Tuesday 14/07/09 Nine Inch Nails, Jane's Addiction @ MEN Arena, Manchester

Eighteen years ago two bands at the forefront of the alternative scene played the Lollapalooza festival. Today they have cleverly joined together to form the NINJA tour. And it could be the last time for one of them.

Arriving too late to see Mew at their early slot of 6.45pm, I am glad that we do not miss Jane’s Addiction and the strangely alluring Perry Farrell. Playing for a decent amount of time the four piece, which is now back to it’s original line up with bassist Eric Avery back on board, sound astonishing with a very clear sound. For a guy who is 50, Farrell certainly has not slowed done, bouncing and spinning around the stage like a man half his age. (Though Farrell has never been one to stand still.)

The opener ‘Three Days’ shows just how amazing a guitarist Dave Navarro is, himself spinning around and larking with Farrell, whilst pulling off atmospheric riffs during ‘Then She Did’ and ‘Ocean Size’. Stephen Perkins’ tribal drums perfectly compliment Avery’s complicated bass lines. ‘Been Caught Stealing’ gets a few of the lazy crowd off their behinds, but it’s set ender ‘Stop!’ that steals the show. There are no dancing beauties like at previous shows, but huge naked ladies look down on the group from the backdrop.

‘Strays’, the album that saw the return of the band, has it’s content missing tonight, not that I am complaining. A hugely under appreciated band, Jane’s Addiction should have shared the show equally with NIN, but even Farrell keeps commentating on how we are their mainly for NIN.  The singer states that he isn’t “Blowin’ smoke up our arse” by shouting out Manchester, and backs it up with praise for Joy Division and the Hacienda.

There is no build up to NIN’s set, just the lights suddenly go off and a single spotlight shows Trent Reznor take the microphone. The huge array of strobe lighting surrounding the stage instantly wakes up the crowd but is very annoying on the eyes, though it looks fitting and dark to their industrial rock sound. The first songs from the set really brought home how good a band NIN are, building slowly with ‘Somewhat Damaged’, a brutal ‘Terrible Lie’, followed by a huge sounding ‘Heresy’ and straight into ‘March of the Pigs’. If you didn’t need a breather after that beginning then there’s something wrong with you.

After the crowd sing a long to ‘Piggy’ (the band like their pigs, they should watch out for the flu) the addition of a couple of covers; ‘Metal’ by Gary Numan cover and Reznor’s idol David Bowie’s ‘I'm Afraid of Americans’ really gets things going. However the few ballads that followed, like ‘The Fragile’, did not go down so well with the crowd, who are seemingly a bit uninterested tonight. But if anything it shows the bands broad musical skills and tendencies to push the boundaries.

It’s the classics that finally get the crowd moving, ‘Wish’, ‘Suck’ and ‘Head Like A Hole’ result in a huge mosh pit and more sing-a-longs, before the band leave and return for the encore of ‘Hurt’, in front of hundreds of lighters held high. The lyric “Everyone I know goes away in the end” has never sounded so true. If this is the end of live NIN – and it looks to be – at  least they are going out on a high.

Nine Inch Nails and Jane's Addiction live in Manchester