Strange nailfellows: NIN's surprising tourmates
A look at some of Nine Inch Nails' most surprising opening acts over its lengthy career
Only Trent Reznor would think NIN would jibe with The Dresden Dolls.
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After a bout of farewell shows earlier this year that Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor thought insufficient, he's now leading his industrial band behind their for-real last tour, which includes sold-out stops tonight and tomorrow at the Aragon. NIN's jagged, often provocative contributions to music skyrocketed them to the spotlight: After forming in 1988, they played an impressive set at the inaugural Lollapalooza a mere three years later, opening for the likes college-rock staples Violent Femmes. Something about that starkly contrasting dynamic must have stuck with Reznor, because NIN tours often boasted some of the boldest choices for support acts that might be expected of a man in his position. Case in point: These Chicago shows have Danish band Mew opening—an appetizer of bright indie-pop before the entrée of seething anger and blazing sonic textures over pained screaming. The A.V. Club looks back at Mew and some of the most unexpected openers Reznor saw fit to take on the road with him.
Why it doesn't mesh with NIN: Well, Mew's a relatively friendly sounding band from Denmark, prone to album titles like their latest, No More Stories Are Told Today / I'm Sorry / They Washed Away / No More Stories / The World Is Grey / I'm Tired / Let's Wash Away. There's nothing abrasive about its twinkling layers of synth, or Jonas Bjerre's edge-of-falsetto vocals.
Why it works anyway: Mew's proof that "pretty" doesn't mean "middle-of-road": The band clearly shares Reznor's appreciation for progressive-rock grandiosity and rhythms that prod the listener along on the No More Stories track "Introducing Palace Players."
Why it doesn't mesh with NIN: While NIN's music has always pushed masochistically into a machine-tortured future, The Dresden Dolls rely on Amanda Palmer's piano-pounding and vocals and Brian Viglione's drums to flirt with weird old shadows of German cabaret music (well, among more modern sounds).
Why it works anyway: The Dolls are still preening goth-punks at heart, and no strangers to the wonders of automation, as the song "Coin-Operated Boy" attests:
Why it doesn't mesh with NIN: Even at its most driving and danceable, L.A. band Health's music is a rush of bright disorientation, winding strands of ambient noise, bent-up guitar figures, and often unintelligible vocals into bizarro pop.
Why it works anyway: Like Reznor, Health is determined to find its own path to sonic abrasion, punctuating washes of pretty noise with some ribcage-thumping dynamics. Plus, behind Health's scrawny, multicolored-hoodie types is drummer Benjamin Jared Miller, an absolute beast who lends some metal-worthy balls to primal freakout numbers like "Glitter Pills":
Why it doesn't mesh with NIN: The only common thread the cute 8-bit-inspired duo Crystal Castles shares with Nine Inch Nails is a solid foundation in using keyboards. They couldn't sound any more different: CC reminds listeners of playing video games; NIN is the aural polar opposite of joy.
Why it works anyway: They both understand the power of the almighty beat. Audiences might not come to NIN for dancing, but the sheer driving force behind both bands' music gets them asses up out of their seats.
