On a cold and rainy night in Philadelphia, Nine Inch Nails and Jane's Addiction rolled into the Susquehanna Bank Center. I was looking forward to this show since it was announced and the anticipation was high. I decided to go for lawn tickets because none of you are clicking on the ads. Thanks to you, I was relegated to the lawn. Typically, not a bad place to see a show, but it was cold and rainy.

Street Sweeper Social Club opened the show. They are trying to get people to volunteer to feed the hungry and help the poor in various communities across the US. It is a noble cause. Oh, this is the Tom Morello/Boots Riley side project. Boots is a rapper, Tom Morello is an accomplished guitarist. When you bring that combination together you get what sounds like Rage, but minus the anger and hate Zack De La Rocha brings to the table. The music of Street Sweeper Social Club is solid, but the lyrics and Boots rapping leave a lot to be desired. But they were an entertaining opening act. So get there early and check them out. They played for 25 minutes.

After a quick set change, Nine Inch Nails hit the stage. They opened very slow with the song Home. Ilan Rubin pounding away on the drums with Robin Finck guitar whining. The stage bathed in fog with only a small bit of lights illuminating the stage. Trent comes out to sing the lyrics, but still no real lights on the stage. Home, if you know it, really never bursts into a powerful bombast.

The band rolled right into the My Sharona-esque The Beginning of the End. The stage still somewhat dark and encircled in fog. Strobe lights pulsating to awash Trent from behind in light. The band continuing to build momentum through the first couple of songs. Trent speaks to the crowd for the first time only saying "Pigs." This is to announce his next song, and hit "March of the Pigs."

The sound was balanced and perfect, even from the lawn. Trent's voice wasn't lost in the massive amounts of distortion and industrial beats. He sang perfectly over it all. There were a few mistakes in the first couple songs, mostly hisses and pops in the sound. But they were barely audible. Trent did apologize for them and vowed to play better for the remainder of the set. That he did.

The band also seemed to be really enjoying themselves. Trent seemed to be having a great time up on stage. It seems this Farewell tour is as much for him as it is for the fans. He performed three covers (Metal by Gary Neuman, Banged and Blown Through by Saul Williams, and Physical (You're So) by Adam Ant.

As a NIN fan, I wanted to see more NIN songs, although I liked the Metal cover much more than the original. But I couldn't complain too much. NIN played for an hour and 15 minutes and played 20 songs. NIN is well worth the price of admission for this show.

I can't say the same for Jane's Addiction. They were the closer and played an hour. That's right, NIN played longer than the final band. I was excited to see Jane's Addiction because I had seen them on their Stray's tour and they were great. Their set was a great mix of their best songs and they performed with a lot of gusto and urgency. The total opposite of how they performed on Friday night.

They seemed to go in a completely different direction as NIN. NIN was upbeat (as much as NIN can be), loud, raucous, and really kick ass. Jane's went in an artsy, jam, low-key direction. The crowd was in a frenzy after NIN and were ready for Jane's to open with some great songs.

They started their set with the slow bluesy tune Three Days. It was a slow opener and an odd choice. I thought "Hell maybe this is to build even more suspense. Then they will kick it up."

The set did kick up with the second song Whores. Eric Avery (original bassist who reunited with the band for this tour) pounded out the bass opening to Whores and Navarro rips through guitar solo after guitar solo. Proving to everyone, he's there to play and why he's respected as a guitarist.

Perry Farrell was less impressive.. Choosing mostly to hum and OOH AHH the melodies of most of the songs rather than sing them.

The power bass song Ain't No Right followed Whores, which was another good choice, but the set broke down after this. Pigs In Zen (great song but a bit slower), Then She Did (very slow), Up the Beach (slow). The set picked back up again with Mountain Song into Been Caught Stealing. But slowed down again with Ocean Size and Ted Just Admit it. In fact, Ted Just Admit it was the final song of their set.

The encore included the slow song about summer love, I guess, entitled Summertime Rolls. Jane's set concluded with Stop and Jane Says (acoustic). I left feeling cheated. I wanted a better setlist from Jane's. Yea, they performed each song flawlessly, Avery, Navarro, and Perkins sounded great. Ferrell's voice was spot on too. I just wanted the set that I know Jane's is capable of delivering. A set that competed with NIN. The way Jane's played, they should have been opening for NIN, not the other way around. (I understand why they aren't)

A lot of people left after seeing NIN. It might have been the cold drizzling rain that forced them to leave. It might have been the first slow opening tunes of Jane's set that failed to capture their interest. Whatever the case was, I wish I hadn't seen Jane's set. Now instead of remembering how great they were on Lollapalooza 03, I will remember how boring they were in '09.

NIN Setlist

Home
The Beginning of the End
1,000,000
March of the Pigs
The Line Begins to Blur
Survivalism
The Big Come Down
Head Down
Burn
Gave Up
Metal (Gary Neuman cover)
Banged and Blown Through (Saul Williams cover)
The Downward Spiral
Wish
Heresy
Mr.  Self Destruct
The Day the World Went Away
Physical (You're So) (Adam Ant cover)
The Hand That Feeds
Head Like a Hole

Jane's Addiction Setlist

Three Days
Whores
Ain't No Right
Pigs In Zen
Then She Did
Up the Beach
Mountain Song
Been Caught Stealing
Had a Dad
Ted, Just Admit it
Summertime Rolls
Stop
Jane Says