VNV Nation, belated.

[elektrovst]

So I caught VNV Nation at the Nokia in NYC Saturday night. Saw lots of faces I haven't in a while (some good, some not so good), but I'll concentrate on the show itself.

Say what you want about the band, its sound, its "selling out", its musical direction in recent years. This is a bona fide hit machine as far as the EBM/industrial crowd goes, and still unmatched by any "scene" band in its live show and stage presence. They still set the bar that I look to when making my own music with the band and still serve to inspire me again and again. It really dawned on me that any one of the below songs would be that one "Defining" or "Signature" club hit of a lesser act. It reminds me a lot of how bands like Depeche Mode (who I'm seeing next month at MSG) can play 2 hours of hit singles straight through.

The set list:

• Pro Victoria (Intro)
• Joy
• Sentinel
• Epicentre
• In Defiance
• Further
• Tomorrow Never Comes
• Chrome
• Illusion
• The Farthest Star
• Darkangel
• Solitary
• (Encores):
• Still Waters
• Standing (Motion)
• Beloved
• Nemesis
• Perpetual

Nemesis and Perpetual had a surprise guest appearance by Joey from Combichrist as drummer. They dragged out an acoustic kit, which was sort of cool.