Review Tuesday: Soundgarden and Nine Inch Nails @ Jones Beach Theater 08/01/2014

I haven't been to ANY concerts this year so when I was offered a ticket for the Soundgarden / NIN show at Jones Beach Theater for only $40 I couldn't say no!

Jones Beach Theater is a relatively small concert location at one of the fields of Jones Beach, Long Island, New York. Don't get me wrong, it's way bigger than any of the small venues, but it's smaller than the bigger places like Nassau Coliseum or Madison Square Garden. At JBT, any seat is a good seat. $40 got us front row seats in the mezzo section. There was never a person blocking our view of the stage.  

  

 

SOUNDGARDEN

During this tour there was an opening act that we missed, and Soundgarden and Nine Inch Nails switch off on who plays last. The night we saw the show SOUNDGARDEN hit the stage at around 7:45 PM.

I like to do my research before seeing any band perform and I was a little bummed with what I had learned. It just seemed that singer Chris Cornell was only mailing it in. I was pleasantly surprised to hear him belt out those tunes like his life depended on it. I realize that his method of singing could rough on the voice and he can't spend one and a half hours screaming every-night, but you want the songs to sound right!   

For nearly 1.5 hours Soundgarden performed their greatest hits. If there was a song you wanted to hear them play, THEY DID IT! There was little stage show and/or theatrics. Just great music with a great sound. Great performance. Loved it!

NINE INCH NAILS

Soundgarden left the stage by 9:10. I had heard that there was an impossibly short break in between the bands, but I didn't see that. It took nearly half an hour to clear off the stage. The lights were just left on, and there was no activity. Just a couple microphones and a sequencer. Finally one guy walks out on stage to that sequencer. That guy turned out to be Trent Reznor who just kicked right into COPY OF A. As the parts were required, the rest of the band walked out.

Interesting fact. Last year NIN toured with Trent and four guys, a full band, but on this tour the full time bassist got the axe and the drummer got double duty. If the bass line was more important, the drummer was out there playing bass to a sequenced drum line and vice versa.

NIN went and played about 1.5 hours of their greatest hits. Their stage show was more involved. They had a bunch of boards that would be moved around. At first I thought they were just white screens, but they were really monitors that played all sorts of visuals. The whole act was very well choreographed because you never saw anyone tripping over anything or seeming surprised that there was suddenly a screen pressed against his back.

I was a little surprised by the selection of songs. NIN has quite a catalog of songs but they performed mostly slower songs. That's not to say that they didn't play MARCH OF THE PIGS. What's a NIN show without that? But, yeah, it was a lot of their best slower songs. For instance, the final run begins with CLOSER and they've been closing with HURT. 

After all these years it seems that Trent hasn't hasn't lost his edge. Even though he's found happiness in his real life, he still belts out the tunes with the depression infused passion that defined him and his music since the mid-80s. 

In summation, I'd have to say that I am very happy that I got to see this show. These are two juggernauts in the music field and very much a part of the sound track of my life. Two great performances,one low price. WINNING!