David Bowie & Nine Inch Nails w/ a bonus review of Henry Rollins - Spoken Work Some Concert Reviews	Bowie & NIN October 1, 1995 The New World Music Theater Tinley Park, IL Reviews by The Dude on the Left & The Dude on the Right Photos by DOTR

What better way back than David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, and Prick from yours truly, with an addition of Henry Rollins - Spoken Word, from my partner in crime. Well, Prick isn't such a great way back, but they were there at the World Music Theatre opening for Bowie and Nails.

David Bowie, unfortunately for all of us, had a bad case of the flu. But he tried.

It was a kinda interesting entrance, playing with Nine Inch Nails for a couple of songs, two bands which basically made for a hole bunch of musicians on stage, singing Bowie and Nails music. Surprisingly, or maybe not, it worked great. A great match by a new psychotic guy in Trent, and an old psychotic guy in Bowie.

Then, without really missing a beat, the Nine Inch Nails crew disappeared, and Bowie and his band were left with some greco-looking mannequins.

His bought with the flu cut his show short, but in the time playing, he tried his damnedest to reach beyond the coughing bits and use the crowds energy to keep going. Unfortunately, it just wasn't enough as he ended his show with a quick "I'm sorry, Good night." It was interesting hearing older Bowie music that never made it on the popularity scale, with his vow last tour to not play the "classic" songs from the old days. His new music was pretty classic too, with a stretch into newer fusion of guitar and synthesizer-esque music. I haven't heard his new CD yet, but if the concert was any tale, it should be pretty good.

So, the Bowie man, even with his flu, still gets TWO THUMBS UP from me! I just wish he was in good health to finish the show, but his attempt to push his body to the limit shows that this man cares about his fans.

Before Bowie came a truly psychotic individual in Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails. Sporting one of the best light shows in the business, NIN busted through the unispiring Prick and through the crowd into a frenzy. Through a mix of industrial rock, Nails showed that even noise can be music if it is handled the right way - and handle it they did. With a crowd of youngsters rooting them on through hits and not so hits, NIN brought the last show at the New World Music Theatre (I guess next year it will be just back to the World Music Theatre!) to a level that I'm sure had the neighbors ever wondering why they approved to let an outdoor venue come to their back-yard. With the "Doesn't it Make You Feel Better" song, Burn, Closer, and Trent even showing more musical talent than breaking guitars by wailing very talentedly on a saxophone, Nails probably scared the moms and dads who came to see Bowie while bringing their kids to see Trent. Oh well, it was cool!

And you guessed it, Nine Inch Nails gets TWO THUMBS UP as well. A good show all around.

Finally there was Prick. Not much to say except they seem like a band of "want to be's." They lacked the energy to get the crowd excited, and just didn't seem to do anything for nearly anyone there. It's ONE THUMB DOWN from Prick. Sorry guys, get some energy!

Well, we're back! Aren't you glad!! Coming soon reviews of KMFDM with Korn and God Lives Underwater, some Bog band reviews and whatever else we can think of!

Coming to the Bog at IIT this week, I believe the band is Wax Lips. Way talented, way cool, they always put on a good show!! By the way, where is that Bog schedule? Oh well. Party Smart, and as always, Rellim Reeb, Rellim Reeb!!

The Dude on the Left:
Well, it has been a hectic couple of weeks. I'm sure you all noticed that there hasn't been an Unknown Reviewer's article for a while. Sorry about that, I've been busy. I don't know what happened to the other dude. OK. then, on to the reviews.

We'll start at the beginning. A week or two ago I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to see a spoken word concert of Henry Rollins. I was looking forward to this. I was going to see Henry Rollins yell and get pissed and read some good pissed off poetry type things. What I found, however, was that this was not what a night of spoken word from Henry Rollins was all about. I entered the Vic finding that it was a packed house. It was tough to find a seat through the haze of smoke and beer (I always wanted to use that line). Anyway, what Henry spoke about was on a wide variety of topics. He told some funny stories about meeting people like Jerry Lewis, ripped on other bands, talked about the tour with his band, and talked about his plans for the future. I found Henry to be almost a comedic/motivational speaker. He told the crowd never to tell yourself that you can't do something. He said if you don't do something now you'll regret it when you get to be his age (the ripe old age of 34). I felt like I could be president of the United States after hearing him speak. Well maybe not, but he was a fairly good speaker. If you are wondering what he is doing in the movies, he had one thing to say, "The only interest I have in Hollywood is their money. I want their money." As for what Mr. Rollins is spending his money on, he provided a CD set for the first couple of hundred people in the door for the show, he has two record companies, and a publishing company. That adds up to a lot of money. By the way, you can expect to see a book written by Henry Rollins in early '96, and of course it will be from his own publishing company. Henry Rollins three hours of talking added up to an enjoyable evening even though there was no yelling or getting pissed off. I give Mr. Rollins one, wait make that two thumbs up.

This last weekend, as you all know, the NIN/David Bowie show rolled into town. Well not really into town, but into the World Music Theatre. This show had a very strange crowd. There were middle aged fathers bringing their teenage sons. The opening band for this show was a little band by the name of Prick. Ya, that's right Prick. What can I say about this band. Well, huh...huh...huh...they played instruments. Actually I'm not positive about that either. It almost sounded like they just threw a tape in the player. The most exciting part of their performance was when the bass player tried to walk along the lights and fell right on his face. I won't even bother rating this band. NIN, now this is what I wanted to see. NIN opened with "Terrible Lie" off of "Pretty Hate Machine." Right off that bat it was a good show. They didn't sound as good as I thought they would, but it was made up for by the excellent light show. As a matter of fact that was the most amazing light show I have ever seen. So, NIN went on to play songs like "Wish", "March of the Pigs", "Sanctified", and "Piggy". During some songs there were two drummers playing at one time. I must say that was the first time I have ever seen that. During the NIN set only two guitars and one keyboard were smashed. A small number compared to what I hear Reznor is capable of. David Bowie then came out for the last couple of songs. I couldn't believe that Trent Reznor played saxaphone on one of the songs, and it was actually good. On the last NIN/David Bowie combination song both backup bands were on stage at once. There were three drummers, four keyboards, three guitars, two singers, and one bass. That was a musical feat. I give NIN one thumb up. A cool show but not played as well as it could have been.

When NIN left the stage, so did many of the young audience. A lot of people started sitting down and David Bowie, being sick with the flu, didn't have enough energy to bring the crowd back into it. Bowie played one of his new songs "Hearts Filthy Lesson" along with some older stuff and started out well. After about four or five songs, though, he started to lose his voice.

He even had to start over a songs because his voice was almost gone. A couple of songs later he said, "I'm sorry, good night" and left the stage. The crowd hung around a while hoping he would come back out, but it never happened.

I have to say a lot of people were disappointed. I have to give David Bowie a shrug due to his illness. I'm sure if he had been full strength it would have been an amazing show.

Just a quick note to catch up on the Bog bands. A couple of weeks ago the band was Mariana's Trench. My memory is failing so forgive me if I don't remember the specifics. I think they played a kind of alternative type music. I do remember the bass player broke a string and was looking for anyone in the crowd who had a bass. I also remember that they were a merely average band playing average music which earns them a nice little shrug.

That's it for this week, or the last three weeks, and maybe the next two weeks. You never know what might happen. C U Next Thursday.