Like so many other bands these days, Nine Inch Nails recently had a drummer problem. Ilan Rubin, NIN's touring drummer since 2009, left the band to join the Foo Fighters when NIN were in the midst of their Peel It Black arena tour, but NIN picked up his replacement immediately. They hired Josh Freese, the super-experienced drummer who was only just fired from the Foo Fighters, effectively completing a drummer swap. This all happened last week, but Freese was ready to go by the time NIN kicked off the American leg of their tour in Oakland last night.
I am not going to look up the Nine Inch Nails setlist from Wednesday night because I'm going to one of their shows later this month and I would like to be surprised by song selections. But here's one thing that's not a surprise: Nine Inch Nails used the Oakland gig to play their new single "As Alive As You Need Me To Be" live for the first time. That song is the first single for NIN's soundtrack to the upcoming film Tron: Ares. The movie looks like ass, but the song rules. It sounded very cool live, too.
Nine Inch Nails performed "As Alive As You Need Me To Be" during the part of the show where opening act Boys Noize joined them on a mini-stage. I don't think Josh Freese took part in that part of the show. So in order to hear what he brings to the table, you might as well watch fan footage of the band performing "The Perfect Drug," their extremely drum-intensive track from the Lost Highway soundtrack. Check out both of those videos below.
The Tron: Ares soundtrack is out 9/19 on Interscope.
