But Trent Reznor can get away with this because he trusts his audience. He may not be the sullen rock god of the mid-'90s anymore, but he knows he has a dedicated core of loyal fans who will consume whatever he puts out and a whole bunch of people who will sit through anything if it means hearing that "fuck you like an animal" song.

And that's what's great about Nine Inch Nails today. It can be anything Trent Reznor wants it to be, depending on whatever the goal of the current tour is, because he knows that people know he puts his all in to a show. Sure he doesn't scream the way he used to, but that won't stop you from rocking out when those familiar blue and red lights he's used for roughly forever start flashing during "Gave Up." Reznor and his team know how to deliver a performance that's always worth showing up for.

Whatever Nine Inch Nails becomes next, just hope you don't have to wait six years to experience it yourself.

Personal Bias: If I were the type to make a show-review bucket list, said list would include Jimmy Eat World, Deftones, Tool, Fun Fun Fun Fest and Nine Inch Nails. So, there's that.

Things I Hope Nathan Talks About in His Soundgarden Review: All the weird Illuminati/triangle imagery; Kim Thayil's awesome Call of Cthulhu shirt; the laziest version of "Black Hole Sun" ever; the three (awesome) minutes of Kim Thayil's untitled noise project we got at the end of their set.

The Crowd: Fewer black shirts than you might guess; a healthy variety of fans young and old; far too many couples grinding on each other to songs that aren't particularly romantic or sexy.

Overheard In the Crowd: "I'm going to go sit on the pedophile!" said one concertgoer outside the venue, considering resting her feet by sitting on the statue of George P. Mitchell. Rude.

Random Notebook Dump: Preseason football means that all anyone wanted to talk about while waiting in line for the bathroom was the Texans score.

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