Thirty years into their career, Nine Inch Nails are at the height of their ability to captivate.
Kings Theatre, Brooklyn’s answer to Manhattan's Radio City Music Hall, reopened in 2015 after nearly 40 years of closure. Since then, the 3,000-seater in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn has gained a reputation of attracting acts that could sell out arenas, but are cool enough to play more intimate sets for loyal fans.
This week, the gorgeously ornate, historic venue hosted a two-night residency for none other than Nine Inch Nails, who are about a third of the way through their Cold and Black and Infinite U.S. tour in support of their ninth studio album, Bad Witch.
Serving as the perfect opener for Trent and co. were Scottish shoegaze pioneers The Jesus And Mary Chain, who'd whet the room's appetite with a heavy dose of nostalgic, hazy riffs and deafening guitar feedback. Nearly thirty years ago, these alt.rock trendsetters took a scrappy, fledgling band promoting a debut album called Pretty Hate Machine out on tour; now, that young band repays the favor.
Opening with their entire 1992 EP, Broken, Nine Inch Nails went on to stomp through a 21-song-set filled with grinding, dreadful angst punctuated by a few beautiful moments of transcendency. Trent Reznor and his band of brilliant misfits (which now includes longtime collaborator Atticus Ross as a full-time member) managed to pack a stampede of sound into a concert hall seemingly more fit for a world-class orchestra.
Small talk, however, has never been Trent's forte. "How you guys doing?" he finally asks, an hour into the show. "We gotta do this more often," he adds, before launching into Me, I'm Not, from 2007's With Teeth. It seems the man would prefer to speak through a blistering array of perfectly executed songs – and we're okay with that.
Check out the photos from this incredible night of music below.
