Newcastle Entertainment Centre
Saturday March 8, 2014 :
It was reasonable to have high expectations of Newcastle’s double headline show by American groups Nine Inch Nails and Queens of the Stone Age. The former has been an influential and powerful live force for 26 years. The latter has grown from a smouldering stoner-rock group into a true stadium act. And while the music of both groups is different, fan discussion post-show inevitably focused on which band had been the most impressive.
The jury is still out.
Proceedings were opened by Aussie ex-pat, and wife of Queens of the Stone Age’s vocalist Josh Homme, Brody Dalle. In a raw punk performance, Dalle played tracks from her projects The Distillers and Spinnerette, and previewed new songs from her upcoming solo record, Diploid Love.
The two headliners had been flipping a coin to see who would play first and in Newcastle it was Nine Inch Nails. Through clouds of smoke and dim, atmospheric lighting, singer Trent Reznor led his band through a set of material from throughout their eight studio records.
Even though Saturday marked the 20 year anniversary of Nine Inch Nails’ landmark record The Downward Spiral, Reznor made no mention of the milestone. Opening with ‘Me, I’m Not’ from 2007’s Year Zero, the group played old fan favourites Head Like A Hole and Sanctified, as well as new tracks ‘Copy of A’ and ‘Disappointed’ from last year’s Hesitation Marks album. The monstrous rendition of ‘Wish’ had the crowd pumping their fists in the air and screaming out the lyrics.
Reznor’s voice was an arresting mix of soulful and sinister, and it was clear that Nine Inch Nails’ industrial rock becomes a different beast when played live.
Primal, yet futuristic, the band’s set ended with the haunting classic ‘Hurt’.
Queens of the Stone Age had promised to draw heavily from their latest album, …Like Clockwork, and they did, but the group squeezed in many of their hit singles. For long-time fans, the Californian rockers played ‘Avon’ from their 1998 self-titled record. From 2000’s Rated R was a long, twisted jam on ‘Better Living Through Chemistry’ and ‘Into The Fade’. Other highlights included ‘Little Sister’, the always sexy ‘Make It Wit Chu’ and the thundering ‘3’s and 7’s’. Homme made multiple apologies about his voice, revealing that a doctor had told him not to perform. But it was hard to notice any fault, with the towering redhead’s fiery croon as powerful and seductive as ever. Queens of the Stone Age sent their happy fans on their way with an encore of ‘No One Knows’ and ‘A Song For The Dead’.
The big crowd filed out of Newcastle Entertainment Centre having witnessed one of the best nights of music in the city’s history.
Reviewer: Nick Milligan
Photographer: Kevin Bull
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