Review: Nine Inch Nails @ Bell Centre

I discovered the music of Nine Inch Nails in a very interesting way: at one of their live shows. Some friends of mine had two extra tickets and had asked my partner and I to go. I wasn't remotely interested but my partner told me to shut up and take it. At that point, I assumed that if my partner liked it, it was heavy metal, and at that point, I avoided listening to metal like the plague.

That show blew my mind, and I've been a huge NIN fan ever since. I didn't expect that I would be able to see them in concert again, so I was thrilled when i heard they were coming to the Bell Centre.

Their latest album "Hesitation Marks" was released in September, and their "Tensions" tour is in support of the new record. Therefore, you have to expect that some new material will be played at the shows. However, the show at the Bell Centre was announced before the new album came out.

So last Thursday, we drove to Montreal to check out the show. I was really excited. My expectations for this show were quite high...

The show started off with the first track of the new album, "Copy of a". They played more songs off the new album, such as "All Time Low", "Disappointed" and "Came Back Hunted". They played some old favourites too, including "Terrible Lie", "March of the Pigs", "Piggy" and "Head Like a Hole".

A few moments stood out for me. The band performed "Find My Way", a song off the new album. It was a really beautiful performance. It felt intimate and the visual effects were stunning. The band played "The Hand That Feeds", one of my absolute favourite songs. I was thrilled! Finally, the last song of the encore was "Hurt", which is an absolutely heartbreaking and beautiful song. Well done!

Overall, I enjoyed the show. However, I can understand why some fans might have been disappointed. If you did not like the band's new album, then you most likely did not like this show... My partner sure didn't. And although I did enjoy the show, I was disappointed that they did not play more material from the album "With Teeth" (my favourite). And their last show I saw was so brilliant that this time around, it did not quite measure up.

Check out the video below of NIN's performance of "Find My Way" this summer at the Fuji Rock Festival. Enjoy!