Nine Inch Nails
Just half an hour after Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band commanded all of Bonnaroo’s attention, Nine Inch Nails performed a ferocious set in front of a far-as-the-eye-could-see crowd that hit much like any of the shows they’ve been playing this summer on tour with Jane’s Addiction. Except, of course, for three major differences: for starters, after explaining to the crowd that the band had looked at Bonnaroo’s schedule and saw a number of kick-ass bands on the line-up, they realized their friends the Dillinger Escape Plan would be present and accounted for, Trent Reznor invited them to the stage “to increase the Dillinger Escape Plan’s coolness” by having them sit in on the set-closing ‘Wish.’
But the show had another aspect that was far more notable and, in fact, cemented Nine Inch Nails’ late-night set at Bonnaroo as being one for the history books. “It just dawned on me that this is our last show — ever — in the United States,” said Reznor after introducing his band. “Don’t be sad. I’d keep going but I think I’d lose my f—ing mind if I don’t stop.”
Fair enough, Trent. The one regrettable thing about that, though, is that the next generation of angst-ridden teenagers might lose their mind because you did. Oh, and as for the third unique thing about this NIN show: it was for an audience of hippies and hipsters at what, in many ways, feels like one giant Phish festival. Well, that’s one way to go up in smoke. Fare thee well, old friends.
