Review: Nine Inch Nails at the Bi-Lo Center

Nine Inch Nails played to a crowd of 2,500 people at the Bi-Lo Center downtown. (Credit: Mykal McEldowney)

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There was a moment in Nine Inch Nails’ set when the crowd, dazzled by the band’s jaw-dropping light show, let out a collective “whoa.” 

An amazing curtain of LED lights caused the spectacle. During a trio of instrumental tunes from NIN’s recent “Ghosts I-IV” release, the semi-opaque curtain generated images of rain and lightning in front of NIN front man Trent Reznor and his four-piece combo.

Then the curtain appeared to crack and shatter, turning the Bi-Lo Center crowd into 2,500 or so Beavises and Buttheads.

The innovative prop was essentially another member of the band. Reznor, a noted stickler for design, had the savvy to pair flashy production with his band’s lesser known material.

The “Ghosts” songs featured Reznor on marimba and multi-instrumentalist Justin Meldal-Johnsen on upright bass. While trippy chamber music during a rock concert would normally send fans en masse to the beer tent, the light show held most of the Greenville crowd spellbound.

NIN was at its best when the music was at its weirdest -- tweaked dance tunes and far-out soundscapes. The familiar, dusty rhythm track to “Closer” lathered up the audience, and the song’s nasty synth riffs and X-rated come-ons had the black T-shirted masses shaking what God gave them.

Likewise, “God Given,” one of five encores, turned the Bi-Lo Center into the devil’s dance floor. For the slithering “March of the Pigs,” the crowd sung along for the chorus, practically drowning out Reznor.

As interesting as those numbers were, NIN’s industrial rockers, even classics like “Head Like A Hole,” in a live context sounded like pedestrian modern radio fare. The arrangements and screamo background singing fell cold.

Ironically, it was the lesser known material that fared the best among the guitar-driven tunes. Show opener “999,999” began with drummer Josh Freese’s laser backbeat and slashing chords from guitarist Robin Finck. Reznor emerged in black leather pants and a blue shirt, leaning into his mic stand and bellowing his trademark nihilism.

Reznor was in fine voice throughout. He hit all the notes, from psycho screams on “The Hand That Feeds” to the delicate bits in “Hurt.” The 43-year-old front man reclaimed the latter song from Johnny Cash’s famous cover, returning “Hurt” to its modernist arrangement with Finck providing bent-note ache on acoustic. Finck stood out throughout the show, conjuring bolts of blue-streak anti-guitar from a battery of Les Pauls.

Fitting the aforementioned visual magic, NIN closed their Greenville performance with flair. As the band played the atmospheric “In This Twilight,” one-by-one the players, starting with Finck, set down their instrument, took a bow and walked off stage, until only Reznor remained. Reznor continued for a few more bars on his keyboard, before hitting one final piano chord and waving to the throng. And then he was gone.

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