The kid gabbing to his pal on the bus back from the opening night of the David Bowie/Nine Inch Nails concert had the show summed up in just two words: "Bowie sucked," he said, in his best Bart-speak.
I wasn't going argue with him -- when you're right, you're right. At Wednesday's three-hour-plus Meadowlands show, the "Thin White Duke" was downright frail compared to Trent Reznor and his Nine Inch Nails.
The black abyss of nothingness is where Nine Inch Nails rules and David Bowie flounders. Nihilism -- the notion that destruction is the only solution in a senseless world -- suits the raw jagged notes of Nine Inch Nails, giving it power. The same concept saps "the man who fell to earth."
The format for the two-night stand had Nine Inch Nails kicking off with a full-concert set. Bowie walked onstage to perform a five-song mini-set with Reznor and the boys. Finally, the dim lights went black, Bowie was alone at the center of the stage, and he was backed by his own full band. From a production standpoint, the transition was seamless.
But from that point on, Bowie demanded too much from his audience. He presented nearly all of Outside, a ponderous collection of songs that discards most pop verse-chorus-verse conventions. Since the cd was only released three days ago, most of the audience was unfamiliar with the music, making it even more difficult to grasp.
The result was lots of empty seats after Nine Inch Nails departed, and yawns from those who weathered Bowie's blustering as an "art detective" in a world gone mad. Bowie might have helped matters by introducing the songs in an attempt to join them into something coherent. He didn't.
The kids in the mosh pit in front of the stage showed their appreciation and understanding. They stopped slamming and floating, and kept busy by pelting Bowie with wadded paper through the show. The stage was littered with debris by the close (and Bowie was actually getting good at whacking the projectiles down before they hit him.)
But Bowie is a consummate performer's performer, and he did have moments of brilliance on the songs "Heart's Filthy Lesson," "Deranged" and the night's two best rockers, "We Prick You" and "I Have Not Been To Oxford Town." He never spoke to the audience except to say "For the first time on this tour, I thought I'd give you something you might know" as the introduction to his 1981 hit "Under Pressure."
By saying that, Bowie proves that he knows what the problem is with his show. He also proves himself to be a dunderhead, believing that if he plays any of the material that made him famous, he's pandering to the audience.
Earlier, Bowie's performance as frontman to Nine Inch Nails -- trading vocal licks with Trent Reznor -- was easily the concert highlight. Where the two made real impact was the Nine Inch Nails song "Reptile," Bowie's "Scary Monsters," and a new one from Outside called "Hallo Spaceboy" where the melody was pure vocals and two drummers banged out multi-layered rhythms.
While Reznor and Bowie were onstage together they made an interesting contrast. Reznor was dressed totally in black, with stringy black hair matted to his scalp and face. His posture was hunched and twisted as if he couldn't decide whether it was pain or rage that was crushing him.
Blow-dried Bowie, on the other hand, actually offered big-toothed smiles. Trouble is, there's nothing to smile about in the maelstrom of Nine Inch Nails' industrial pop. And he also wore black, but it was shiny black patent-leather that reflected the light.
But the overall contrast was effective. Bowie sang with big round notes. Reznor screamed in anguish. The good-and-bad, sweet-and-sour balance was electrifying.
Unfortunately, it didn't last long enough to make for a great concert, but it may have been the most interesting musical aside of the year.
Before Bowie joined them, Nine Inch Nails' performance was as aggressive as last year's Madison Square Garden concert on the final leg of their Self Destruct tour. Nine Inch Nails doesn't make music to die for, they make music to die to. The rhythms are relentlessly oppressive. Even when Reznor plays the keyboard, he is more apt to slap the keys with his palms rather than let his fingers suss out individual notes. Still, even though Reznor's brand of music isn't pleasantly melodic, it makes you sit on the edge of your seat; it demands that you listen and it is often downright scary.
But what was more frightening was, of all the characters Bowie has created in his illustrious career, his latest isn't a detective in a world gone mad -- it's a musical vampire trying to stay young on Nine Inch Nails' blood.
-- transcribed by jim stark