NIN/Jane's Addiction
Shoreline Amphitheatre
Find out whether the drug-free, middle-aged bands can still charm a crowd when they appear with Street Sweeper Social Club (Tom Morello's new act with Boots Riley) on Friday, May 22, at Shoreline Amphitheatre. 7 p.m., $14.25-$59; www.livenation.com.
Nine Inch Nails and Jane's Addiction enjoyed their heydays nearly 20 years back with debuts that blazed new paths in pop music that still resonate. NIN married the machine beats of Ministry's industrial grooves with accessible melodies, while Jane's fused a hippified beach-bum psychedelia with over-the-top hard rock. Despite superficial differences, the bands shared a love of romantic despair, doom-and-glam pretension, and massive, electronics-rich soundscapes. Their respective junkie frontmen, Trent Reznor and Perry Farrell, were also legendary for their entrancing stage presences.