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Reznor brings surprises to Rupp

By Walter Tunis Contributing Music Critic

"Once I start, I cannot help myself," sang Trent Reznor with now-familiar clenched fist fury last night during Nine Inch Nails' menacing, ear-crunching and, at times, deeply reflective return to Rupp Arena before a crowd of 6,100.

The lyrics at hand came from Discipline, one of four tunes from the band's new The Slip album that kicked off the two-hour-plus performance. It could also have been seen as a working credo for Reznor's musical mean streak of late. Since NIN's last Rupp appearance in early 2006, he severed ties with major music labels and released three albums of new material — a typhoon of activity compared to the glacial one-man-band pace he worked at up to that point.

Reznor was full of many surprises last night. Given the noisy angst NIN summoned on stage, Discipline marched along with a surprisingly pop-friendly groove established by drummer Josh Freese. The beat would have approximated disco had it not been for the cranky abstraction of Robin Finck, the guitarist who recently returned to the touring lineup of NIN after extensive touring with Guns N' Roses.

And then there was the final irony: For all the intimations of runaway locomotion in Discipline, the tune stopped on a dime, as if Reznor had pushed a button and instantly powered the band down. If that didn't throw a curveball to NIN fans, then certainly passages pulled from last spring's Ghosts I-IV did.

Marimba, anyone? A jazzy shuffle, perhaps? Keyboard ambience and subtle guitar twang? They were all part of what was, on the surface, the show's greatest musical departure. But the midshow medley of Ghosts tunes was a welcome diversion.

The danger in Reznor's industrial-strength rage, even within the more streamlined music from The Slip (an album newer than Ghosts), is that the charge can numb even the heartiest of audiences. That was probably a desired effect for much of the band's history. But the modest deviation from NIN's pulverizing norm last night unquestionably heightened the impact of the Rupp performance.

The icy marimba that bounced around the arena was as creepy as much of NIN's vintage material. This is music disquieting even in its quietest moments. So, for that matter, was a heavily revamped Piggy, which breezed along with Justin Meldal-Johnsen on, almost unfathomably, standup acoustic bass.

The evening's best effect turned out to be its most modest. Deep into a 20-minute encore section, Reznor sang the opening verses of Hurt under a solitary spotlight. When Johnny Cash re-invented the tune shortly before his death in 2003, Hurt suggested an unanticipated air of fleeting mortality. Back in Reznor's hands last night, it was what it was initially: a harrowing confession of loss at the hands of addiction.