Photo: Courtesy of Toby Tenenbaum
As we inch toward nine years since the passing of one of history's greatest rock n' roll stars, David Bowie, I was reminded of a performance done by Nine Inch Nails at Panorama Festival, where the industrial musicians put down their electric guitars and replaced them with atmospheric synths.
The song they chose was I Can't Give Everything Away, which came off of Bowie's last studio project, Blackstar, and sees the artist grappling with the fact that because of his illness, he has no choice but to let go and move on.
The bittersweet recording acts as his swan song, effectively closing off the album and his life as a whole. A bleak reminder that even for someone as transcendent as Bowie, death comes for us all.
Now you might be wondering, where does Nine Inch Nails fit into this? Well, back in the 90's, as The Downward Spiral was receiving monumental praise and attention, Bowie actually reached out to Reznor and the band and asked if they would like to work with him.
Nine Inch Nails eventually wound up co-headlining his Dissonance tour in support of his 1995 album Outside and remixed his song I'm Afraid of Americans. Trent also makes an appearance in the music video, really taking advantage of his crazy look back then.
Bowie was also there with open arms when Trent was first trying to get sober. It's safe to say that they really looked up to and respected each other as artists and people.
The performance is incredibly touching, and as the slowly moving synth enters the air, you can hear the audience grow silent, which shows that even for a band as loud and as angry as Nine Inch Nails, they still have their moments of serene beauty.
As the song plays out, you start to hear Trent become emotional, which made it hard for me not to become a little bit teary-eyed.
Check out the performance below. And if you haven't already, go listen to David Bowie's Blackstar; it's by far one of the best records to have come out of the 2010s.
