Gig review: Nine Inch Nails in Auckland

BEN CAMPBELL/Fairfax Media

HARD AS NAILS: Trent Reznor performs with Nine Inch Nails at Vector Arena in Auckland.

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Trent Reznor left fans wanting more as Nine Inch Nails blistered through what was "probably" their last show in New Zealand. Reviewer Chris Schulz was there.

Nine Inch Nails
Where: Vector Arena, Auckland
When: Tuesday, February 17

If this really was the end, it came just a little too soon.

Yep, it's fair to say Nine Inch Nails - performing the first night of what front man Trent Reznor has said will be the band's farewell world tour - left the crowd at Auckland's Vector Arena wanting more.

Confused punters demanded the industrial rock act return for an encore by stomping their feet and clapping their hands for a full 10 minutes, even with the house lights on and crew packing up the stage.

It didn't help that Reznor had announced, after tortured sing-along anthem Hurt, that this would "probably" be the band's last visit to New Zealand.

He got booed for that, and you can understand why fans might have felt a bit aggrieved, especially after a set that didn't include infamous anthem Closer, or that much-desired encore.

Still, they were the only complaints to be had about a brutally minimalist evening that saw Reznor and his new-look band deliver on promises they would be "raw" and "unpredictable".

It was a set that would make diehard fans drool. It had old stuff. It had new stuff. It had B-sides and rarities. It had the smoked-out intensity the band is famous for.

And it had a dazzling light show that gave proceedings a completely different feel to the band's last visit - a scarily unhinged early evening gig at the 2000 Big Day Out.

Heck, it even had a multi-tasking Reznor getting his Kraftwerk on thanks to his new keyboard duties.

They opened with the blistering machine-gun precision of 1,000,000, Letting You and Discipline - the heaviest tracks from last year's free download album The Slip.

Surprisingly, Reznor said the band "didn't know what the heck it was doing" - perhaps a sign new drummer Llan Rubin is still bedding in with guitarist Robin Finck and bassist Justin Meldal-Johnsen.

Only occasionally did it feel like they were finding their way, like on a stuttering version of Survivalism. Even that was saved by the 'rave party from hell' remixed outro.

It was a shame Reznor didn't utilise his keyboards further by playing more tracks from 2007's mostly-ignored electronic concept album Year Zero - especially when unreleased track Non-Entity made an appearance.

But they really, er, nailed it when it counted: On those much-loved older tracks from the band's first two albums, 1989's Pretty Hate Machine and 1994's The Downward Spiral.

Terrible Lie was a fizzing set highlight, while unsettling rarer tracks Suck, Burn and Wish received plenty of moshpit approval.

Then there was the instrumental grunt of The Downward Spiral, a creepy crowd favourite that deserved to be stretched out and toyed with a little more. 

Tracks like Hurt, The Fragile and Something I Can Never Have provided some tender moments, proving just how good Reznor is at finding light amongst the dark.

And we got the full range the front man's emotions on March of the Pigs, as he moshed over his keyboard, screamed his lyrics like a man possessed then crooned the infamous line, "Doesn't it make you feel better?"

The unsuspecting end came after a fired-up Head Like a Hole, and with a quick wave they were off - just a little too soon.

If this really is the end of Nine Inch Nails, well, that hurts, Trent. That really hurts.

* What did you think of the show? Post your comments below.

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