Date: Fri 22-Sep-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Illustration: C

Location: A-11

Quick Words:

Bowie-Reznor-NIN-Meadows

Full Text:

Concert Review-

Bowie & NIN, Together At Last

(with photos)

By Shannon Hicks

HARTFORD - Not all shows on the new David Bowie/Nine Inch Nails "Outside Tour"

are necessarily going to be played, as the name implies, outside. The tour's

name instead refers to the new Bowie album, Outside , which will be in stores

this week, a week after Bowie and Nine Inch Nails played the first date of

their collaborative tour, at the Meadows Music Theatre in Hartford.

But whether the tour stops at an amphitheatre, a coliseum or your neighbor's

back yard, the collaborative and singular works presented by legendary pioneer

David Bowie and one of his most-influenced followers, Trent Reznor's Nine Inch

Nails (which can fill stadiums on its own, never mind in a double-billed

tour), The Outside Tour is certainly something worth catching, however odd the

coupling of Bowie and Nails may seem, at first.

What is going to be interesting as this tour rolls on for the next five weeks

is the logistical changes it will no doubt incur. While the September 14

opening night of the tour drew 12,000 fans to the Meadows last week, nearly 75

percent were there to see Trent Reznor's razor-sharp band, Nine Inch Nails.

The largely underage crowd (no delays in the beer lines at any point of the

evening) was there to pay homage to a man who brings teen angst/anger against

the world to life, with anthems like "Terrible Lie" and "Pigs," both of which

were used to get the crowd into the mood of the evening.

However, once Outside is released and more fans become acclimated to Bowie's

new works, it is probable that the ratio of Bowie-Nine Inch Nail fans

comprising the audience will become more even.

With Bowie having retired his "greatest hits" of the past over the course of

his "Sound & Vision" roadtrip five years ago, the former Major Tom is touring

this year in support solely of Outside . The headliner of the evening was, at

best, politely received. At worst, fans were unable to enjoy the songs with

the same verve Bowie was emitting from the stage, but still went home in awe

of Bowie's unending creativity.

Just consider the Hartford show, with its performances of "Hearts Filthy

Lesson," "I'm Deranged" and "A Small Plot of Land" - all works from the new

album - a preview Bowie's new material. When and if this tour returns to

Connecticut, audience response will be much warmer, if not familiar. For

longtime fans of Bowie's, "Joe the Lion," a song that's about as old as the

average age of Bowie's opening band, has been revived for the tour, so there

were some gems to look forward to hearing.

Outside is the first in what is planned as a series of albums documenting the

fictional diaries of art detective Nathan Adler. Each song is to be sung by a

different character in the tale of the detective following his investigations

of a series of "ritual art murders, concept muggings and other diverse and

chaotic misdeeds." He may have retired some of his songs, but Bowie himself -

with this kind of far-reaching, ongoing conceptualization - is far from

retirement.

First appearing for a psychedelic set with Nine Inch Nails, Bowie performs a

set with NIN leader Trent Reznor that was years in the making, and historical

in the viewing. Reznor has long said that Bowie's work was a strong influence

on his own, and it shows.

Reznor's tracks echo, with a 90s tinge, that crunchy, spacey, choppy,

seemingly non-related but neatly wrapped-up sound Bowie has long produced..

especially when one checks out Bowie's early works and B-sides, not

necessarily the "Let's Dance" and "Modern Girl" singles of the 80s (the stuff

that was buried with Bowie's previous `round the world tour).

However, even with the longstanding influence and mutual admiration of both

artists and each other's music, the two did not meet until rehearsals began at

UMass Amherst two weeks ago for the incredible set that punctuates the

mid-point mark of the tour.

Bathed in watery blue psychedelic light, Bowie simply emerges from the side of

the stage and takes his place at center stage, to the growing wave of approval

of an audience that begins to realize what's happening. Up until that point,

it had been Nine Inch Nails' show.

At this point it becomes a true collaboration, with Bowie singing the words

written by one of his inspired, or NIN performing the music of their

inspiration. With an instrumental segue entitled "Subterraneans," the

collaboration set also includes "Scary Monster," "Reptile," "Hurt" and "The

Voyeur of Utter Destruction (A Beauty)," a historic meeting of the minds

between two of music's best innovators. Reznor is one of the most creative

minds to encompass the sound of 90s rock, while Bowie has always been one of

the top thinkers in the world of his own.

At first seemingly unconnected, with Bowie's darkness more veiled than

Reznor's out-and-out anger, the tour package of David Bowie and Nine Inch

Nails really is not as odd as it seems upon first glance.