MANSFIELD - It was an odd pairing from the outset, and Wednesday night at the
Aside from a brief moment as peers in the alt-rock revolution - and costars of the first Lollapalooza tour - the trippy, recently reunited Cali rockers and Trent Reznor's more consistent and consistently engrossing rage machine don't share much musical ground. They clearly have some fan overlap, however, as the three-quarters-capacity crowd cheered enthusiastically for strong sets by both bands.
Reznor made it more difficult for casual fans, bypassing many of his group's biggest hits. But this was no nostalgia tour for Nine Inch Nails, and Reznor remains, 20 years in, a frontman who is so present in his performances, so deep inside his lyrics, that his shows tend to be compelling whether he's singing your favorite song or not.
Wednesday night was no exception as he burrowed under the big beats of songs like "Discipline" and "1,000,000" and came up screaming for salvation and relief as banks of lights flickered behind his coiled figure.
A man of few words onstage, he instead let his emotions bleed through his yelps and croons and the vehemence with which he attacked his keyboards. His deft three-piece band conjured up a hypnotic blend of stuttering beats, slashing guitars, and sculpted noise on "March of the Pigs" and "Head Like a Hole." A spare take on the aching, hushed "Hurt" brought the set to a close.
Given how quick the set change was, the contrast between groups was startling. After the sharp angles and laser-directed rage of NIN, the freewheeling, psychedelic metal stew of Jane's Addiction's felt sluggish at first.
The quartet worked their way toward a peak, however, appropriately enough, during a brawny "Mountain Song" and never looked back, steamrolling into the fuzzy funk of "Been Caught Stealing," the epic "Ocean Size," and a nutty, calamitous "Ted, Just Admit It."
Guitarist Dave Navarro, shirtless by the third song, offered punishing grooves and flights of solo fancy. Drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Eric Avery locked into a heavy-yet-tasteful bottom end. And leader Perry Farrell was his usual outsize self, coming off like a space alien version of Elvis, gyrating in a tight green-gold lamé jumpsuit.
The band bid the crowd goodnight with a jubilant, steel-drum driven version of "Jane Says."
Former Rage Against the Machine/Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello's latest musical outfit/political mission Street Sweeper Social Club started the night with guitar pyrotechnics.
