To start off the evening, promtly at 8:00PM, a group of awkward looking twenty-somethings that call themselves Deerhunter performed a set of ambient/experimental twinged post-punk that sounded like Nirvana's lethargic little brother after a nice dose of Radiohead. They were definitely not the worst opening act I've ever seen, but they also did not thrill me in any way that requires reporting. To find out for yourself, visit www.Myspace.com/Deerhunter.

After ending promptly at 8:30PM, the set-change to Nine Inch Nails began. Why would I bring up the set-change? Because of the absolutely breathtaking event that occurred the moment a black sheet dropped revealing one of the cleanest and most well-designed stage set-ups ever devised in Rock. We're talking about two move-able LED nets, 7, 16 cannon arrays of move-able, color-changing lights, a "Megatron" style screen at the back an impressive assortment of strobes, spots and special effects rigs. Every single piece of the rig moves and nearly every song features a completely different lighting display.

There was only one, single speaker on stage to blast Robin Finck's guitar right at his back (and allow him to gain the necessary feedback effects). THE ONLY sounds actually coming from the stage were Robin's guitar and Josh Freese's live drumming - all other sound was timed and controled through the Front of House speaker system - a method used to create the cleanest and tightest sound possible from a band.

Nine Inch Nails took the stage promtply at 9:15PM. The lights went down and the speakers played a pre-recorded version of the first track on the bands most recent release, The Slip (available for free at www.NIN.com), 999,999. A spotlight hits the drum kit and we see Josh Freese pounding the beat to the second track ont the same record, 1,000,000. Next comes Robin Finck on guitar in his own spotlight, then keyboardist Alessandro Cortini followed by Bassist Justin Meldel-Johnson. Finally, Trent Reznor swaggers to center stage and grabs the Mic just before the first line.

The first four songs (inclusive of 999,999) were the first four tracks from the Slip - a controlled chaos of electro-influenced hard rock with Pop sensibilities. The songs, 1,000,000 and Letting You were both unleashed with a degree of fury and speed expected of Nine Inch Nails. On the dancier new single, Discipline, Trent and the gang really found their stride. The crowd got to dancing instead of climbing on each other and the band could not have sounded tighter. And then it happened - March of the Pigs.

The 7 Arrays of moving cannon lights might as well have been pyrotechnics. The gruelingly paced 7/8 beat of March of the Pigs pounded, the crowd exploded and the lights burned upon us. In my position, the red colored lights literally felt like flames only feet away from me. The crowd simply lost its mind for about 3 minutes at that point. From there the stage was set, Nine Inch Nails had found their step at the Forum and the ride was only beginning.

This performance was, indeed a ride. Having attended the Live: With Teeth 2005 tour 3 times, I knew how well Trent Reznor is able to update his music (some of which just passed the 20 year mark), but the Lights in the Sky tour offers a new challenge. In the 3 years since the Live: With Teeth tour, Nine Inch Nails has made a huge departure sonically. First introducing the largely electronic concept album Year Zero, quite possibly one of Trent Reznor's most artistically profound releases, the sound became a more controlled chaos and moved away from traditional formats, sounding at once grittier but also cleaner. Moving forther down that spiral (pardon the reference), Trent released "Ghosts" a sprawling 2 hour instrumental record featuring instruments ranging from electric guitars to marimbas in an exploration of sound. Finally, the band released the Slip... for free. The full record (available for FREE - if you don't have it you should) takes the live sound of the With Teeth era with the gritty yet clean sounds of Year Zero and combines them. The result is a challenge for staging.

The challenge is bringing together these widely disparate sounds in a cohesive set of music that makes sense from beginning to end. The solution Mr. Reznor chose to offer is to give you the music in waves. He provided a set from a full rock band, drawing primarily from The Slip, with the Frail, Closer and Gave Up (from the Fragile, the Downward Spiral and Broken EP respectively) for added flavor and variety. Then a screen lowered and it was time for an electronic set as 4 members performed two songs from Year Zero without live drums.

Another set change and the band performed 3 instrumental songs as a near Acoustic/stripped down band featuring Trent Reznor on Marimbas. That set was closed by an almost acoustic rendition of the Downward Spiral fan-favorite, Piggy. It is important to note that this set was performed BEHIND a net of lights, so the band was somewhat obscured but visual effects dazzled your eyes. At one point, as the band closed an ethereal track from Ghosts, all of the lights and screens turned blinding white, like the dawn taking over the stage.

Another set change and another rock set. This time, featuring primarily songs from With Teeth and earlier, with the only exception being the hit single from Year Zero, Survivalism - during which several screens were displayed on the stage showing "security camera" style images throughout the forum. On one such screen we watched Trent perform the song, and on another we watched a young couple fornicate in the bathroom - we still don't know if that was staged or if it actually happened. During yet another ubiquitous hit for Nine Inch Nails, The Hand That Feeds, we saw our briefest moment of political commentary as the damning lyrics were sang in front of a smiling head-shot of George W. Bush which slowly, throughout the song, morphed into John McCain in an ugly, frowning grimmace. Again, people - please do not vote for John McCain.

Finally, the band offered a varied "encore" - I put this in quotes because Nine Inch Nails never really plays an encore. They turn down the lights and put a display of their logo on a huge screen while someone in the back re-sets the stage. There is no question the band is coming back.

The encore set was interestingly light. They ended the main set with the 20 year old hit "Head Like a Hole" updated for full rock glory. For the encore they returned with the largely electronic Echoplex from the Slip, in which Josh Freese introduced the song on a giant interactive drum machine on one of the hanging lighting nets. When the live drums entered, the drum machine moved back to a screen and Josh became visible. The band pleased the fans with a performance of the rarely performed fan-fav, Reptile. Sing-along time came around on the original, acoustic guitar arrangement (not the piano arrangement they had been performing on the With Teeth tour), of Hurt. Finally, the band ended with In This Twilight - an amazing song, but again, lighter than one would expect for a closing song. The imagery, however, was of a desolate field - apocolyptic yes, but the image on the screen rose to the sky ending in a hopeful future, if we choose to accept it.

The Nine Inch Nails, Lights in the Sky tour is, quite possibly one of the finest productions ever staged by a rock band. What makes it particularly special is the fact that the lighting and staging is visually spectacular and technologically ground-breaking, but at all times it is about the music and the band. If you were to strip down every piece of the staging, what you would find is a powerful and passionate group of incredible musicians. At 43 years old, Trent Reznor is as vital and aggressive as ever. What makes Nine Inch Nails so exceptional is how much they care about their audience - the experience of the 16,000 people who filled the Forum on Saturday night was the only thing that mattered for the two hour set. The band delivered and the crowd enjoyed.

The Nine Inch Nails Lights in the Sky tour leaves for South America and returns to the US later this year. Visit www.NIN.com for tour dates and information.