This is a true story that, in a roundabout way, is also about Trent Reznor and his groundbreaking band Nine Inch Nails: I knew a kid in high school who absolutely worshipped Nine Inch Nails. He was a wee, pasty-faced kid with floppy, blond hair, and light eyes. For the sake of storytelling let's call him Montgomery "Flip" Eubanks because, well, that's what he looked like. His appearance never really met the aspirations of his given name.

Anyway, one day Flip had a mutual friend of ours dye his hair jet black, just like that of his hero Trent Reznor. The result was striking; he looked like a photo negative of Wesley Snipes' character in "Demolition Man." Well, when Mama Eubanks got home later on that afternoon and saw what her son had done to his precious Hungarian-rooted tresses, she became enraged.

The following day when Flip showed up to school looking more like Sinead O'Connor than the gloomy Mr. Reznor, some of the more culturally sensitive kids in school figured he had embraced Nazism or some such nonsense and kicked him around the soccer field a little. Poor kid. He probably had a hard time getting over that and here I am writing about it 20 years later.

Oh well, I only bring it up because I happened to be at the Nine Inch Nails show at the Red Rocks Amphitheater last Tuesday and I saw about 9,000 kids doing what he had so desperately wanted to do in 1989: sport silly hair as an homage to good music. It's a timeless tradition.

The opening band, Deerhunter, began the evening somewhat apprehensively. They looked nervous and timid; it was probably the technical problems they were having, although I think it had more to do with the impending game of Russian roulette they had scheduled for the after party. Aww, those rock stars.

The kids in Deerhunter got it together though, and staged a beautifully melancholic set sometimes reminiscent of a cross between Sonic Youth and Interpol. For the finale they launched into "Strange Nights" from their album "Cryptograms." The lights went down to five minutes of intentionally cacophonous, earwax melting feedback from what seemed like every stage monitor in that part of the state.

Then came the main attraction. Before the band even took the stage, the recorded opening notes of "999,999" - from the new NIN release "Slip" - poured through the PA. Seconds later the current lineup led by Reznor stalked on to the stage and predictably pitched into "1,000,000." The lighting was minimal and I was somewhat underwhelmed for the next couple of songs. The sound was great, and the songs were delivered without error but for some reason I was expecting a real S-H-O-W! Then we all got it.

As "Discipline" ended Reznor shouted, "It's time to wake the f#@k up!" signaling an end to the mundane. Drummer Josh Freese jumped right in with the insane tempo of "March of the Pigs," and with that the single best light show I've ever seen began. At once, something like an espresso-induced group mania happened, and everyone was bouncing around, screaming with reckless abandon.

It was difficult to take in everything that was going on between the lights, and multiple images on the screen behind the band. Even within the band itself, every member had his own unique thing going on. At the center of all of this was Reznor. Rarely was he standing still, and usually he was throwing something. I have never seen someone get so upset with a microphone stand. He really seemed to hold a grudge. If one stand was replaced with another he assaulted that one all the more vigorously.

The weirdest, and perhaps coolest moment, came when the stage set-up changed to include nothing but acoustic instruments. Not just acoustic guitars, but flutes, an upright bass, timpanis, even a xylophone! They all went to work on their improbable instruments and the result was an incredible version of "Piggy," from their album "The Downward Spiral."

After the first few songs of the encore the audience began to wonder if they were going to conclude with "Hurt." Sure, they played it, but they had one more song up their sleeves. They brought the house down with "In This Twilight."

I walked away wondering how anyone would ever top that show. I wish Flip could have seen it. He's well into his 30s now. I wonder if he's going bald?

hood@aspendailynews.com [1]