the aging of nine inch nails and its audience

Nine Inch Nails’ Tension 2013 Tour // Photo by Rob Sheridan

In 2000, Nine Inch Nails were touring in support of Trent Reznor's epic double-disc concept album The Fragile—the release that earned the band its first No. 1 charting. The Fragility 2.0 tour hit the Rose Garden that June, and as some friends were leaving for the show, they realized they had an extra floor ticket.

I took that ticket.

A puny, buzz cutted, buck twenty-something high schooler in crisp Gap jeans and unblemished Adidas trainers, we turned our backs on the warmth of the summer sunshine and made our way through the dim recesses of the Rose Garden with our neon wristbands securely attached, wristbands that warned: "The Rose Quarter does not condone MOSHING OR BODYSURFING" and threatened those participating with (self-inflicted) "injuries and/or eviction."

Although this was my first-ever arena show—my first real mosh pit—I knew there was no way the combat boot-donning, black eye shadow-painted, pierced and pale contingent around me, with spiked accessories around wrists and necks and more barbs skewering shoulders and lapels, would heed this advisory.

Thirteen years and five studio albums later, and after a period of indefinite hiatus for NIN, it all seemed so much tamer when Reznor and Co. took the freshly christened Moda Center stage on Monday, November 18, 2013, supporting Hesitation Marks, the band's eighth studio album and first one back after the aforementioned self-imposed break.

That's not to say the show wasn't a quality one.

Photo by Rob Sheridan

Trent Reznor would never half ass a performance and he brought the visual firepower in the form of a blinding, hypnotizing and schizophrenia-inducing light show, all rhythmically timed to his oft-abrasive anthems. The luminous apparatuses were multi-dimensional with swiveling robotic flashes hanging just above the performers' heads, as well as a metal grating that descended to divide the band and the crowd, effectively creating an illuminated cage where laser beams formed glowing bars and digital flames danced before the band. Wavelengths shook and shivered with interference while the precisely electrified silhouettes during "The Hand That Feeds" were impressive.

As expected, he also brought the aural bombast with a corrosive intensity intermittently complimented by poignant moments of delicate beauty—what we've all come to expect from the industrial composer and producer known to mix harshness and grace in the same breath, spouting fire and ice, distortion and clarity.

The vibe wasn't exactly docile, but then again, it didn't feel nearly as hostile as it did 13 years ago. There was definitely audible aggression in the chants of "Now you know, this is what it feels like" during "The Wretched," and a compact mosh pit seemed to be alive and well during the appropriate moments ("Terrible Lie," "Survivalism," "Head Like A Hole" and "The Wretched").

Admittedly, I was observing all this from my comfy press perch rather than in the thick of it where, all those years ago, I was literally lifted off the ground due to the crush of chunky, fleshy masses collapsing on all sizes while sweating profusely, fighting off lightheadedness, and gasping for air with an intensity I've only experienced since in the sweltering confines of a claustrophobic Bikram yoga studio—all in an attempt to score a glimpse of the equally impactful triptych stage setup designed by Bill Viola.

This time, there was no salvo of crowd surfers incessantly launching themselves over the barriers, nor a massive push and shove of clammy bodies stumbling to and fro in a tightly packed pit. It wasn't very intimidating, and maybe that's because everyone was too busy holding up their cell phones.

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94.7 knrk announces 2012 december to remember lineup including rose garden bill with the killers + m83

Passion Pit's Michael Angelakos at the Crystal Ballroom during MFNW 2012.
Photo by Anthony Pidgeon.

This morning, 94.7 FM announced the lineups for their yearly holiday music series, December to Remember, which runs from December 2nd through the 6th, plus a final straggling show on the 10th. With six nights of music, KNRK has added more shows than ever with performances at the Crystal Ballroom and Roseland as well as a huge Rose Garden bill. Here's how the gigs are shaping up for this year's ever-popular series:

Sunday, December 2nd
The Lumineers
Crystal Ballroom, $20

Monday, December 3rd
Metric
Roseland Theater, $25

Passion Pit
Crystal Ballroom, $30

Tuesday, December 4th
FUN.
Crystal Ballroom, $32.50

Wednesday, December 5th
The Killers
M83
Tegan and Sara
Rose Garden, $29.50-59.50

Of Monsters and Men
Crystal Ballroom, $25

Thursday, December 6th
Grouplove
The Joy Formidable
Crystal Ballroom, $25

Monday, December 10th
The Shins
Crystal Ballroom, $35

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deconstructing ‘the wall’ : roger waters live in portland

"It's meant to be a piece of theater. Don't really look upon it as rock 'n' roll—this is theater," Roger Waters said of his The Wall Live in a 2011 video interview previewing the record-smashing, current tour.

So when a series of red flares shot skyward before Waters and a cast of 11 musicians set foot on the Rose Garden stage on Tuesday, May 22nd, the two-plus hour show (intermission included) was not a concert. It was a monumental spectacle of gargantuan puppets, dazzling 3D projections, scorching pyrotechnics, and costumed actors all set to the soundtrack of one the world's most enduring rock operas: The Wall.

If you really want the comprehensive play-by-play of the show, Wikipedia gives you as many details as you could ask for. But experiencing The Wall Live is like no other concert you've seen before—or will ever see again.

The bar has been set—even though the set list was a given, many of the images were familiar, and even the action on stage was predictable for any Pink Floyd fan lucky enough to have witnessed one of the 31 original The Wall Tour shows in Los Angeles, New York, Dortmund or London or aficionados privy to subsequent documentaries or bootleg footage.

Now 30 years later, Roger Waters literally resurrected The Wall for a second U.S. and Canadian leg. And on Tuesday, as The Wall was constructed in Portland, Waters revised the original 1979 message of isolation to emphasize governmental and social issues: war, terrorism, capitalism, poverty, and hunger—slashing each with a big red X.

The message, principally projected across the white wall, encouraged unity while empathizing with others and feeling raw emotion—within ourselves and recognizing it in others, whether they were sitting next to us in the arena or suffering half a world away.

Waters says the modern production "substitute[s] the word wall for the word border"—both national and ideological borders—and our ability to communicate across them. So, amongst the gunfire, Nazi-inspired soldiers, and illusory helicopters sweeping through the arena's audio channels, there were also sincerely touching displays of grief and compassion, loss and love as the faces of fallen family members—soliders, women in headscarves, children, and most notably the Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes who was shot in the head seven times at Stockwell Road Tube station in London—lost in conflicts were displayed during the "The Thin Ice" and intermission.

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lady gaga’s clash

With tens of millions of album sales worldwide, hundreds of millions of YouTube views, and tickets starting at $49.50 (sans service charge) and sweeping up to a whopping $175 for last night’s sold-out-in-minutes Gaga extravaganza at the Rose Garden, Stefani Germanotta is raking in the dough. Billboard Magazine estimates that The Monster Ball Tour will gross some $200 million worldwide when it finishes next year.

But don’t think she’s not gracious. Or generous.

Especially when she announces, “I don’t want your money Portland, I want your soul.”

How altruistic.

When Lady Gaga addressed the crowd, she spoke in just two distinct tones: a calm, sultry, quiet chatter and a deranged, at times unintelligible, scream. Placidly, even apathetically, Gaga repeatedly thanked Portland: “Thank you. Thank you for buying a ticket to see my show,” followed by the feral, self-indulgent screech of: “Lady GAGA!!!”

It’s hard to really understand what’s happening inside that Gaga mind.

Before she took the stage, her prerecorded voice inspired the first massive waves of incessant screaming as she tackled a serious issue: helping homeless youth, especially those that have been forced from their homes by parents because they are gay, lesbian or transgender. Along with tour sponsor Virgin Mobile, the two have established a charity and Lady Gaga reiterated (twice) that for every dollar you donate, she will match it… up to $25,000. (You can watch a video of the speech here.)

She does care. Right?

Costumes and hair art galore, the fans were giddy with Gaga riding the MAX and filling the beer gardens before her set. Many midriffs were bared entering the arena, and there was a man in makeup and a miniskirt with his well-maintained mustache. Although there were groups of all ages (including grade schoolers) and orientations, a large swath of the audience was made up of teenage girls (and their mothers) and 20-something gay men.

So what other messages of Gaga wisdom did she have to impart upon us adoring fans?

“I dunno if you heard but I have a pretty tremendous dick. So get your dicks out because I heard they have some pretty tremendous cocks in Portland. Now dance you motherfuckers!!!”

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muse was made for arena rock

In 2006, Muse played an intimate (by their standards) gig at the Roseland Theater–a venue they easily sold out. Back in Portland on Saturday night, Muse may not have sold out the Rose Garden but they crowded the floor and lower levels with an audience antsy for a show tailored to fit Muse’s musical theatrics.

Frames sheathed in curtains rose from stage to rafters as digital bodies marched on the stairs behind the translucent drapes. At the top, a body fell backwards slowly knocking down the line like dominos. As the white silhouettes floated to ground (reminiscent of the cover to Absolution), the cloak fell revealing vertical parallelepiped pedestals (a term that could likely appear in a Muse song title) where the trio towered above Rose Garden’s floor on their split skyscrapers as the rebellious chorus of “Uprising” was splayed across the massive, video-screened structures.

With guitars holstered on their pillars, singer Matthew Bellamy flicked away at the most electric neck frets as Christopher Wolstenholme’s bass steadily throbbed the open air in rhythmic waves. Dominic Howard’s drum kit rotated 360 degrees as the elongated cubes shrank into the floor...

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