i was up above it. now i'm down in it. or, bite the hand of person who taps you on the back and wants you to sit down because you're blocking his view even though almost everyone in the venue is standing.
nine inch nails/bauhaus/peaches at jones beach theater. june 17, 2006. photos by kenyon.


nin set: somewhat damaged, you know what you are?, sin, terrible lie, march of the pigs, the frail/the wretched, closer, burn, gave up, help me i am in hell, non-entity, only, wish, la mer, into the void, the big come down, dead souls, suck, get down make love, down in it, hurt, the hand that feeds, head like a hole.

nine inch nails was the first band i ever saw in a small venue in new york city. it was also before trent reznor and co. were able to fill a venue the size of jones beach, and before the industrial-rock of the breakthrough second album, the downward spiral, began crossing over to an impossibly diverse range of people, many of which have never heard of, oh let's say, bauhaus. having a record make an impact on you as a teenager and then seeing an artist get to such a popularity is a bitter pill to swallow. and i'm bitter. with this show, i've come full circle. and what a show. i'm sure it's the best thing that jones beach will have this year, given the lighting and combination of artists--one of the most exciting live rock acts, the founding goth band and an attention-grabber oozing with sex sex sex. that last one, known as peaches, is a naughty girl, singing about sucking on titties and f*cking the pain away. she's an entertainer too, and was confident enough to walk down into the crowd. [ps, peaches would be great to photograph close up, but didn't get photos due to it being light out still and me being too far from stage]. for a band that put out it's first record in 1980, bauhaus seemed as relevant as ever, and after this, i will need to try try again to adapt to something besides "third uncle" and "bela lugosi's dead," the latter of which with they finished.

bauhaus had some nice lights, but it was nothing compared to nine inches. in fact it's worth going to see nin just for the lights and effects. along with just about every well-known song and single played, it was a rather complete gig, ranging from newer arm-raising songs "you know what you are?" and "the hand that feeds" to old favorites "hurt," "sin" and "head like a hole." a neat surprise was the joy division cover of "dead souls." overall, the band kicked some serious ass, and i especially like it when the guys up front (i counted 5 people in band all together) run around in circles and throw sh*t.


crowd report: not too bad, music was loud enough to barely hear talking, even from as far back as we were. although i had to avoid a fight with the jerk behind me who didn't like me standing during nin. after some time in the front of the section, i realized sitting down [dude, hello? this is a f*cking hard rocking rock band] was the best route for photos anyway. during nin's "hurt" someone yelled out "we hurt too!". and many of us laughed.


bauhaus