2014.02.25 - Tokyo, Japan @ Studio Coast

[TheBang]

http://distilleryimage2.ak.instagram.com/ca4bb5fa9d2511e393b112096d51461e_8.jpg

[FULLMETAL]

http://i.imgur.com/gEMFKYtl.jpg?1

Call me old fashioned, but I quite enjoy catching NIN in a small club with a bunch of rowdy, die-hard fanatics. It was great to see some of the familiar faces from the old Spiral days and those crazy folks who make NIN an essential part of their travel plans. Of course, big ups to @Kenji_Tokyo (http://www.echoingthesound.org/community/member.php?u=4373) for hooking me up with tickets.

Ally opened up the show at 7pm with a small instrumental set. I'm only familiar with "Blue" but it didn't seem like he was playing anything from SONIO. I couldn't get a decent look at his rig, but my best guess would be a Buchla. It was on the floor of the center stage and he was kneeling down so it was kinda hard to see from my position. He played for roughly 20 minutes and then after a quick break, NIN came out and the crowd went into berserker mode.

"Me, I'm Not" opened the show and the floor was just a pulsing mess of fans rocking the fuck out, but once "Survivalism" started that's when the floor really became a huge pit. It was glorious! I was kinda surprised to see Ilan taking on bass responsibility & vocals in addition to keyboards & drums, but it made sense given how the set was structured. Nothing really surprising from the setlist (but I've heard a lot of songs from a lot of shows so I may be a little jaded). I didn't hear the "Sunspots" riff during "Sanctified", but I quite enjoyed hearing "Hand Covers Bruise" segue into "Beside You In Time." Alas, the show ended promptly at 9pm.

Suffice it to say it was a fun show with a great fucking crowd and I'm looking forward to night number two!

[Kenji_Tokyo]

Setlist

1 Me, I'm Not
2 Survivalism
3 Terrible Lie
4 March Of The Pigs
5 Piggy
6 Sanctified
7 Disappointed
8 Came Back Haunted
9 Find My Way
10 Reptile
11 Beside You In Time
12 Copy Of A
13 All Time Low
14 Gave Up
15 The Hand That Feeds
16 Only
17 Wish
18 Head Like A Hole
19 Hurt

I'll post my review later. One thing is sure - NIN never lets you down!

[Kenji_Tokyo]

As tonight was the first show of the latest reincarnation of NIN which is reduced to just 4 members, I had wondered who would play which instrument. And when you found their drummer didn't play drums nearly half of the entire set, the word "surprising" is just an understatement. Watching from the upstair, I couldn't judge it was a guitar or a bass, but it was clear that Alessandro, Ilan and Robin were busy switching their instruments. And such flexibility worked really well tonight.

Ilan's drumming was featured mostly on heavy-rocking tunes. When he wasn't behind the kit, the band's rhythm became more minimalistic that brought a la electronic pseudo-funk feel to "Piggy", "Only" and new songs from HM.

Tonight's mix of metallic assault and hypnotic, repetitive tone might not be "more aggressive" show that TR had predicted, but I quite enjoyed the contrast.

Apparently there were 2 biggest surprises in tonight's setlist. BYIT's return and the absence of "Closer". The former was one of my personal highlights. The latter may divide the opinion. Frankly it wasn't critical for me as I've seen NIN nearly 20 times.

At the same venue in 2007, NIN played 40 songs in total in 3 nights, so I expect some unexpected stuff tomorrow and Friday.

I end my review with a link to some photos posted on local promoter's website (http://www.creativeman.co.jp/blog/21996/).

[shin2chi]

I found a pic of 2/25 NIN Setlist paper :) - https://twitter.com/NUmagJAPAN/status/438273337072971776

[shin2chi]

Came Back Haunted - http://youtu.be/W2zR-gySVdk
Copy Of ​​A - http://youtu.be/m9ktaewW_v0
Wish - http://youtu.be/3eesZah11uU