BMW’s and Industrial Rock…there is a connection…
Last night my wife Nicki, my brother Mark, his friend Lisa and I went to the Nine Inch Nails | Jane’s Addiction concert at the Starlight Theater (best venue in KC in my opinion) in Kansas City, MO. At this very moment I am having a hard time processing the entire show, but what I can tell you is that I felt physically exhausted from the experience. I’m not going to give you a song by song review but rather impressions and opinions of each act. This isn’t to say that the show was bad. Not in the least…
The four of us loaded up in Nicki’s BMW 328xi and headed out in the misty evening hoping the rain would stay away. It did. Arriving at Starlight, we passed the SOLD OUT signs and headed toward the parking lot. The nice thing about a 3 Series is that they are nimble and handle well at slow and high speeds. Lisa commented that she liked the way the rear sunshades provided a limo like feel as we parked the car and got out.
The show was an assault on my previous preconceptions of what makes a show a good show. Prior to attending this show I was a typical fan of rock music and went because I knew the band and was familiar with all of their material. I know who NIN | JA is, and although I have downloaded one commercial hit by NIN; I have never purchased any of their offerings.
The show kicked off with a brief appearance by the Street Sweeper Social Club. A fist pounding sound that seemed to be a marriage of Punk and Metal with a little “Power to the People” sprinkled on top. Heavily influenced by Tom Morello it was a tighter more interesting manifestation of Rage Against the Machine. The video below was shot in Chula Vista 05/19/09 and features Trent Reznor of NIN.
Up next was NIN. If there was a word that captures Trent Reznor, that word is intent. Reznor is stunning. From the first note he proceeds to pound the life out of the audience with a digital backdrop and bone-crunching guitar. His genius is obvious and while his humility might argue over the use of the word genius, it is an apt description of the jaw-dropping display I witnessed. I felt assaulted and redeemed at the same time. Weird, huh? Below is a video from the show at Starlight Theater 05/27/09.
Jane’s Addiction was in a trick-bag. How to compete with NIN? A difficult proposition to say the least. While they impressed with hard to miss hits and Dave Navarro’s guitar, they fell literally short of upstaging NIN. Front man Perry Farrell’s slip off the stage was frightening but he recovered and didn’t miss a beat. Navarro flat out played his you know what off and left nothing on the stage. As my brother put it “JA kicked butt, but NIN was the show.” Below is a video from the show at Starlight Theater 05/27/09.
The Disconnect…
I titled this blog “BMW and Industrial Rock…there is a connection.” Before we can look at the connection we have to understand where the disconnect lies. The disconnect comes from the illusion that huge commercial successes are to be looked at as the benchmark but like some car manufacturers; they are in talent bankruptcy and devoid of any vision and edge. They continue to churn out a product that although well marketed, they fall horribly short of fulfilling expectations of paying fans. To put a finer point on it look no further than Brittany Spears, GM and Chrysler. They’re popular because the marketing works however the value of the product put forth lacks substance and the ability to perform well over the long-term. Or you can look at our direct competitors and see that Toyota, Honda and Nissan repackage thier cars and then asks you to pay more under the Lexus, Acura and Infinti badges respectively. Where is the innovation?
The Connection…
On the other side is NIN | JA and BMW. They are substantive and original. BMW is still family owned and not beholdened to a parent corporation so ideas and innovation are free to be expressed in what you see on our showroom. What NIN | JA and BMW have in common is what they create is created with intent and precision. Built for longevity these artists surround themselves with talented individuals and each creates an ingeniously engineered product that touches your soul and leaves you a better human being for having experienced it.
I’m going to sit down now…
~ The Baron
