FYF Fest, August 22 & 23, 2015 at L.A. Sports Arena and Coliseum, Exposition Park

It wasn't much of a question if we'd go to FYF Fest or not, since it was the big summer, concert festival event of the year with our friends, but it helped that they had a strong line-up, even with a last-minute change in headliners (which worked in our favor). Since it was at the L.A. Sports Arena for a second year, they had worked out the kinks from the previous year, namely the bottlenecks to get from stage to stage and for the crowd to get in (even though it still took us a while, compared to the year before, when we accidentally jumped ahead in line). There was some hope on the horizon that this new home could work, to accommodate all the stages and people, and less dust than the historic park even if we had to drive. We got in early enough for Badbadnotgood, either to see an act when we had no other conflicts with or just to go inside the Sports Arena and get out of the height of the heat of the day. Their brand of new jazz couldn't get many people moving, and it was maybe a little much for any to have to consider so much about their music in the middle of the day. But they were getting around, so just outside of my orbit; I had high hopes for Dinosaur Jr., after having my face blown off by them two years before at the same fest, and now being prepared for their onslaught. Unfortunately, it was just another performance by them, flat by the standard I held them at from last time. They were solid enough, but they just rolled through their set, the only real electricity coming from how good the songs were, and that didn't require any particular effort, and it seemed like they didn't feel a need to bring it. Maybe they can turn it on and off, maybe any act can, but it was a disappointment after seeing them really bring it, even if it was only once; we spent most of the day wandering, until the evening, for Savages, another anticipation of ours. Carla was more familiar with them, but I rarely have a problem with tense, snarling, gothy girl groups. They were a little too cool to really be savages, but it still worked for them. They even noted that they were playing some songs they were still recording, which seems to be a rarity in an age of anything being put into the world as soon as it's recorded, usually unofficially. Though that next album didn't seem to go far so this might have been their height, but what it was was a highlight of the fest; Bloc Party are pretty well past their peak but they still have enough pull to tour well on new material and get an evening slot at festivals. I was still into them, getting new albums even if I couldn't tell them apart from past ones. Their base sound, of precise guitars and snappy drums and fresh production, always gets me. I didn't even know what album they were touring on but I probably got it. Apparently I was only keeping up with the albums because I didn't know they had a new drummer, a chick, who held up her end ably, and they sounded as good as they ever have, maybe even better when their sound gets out into the open night air. We only saw the end, which was enough, as it was singles I didn't recognize, but it was good enough to check in with them; Frank Ocean headlining didn't cause much excitement in our quarters. I, for one, was only tangentially familiar with him (and that was mostly from the Lonny Breaux album I got just to know him for the show, then I found out I got the wrong one). It probably wasn't bad but as art for the younger crowd, I need something with more bite, and this one didn't do much for me. The rest of the line-up was good enough that it didn't necessarily need him, but that would still leave a vacancy of a good top tier. We could have survived with or without him, as the worst that could happen would be we'd go home early, assuming there were no other acts, so when they replaced him with Kanye West, that was only extra, and a lot extra. With or without the music, he's one of the biggest names in this age. Heck, my parents know who Kanye is (though for the wrong reasons). He might be one of the few things that Carla & I disagree on, but he's as much a musical genius as we've had in the modern age, as far as I'm concerned. If rock music isn't going to bother being exciting anymore and new rock stars are lame, at least let him have a go at it. He's probably even too big for a local music festival that used to be a punk thing, but it certainly made a stake at standing alongside any of the others, especially since they were able to get him at nearly the last minute. Even if his name at the time was more from being a celebrity than a musician, it was misguided to forget that he had made his name on his impressive musical ability. For whatever reason he did it -- maybe charging his emergency rate, or to prove that he really could hang his name on his music like he says he can and didn't have to rely on the rest of the noise -- he brought it. It takes some courage to make yourself vulnerable as the only one on the stage, with only his DJ somewhere off-stage, but it wouldn't be the first time he's mixed up bravery and hubris. But when he can put on a performance like he did, he can do as he likes. You may not like Kanye's music (which is crazy since he's usually the top of the game in his class, so that's your problem) but what he has he cranked to the max that night.  It was just him and the music, and he knew it, and everyone else did, and he played as hard as anyone could. He never brought up the rest of the crap that seems to surround him, which he invited of course but that's just part of that world -- he was there for and with the music, and even if everyone else was aware of the rest of the static, he didn't put it out there and no one else seemed interested anyway (even if they were there hoping for a train-wreck. Did they expect him to bring a reality show on-stage? Though if he made a few fans from the curiosity of his circus, then maybe it was worth it). Though even a headliner gets only so much time in their set, and he was aware of it. By the time we got over there he was already winding it down, even though he had plenty of time to do several songs. But he had so many hits left to play, he told us, and he made a point of burning through as many as he could, down to the last seconds he had, even if some were left as snippets or he abandoned a few part-way through when he wanted to jump to the next one. It was a harried, dizzying spell, putting down more effort than most would bother, and more spontaneously than most rock shows. With as much money and fame as he had, he didn't have much to prove, and he could have left FYF out to dry, but he seemed dedicated to show that he could be as great as he said he was. Maybe he didn't pull out the stops all the time, but that night he pulled it off. Frank who?; the Jesus + Mary Chain could have been the headliners, at least for this crowd, and seeing them shunted to a side-stage was disappointing but probably appropriate. They were a high-point for the line-up, but by the end of the day, we were about done. We saw enough of their set to know it was their usual thing, which is generally electrifying, but with so many other bands co-opting their sound for so long, we were more than familiar with them one way or another, so to our exhausted spirits we could sacrifice them to leave. Missed: Metz (after everyone made a big deal about them a few years ago, but they were too early), Cold Cave (I was good, having seen them before), Flying Lotus (if for only the Thom Yorke connection).

Sunday was, of course, more of the same.  Carla and her feet had had enough of the previous day so I went it alone, riding in with Rachel and Jen but wandering on my own for much of it and meeting up with the others as it happened.  The first half of the day was a bit sparse, with my first act being Spiritualized in the indoor sports arena.  They're a good band, maybe even better than flogging Ladies & Gentlemen... far more than it had distance, but they're unextraordinary on stage as a full band. Credit that guy with taking a chance when it was just himself and a string quartet, no matter how nap-worthy, but that wasn't the case here. But a decent way to ease into the day; I probably remember more of what I was drinking (beer) in the garden more than Toro Y Moi. It was probably some nice vibes for the afternoon but at the time forgettable enough that I shot portraits of everyone in our group that was there, who showed up in number enough for this but I'm not sure why; dark came quickly, and with it choices for what to see, so by default there was the main stage and Flume, who I guessed was a DJ, but he actually got it going and earned the spot. I'm not opposed to DJs and whatever they're doing, it's just not what I'm there for. But I can always appreciate good tunes, no matter where they come from or how they're made. Flume sounded good, enough to hang around for, even if there was even less to look at than the average band (since his visuals, obligatory anymore for any act who performs just standing there, were just blandly standard psychedelic graphics). Then he brought up Lorde, which was notable just that she was there, even if their collaboration went right through me. She looked like any other concert-goer so maybe we saw her earlier in the day and maybe that was her intention, but the moment was enough to make that dude's show stand out for the day; the other big anticipation of the day was a gamble, a band I had barely ever heard of and only knew by reputation: Death Grips.  In a short amount of time they had accumulated their own notoriety, or even infamy, which wasn't so unappealing for a band peddling horror-rap. That was enough for me (even if it that point they mostly stood out because I thought they'd already broken up, so maybe it was convincing that it was a big deal that they were back together, if not that they had even existed in the first place). Through the haze of blinding, maroon lights, they crushed the stage, screaming vocals that could be heavy-metal or grindcore or punk if it was human at all. That dude would have been scary enough but the performance sealed the deal. If a band could ever be terrifying, and not campy like so many have fallen to (sorry, Marilyn Manson), this was it. It was something to build on, if they even cared, and if they could stay together long enough to keep it going. At least we got that night, and they were as good as any cautious anticipation could expect; of course the main reason to be there, as for anyone, was Morrissey. It seemed a shock when he was announced on the line-up but then it made perfect sense, and seemed strange that he hadn't done it before.  He hasn't been big enough to headline Coachella, though he had been on the main stage multiple times, including the first year. And with the Latino population of southern California that loves him so much, he'll fill any local venue that will have him, and he might as well be the biggest name at a local festival. As good as it is to see him on a festival line-up, as well as inevitable, I'd probably seen him enough by that point and I wasn't waiting around for him to trudge out an obscure Smiths chestnut to make my life complete. That said, he had been playing "Speedway" on this tour, and while that was not necessarily quite enough to go out of my way for one of his shows, if I was already there I'd see him, if I wasn't planning to already (and I probably would be anyway).  Obviously there was a Morrissey crowd -- gothy, Latino, Brit-mod, over-aged (though not usually more than one of those) -- and there was reverence, even if there was some nervousness about if he was actually going to play the show. It's doubtful that anyone even noticed that the food vendors near the stage weren't selling anything with meat (and maybe the rest of the place but we didn't notice for beyond that area). On my own, I got in position. It was the usual Morrissey performance -- at this point he's not going to change what works, save for what songs he's picked and what shirt is going to be sacrificed to the crowd. The band, as ever, were faceless but diligent and it sounded as good as it ever does. "Speedway" was early, as I knew it would be, and it bought the biggest surprise: he surrendered the song to one of his band members, who sang/spoke it in Spanish. It was an interesting change-up but that's one that I just wanted performed, not monkeyed with. Luckily, I've seen it before, played straight. But it was a good attempt to bring out one of his best tracks (and one I hold even over the Smiths catalog) even if it went right over the crowd. Seeing it also meant that I was free to leave, so I wandered off. I was good with missing out on any Smiths high-points later on, since I'd also likely seen those as well, so I'd had my fill of Moz and I was good for the day; there wasn't much to see after that, after the other stages were shut down either to not compete with the headliners or because they were done for the day, so I started heading to the exit. But made a stop at Thee Oh Sees to cap it off. I had gotten into them, for at least one album (Mutilator Defeated At Last), after Rollins had played a track of theirs on his show which was sufficient to blow me away.  I didn't have enough appreciation for them to stick around long, and they seem to play the festival and local venues pretty regularly so I'd see them again. So a sampling, maybe even caught "Web", then I was done with the festival for another year. Missed: Belle & Sebastian (who I'd seen enough of, even though I'd keep getting their albums. A festival is probably not the best place to see them anyway (even though that's the only places I've ever seen them)).

Morrissey's set-list:
"The Queen Is Dead"(The Smiths)
"Suedehead"
"Alma Matters"
"Kiss Me a Lot"
"Ganglord"
"Speedway"
"Staircase at the University"
"World Peace Is None of Your Business"
"I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris"
"Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before"(The Smiths)
"First of the Gang to Die"
"Istanbul"
"Everyday Is Like Sunday"
"The Bullfighter Dies"
"Meat Is Murder"(The Smiths)
"Now My Heart Is Full"
"I Will See You in Far-Off Places"
"What She Said"(The Smiths)

Kanye West's set-list:
"No Church in the Wild"(JAY Z & Kanye West cover)
"Stronger"
"Power"
"Black Skinhead"
"Niggas in Paris"(JAY Z & Kanye West cover)
"All Day"
"Can't Tell Me Nothing"
"Cold"
"I Don't Like"(Chief Keef cover)
"Mercy"
"Blessing"(Big Sean cover)
"New Slaves"
"Blood on the Leaves"
"Upper Echelon"(Travi$ Scott cover; with Travis Scott)
"Antidote"(Travi$ Scott cover; with Travis Scott)
"Runaway"
"FourFiveSeconds"(with Rihanna singing from the pit)
"10 years of hits in 10 minutes": "Jesus Walks"/"All Falls Down"/"Gold Digger"/"All of the Lights"(with Rihanna)/"Touch the Sky"/"Good Life"/"Only One"

Bloc Partys' set-list:
"The Good News"
"Hunting for Witches"
"Positive Tension"
"Real Talk"
"Waiting for the 7.18"
"Song for Clay" (Disappear Here) (Kele's "Tenderoni" Intro)
"Banquet"
"One More Chance"
"Octopus"
"Ratchet"
"Helicopter"
"Flux"
"This Modern Love"

Dinosaur Jr.s' set-list:
"The Lung"
"Start Choppin'"
"Repulsion"
"Watch the Corners"
"Feel the Pain"
"Just Like Heaven"(The Cure cover)
"Little Fury Things"
"Sludgefeast"

Death Grips' set-list:
"Come Up and Get Me"
"Inanimate Sensation"
"Get Got"
"I've Seen Footage"
"You Might Think He Loves You for Your Money but I Know What He Really Loves You for It's Your Brand New Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat"
"Hustle Bones"
"Hacker"
"Lock Your Doors"
"The Fever (Aye Aye)"
"Guillotine"
"No Love"
"Big House"
"Anne Bonny"

Savages' set-list:
"City's Full"
"Shut Up"
"I Need Something New"
"Sad Person"
"Evil"
"Adore"
"I Am Here"
"She Will"
"Hit Me"
"Husbands"
"Fuckers"

Flume's set-list:
"Tennis Court"(Lorde)
"Turning"(Collarbones; Flume Remix)
"Some Minds"
"You & Me"(Disclosure; Flume Remix)
"Insane"
"Warm Thoughts"
"Sleepless"

FYF Fest, August 23 & 24, 2014 at L.A. Sports Arena and Coliseum, Exposition Park

Just when we were getting to really like FYF Fest at Historic Park outside of Chinatown, they changed it to Exposition Park outside of USC. Both have their pros and cons, but just the change shows that FYF was moving toward being a much bigger deal than our local fest with increasingly recognizable bands. This made them more capable of getting bigger and better acts but it was quickly approaching being another Coachella, with the negatives that come from that connotation. Still, we would take it as we could have it and enjoy it for what it was. The change in geography might not have been the worst move in the world, and it was because the park was closed down due to a massive renovation (though with no promise that it would ever go back there). There was nothing we could do and we trusted the festival enough to follow along wherever it went, though still being local helped a good deal. This was another weekend with the drinking kids, all the familiar faces, and had already become our traditional get-together weekend (not so much the easy rote to see off summer, since we kept partying the rest of the year, but we’d take any celebration to make an event). The line-up for the weekend also didn’t disappoint, though we probably would have showed up for a lackluster list, knowing we could trust the organizers to get obscure but worthy bands for us to discover, and since a lot of it was about all of us hanging out anyway. Though there were some great surprises that could have gotten us out to even an unfamiliar festival. And the easy (though distant) parking or taking the subway -- either way to get there, whatever worked best -- never hurts. One of the most significant acts they got were Slint, a relative legend from the ‘90s that I missed completely (as they were nowhere near the KROQ rotation back then). It was indie-rock all the way, and it wasn’t hard to see that something so challenging could have gotten big, no matter how rewarding once you got into them. Scott, my right-hand man at work, was more clever with that corner of music than I was and he got me a copy of Spiderland which I enjoyed, even if I still hadn’t really gotten it even after seeing them. They were our first act of Saturday, one of our must-sees if only because we knew it was a big deal for them to be there and might never see them again. It was also welcome to be in the air-conditioned comfort of the interior of the sports-arena, after whatever effort we put in to get to the festival. They were still a challenge to me even after seeing them, but their live show expressed that I should have more familiarity with them (and that I should get to those bands I missed back then); Slowdive being there was the biggest deal for me. I got into them in drips and drabs over a number of years, having missed them originally (and being in the wrong country for them), but they became a band I liked without being obsessed by, showing how limited they were to me for quite a while. I was always about Souvlaki, said to be a classic in every music magazine I read, and it was always an album that I could get back into without being so familiar as to be fully immersed in and could always listen like it was new and get something fresh out of every time. It wasn’t until much later that I rounded up more of their stuff but the rest of it was more of the deep sound that I finally got to discover.  Their showing on the FYF line-up was a great surprise, not that FYF is only about punk bands, but that they included an obscure (in the U.S.) shoe-gaze band years and years after their peak, with fans that had likely aged out, was astounding. And they didn’t disappoint live, bringing the washes of guitar that sound so great in headphones to the open field of the park. They never bothered with pop so they didn’t have to go back to their singles but what they put together was a sturdy representation of anything they ever were, and showed the range of the festival and knowledge of the FYF organizers; it seems a surprise when Against Me! don’t play FYF, since they fit in so well with what the festival is about.  As such, we saw them mostly in passing, figuring we could catch them any other time and since we’d seen them a few times already (including at least once there).  It’s a shame they could only score being a reliable but mid-tier festival act, since being the best at what they do deserved more, but if they wanted to keep riding on New Wave (which they didn’t necessarily keep bothering to do) (and pardon the pun), then surely the people of FYF wouldn’t mind, and they would be back again; Interpol weren’t necessarily a big surprise but they’re always welcome on a festival line-up.  We were going to be there anyway but having them is always a big point in an event’s favor.  By this time we had seen them enough that we didn’t have to pay attention like we might never see them again, and at that time of the evening navigating the beer lines was a consideration, but from what we saw they still put on a sturdy performance.  They always play “Evil” ("Rosemary") too early in the set but at least they keep including it.  A lot of the rest was from El Pintor, which we didn’t know at the time, but they could keep on putting out more of the same (which is forever a cop of Joy Division anyway, as if I have to tell you) and we wouldn’t mind; Phoenix weren’t a big draw for me, and I’m still mystified that they ever capture headliner status at a worthy festival. I don’t mind that brand of French-to-American pop, and a lot of their stuff is likable, but it just doesn’t have enough of an edge to keep me in it.  A little too twee (and I like plenty of twee). But we didn’t have to stay for much of them, as we were just rounding everyone up and seeing one last band as a push before being done for the day. We were tired enough so it was probably good that it wasn’t a band that we needed to give more to or expected much from us, so we could just see the first half of the set and make our way out. My attention was finally piqued when they started "Too Young" -- their best track that should have gotten more notice but it was years before everything else would hit for them -- but it was just a tease to go into different song. That would have been enough for me to abandon them there, especially since that meant they wouldn't go back to it for the rest of the set. They were touring on the album after their big one, and the best of the latter was just for the encore if anyone cared to stay, so we knew we weren’t missing much. It was actually a pretty good ending to a day that peaked mid-way, so relaxing on the downhill was welcome.

Sunday was a day with much fewer hopes and expectations. As such we we didn't hurry in, also because we had something going on early that afternoon, being a Sunday and all. The first band we got to was Balance & Composure, some harder-than-average rock act that didn’t make much of an impression but it was early and we were getting our bearings; a lot of the rest of the day must have been drinking in the beer gardens and breezing through stage areas and other bands since we only saw a few more barely enough to say that we were there. Apparently we saw the Presidents of the United States of America, a band that I didn’t have to see even when they were big (which actually, somehow happened), and might have been fun if for no other reason that they were completely opposite of most of the acts they have there (except for having guitars and being now fairly obscure) but they pulled a surprisingly big crowd so whatever we saw was as we navigated the outside of the crowd to get somewhere else, and hopefully that didn’t include us having to stand through “Peaches”; I don’t know why I thought Murder City Devils were a female band. As it were, they were a big draw for Carla and it was great to happen upon them.  Even better to see a legitimately punk band, out of a sea that we missed, and one with enough miles to put down a ferocious and high-energy performance. An unexpected stand-out for me; since we left early, Haim became the Sunday headliners for us. They might have been big in other parts of the world (I heard them on the radio when I was in Indiana) but we could still claim them as ours -- and not even just for L.A. but for Sherman Oaks, just across town from us. Even still, we had yet to see them anywhere along their ascent so it was a special thing to see them there, which may have been their peak (or at least an early one for them). They were appreciative of their home-town show and if every performance they put on wasn’t always a celebration, that night was, for them and for all of us maybe in equal measure. They might have gotten a bad rap by the legit music snobs, an indie band that crossed over to mainstream and could never go back again, but there was a buoyancy in their music, enough that it was a fairly unique thing in that space between alt and pop, not that that was a uncrowded place but that they could actually do it with some legitimacy and display of quality, instead of being another crap KROQ band that went big because there was nothing better happening or relied on their long-legs and good looks (which never hurt but they didn’t even need it).  We knew we’d run into them again but that night they lived up to whatever promise that fueled them on their way up to it.  And it was good enough for us to end on, and missing the big acts of the night made it a breeze to get out and home, chalking up another satisfying FYF event.

Missed: Albert Hammond Jr., Julian Casablancas (there was a strong Strokes presence at the festival, which is great for Strokes fans, which we absolutely are, but we didn’t have much concern for their side-projects, especially after seeing some of Casablancas’s lackluster set at Coachella earlier in the year), Grimes (knew by name, not as much by sound), Ty Segall (for as much as I should be into his stuff, especially from listening to Rollins’s show even intermittently, you really can’t get away from him, but I still hadn’t done it then); The Bronx (something tells me I should know them better); Darkside (which were a big deal to be there, for whatever reason, since I didn’t really know them, though I saw an instant of them inside probably while I was waiting for someone to come out of the restroom); the Strokes (crazy that we missed them but we’ve seen them enough, and knew that their best stuff was what we’d already seen, so we opted for leaving earlier instead), Deafheaven (my biggest conflict of the weekend, between them and leaving at a reasonable time. Missing them here stuck with me for a long time since I had been into them for a while, being the rare shoe-gaze band that came up on the radar in a long time); Jamie XX (somehow I missed the connection to our much-loved The XX. Apparently the letters being in his name seemed like it could have been a trick or laziness for the lesser member of the band to ride some coattails, and I still didn’t get on the train until a lot better. Though even if I had known and thought it through there were other conflicts with seeing him, including leaving early to beat traffic and be capable of working the next day, which won out).

Interpol's set-list:
"Say Hello to the Angels"
"Evil"
"Hands Away"
"Anywhere"
"Length of Love"
"NYC"
"Take You on a Cruise"
"C'mere"
"All the Rage Back Home"
"Not Even Jail"
"PDA"
"Slow Hands"

Haim's set-list:
"Falling"
"If I Could Change Your Mind"
"Oh Well" (Fleetwood Mac cover)
"My Song 5"
"Don't Save Me"
"Forever"
"The Wire"
"Let Me Go"

Slowdive's set-list:
"Slowdive"
"Avalyn"
"Catch the Breeze"
"Crazy for You"
"Machine Gun"
"Souvlaki Space Station"
"When the Sun Hits"
"Alison"
"She Calls"
"Golden Hair" (Syd Barrett cover)

Slint's set-list:
"Breadcrumb Trail"
"Glenn"
"Washer"
"Nosferatu Man"
"Don,  Aman"
"Ron"
"Good Morning, Captain"

Nine Inch Nails/Soundgarden/Cold Cave, August 21, 2014 at Sleep Train Amphitheater

On March 8, 1994, I bought The Downward Spiral, not Superunknown. Back then, my allegiance was definitely with Nine Inch Nails. I (with Brian) even drove to Mad Platter in Riverside that day and I paid full price for it. I later became something of a Soundgarden fan -- though mostly just for one album (not Superunknown, which I later got through Columbia House or something, and ditched not long after that) and a few singles -- but mostly because they got lumped in with a lot of my other favorite bands. Back then not much stood up to my deep love for NIN.  Though well after college and nearing something nearing middle age, I still considered myself a fan and would pick up whatever they put out but I couldn’t get too excited about seeing them in concert again. I’d already seen them at Lollapalooza the summer before and they were challenging bordering on disappointing; we could have seen them at Outside Lands but passed on it easily enough. But seeing a show with Corey is a singular experience, especially in going back to seeing NIN like we did back in the day (maybe the fourth concert I’ve ever been to, when they were still playing clubs).  And it would be a day out with Corey. He got the tickets fairly late and might have even intended to take a chick with him, but when he offered me the ticket, I took it.  So it was an easy drive to San Diego and a trip to the corporately-titled Sleep Train Amphitheater. As a call-back to arriving at shows by the time it says on the ticket (hopefully less than paranoia of missing anything -- as if Trent Reznor has performed during the day in 23 years) we got there early, among maybe the first few dozen through the door. It’s been a while since I’ve been to a concert venue early enough that it was empty.  We killed some time waiting it out (which had to have been excruciating for Corey since he doesn't drink).  But we had pretty good seats, the front of the section about halfway up. It wouldn’t be the Palace but I didn’t need to be so close up again (and I wouldn’t mind keeping my hearing for the next few days after). There were tickets for the show on Groupon, showing that even putting two once-gigantic bands on the same bill together wasn’t the same kind of draw they once were (who could have easily filled that venue or bigger by themselves back in the day), but we can say that it’s due to their most die-hard fans aging out and the music industry moving past them rather than no longer being able to put out worthwhile, relevant music. Count them down however you like for relying on the nostalgia factor, but this show had an extra gravity for anyone knowing their shared history, especially that of that day (and caring, which is where the trick is). Or it was just these two bands playing together, whether you were a fan of either or both, from the '90s or more recently. Finally we had something to watch, though it was only Cold Cave, who were making some mildly abrasive noise-pop but didn’t move much and the background visuals were a nice touch but couldn't completely save them. (Death Grips opening the show was what got me originally excited about going, if nothing else, but they bailed on it.)  Soundgarden did their thing and it was a fine performance. Nothing like the early-cycle celebration of their return at Lollapalooza '10, as this was just another tour stop, and there were no surprises or fireworks, except that they’re still doing it, as loud as they’ve ever been, and Cornell’s voice has stood up for so long. I didn’t recognize the deeper cuts, and I might have thrown in a few different tracks (“Pretty Noose," "Birth Ritual"), but what they did was satisfying. At last it was time for NIN. I had read that they had switched up the set since I had seen them last, toward the beginning of the tour to one of the last stops, and I was looking forward to seeing something different.  With the house-lights still up, Reznor swiftly stomped across the stage, grabbed the mic, then jumped into the first song before most of the crowd knew what was going on. Then the band blew through the rest of the set and it was a Nine Inch Nails show. Unfortunately, it was the same I’d seen before -- if they had changed their set after the initial run of festivals, they had changed it back, or there were changes I just couldn’t notice -- but this time had the benefit of me lowering my expectations, increasingly more as the night went on and I realized that it wasn’t so different. But if that’s what Reznor wanted to do, he could have let it be it worse. The effort was appreciated even if he wasn't destroying as many instruments, and the new stuff at times sounded better than the old material, as it had a little more electricity than the well-worn tunes we’d already heard and that the band were dragging out yet again. It was also an unofficial celebration of 20 years of The Downward Spiral -- even if the exact-same anniversary for Superunknown didn’t have the same recognition -- so those songs had a little extra poignancy. Reznor even addressed the crowd toward the end of the set, expressing his appreciation of his fans sticking around for so many years and noting that it might be a while before he came back with more NIN but it would indeed happen at some point -- that much talking, above explosively-furious complaints of equipment not working, was nowhere near any earlier NIN show, but it was warm, honest, and appreciated. The set was a little too well-lived-in to provide the kind of spark they had in the early days but it was a good enough show.  Put the two performances together and it was a pretty good deal. Thanks to Corey for the ticket.

Nine Inch Nails' set-list:
"Copy of A"
"Sanctified"
"Came Back Haunted"
"1,000,000"
"March of the Pigs"
"Piggy"
"Terrible Lie"
"Closer" (with "The Only Time" snippet)
"Gave Up"
"Disappointed"
"Find My Way"
"The Great Destroyer"
"Eraser"
"Wish"
"The Hand That Feeds"
"Head Like a Hole"

"Hurt"

Soundgarden's set-list:
"The Telephantasm" (introduction)
"Searching With My Good Eye Closed"
"Spoonman"
"Flower"
"Outshined"
"Jesus Christ Pose"
"Black Hole Sun"
"The Day I Tried to Live"
"My Wave"
"Blow Up the Outside World"
"Fell on Black Days"
"A Thousand Days Before"
"Rusty Cage"
"Beyond the Wheel"