasps as a rotating 3D cube graphic appears to leap out from the stage.
As entertaining as this aspect of the performance is, it's still the music that the crowd is interested in and 'Came Back Haunted', 'Wish' and 'Head Like Hole' stand out from the tracks, before an encore of 'The Day The Whole World Went Away' and the obligatory but much-loved 'Hurt' round things off.
Sure, a little more chat from Reznor and the band would have been a nice addition to this otherwise pretty flawless gig. But that would have robbed the mystique from this energetic, brooding performance. An awesome experience that is sadly seen too infrequently in the UK.
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