Manchester, Co-op Stay, 17/06/25
For the final three years, 9 Inch Nails have been hibernating. It’s one thing the commercial rock pioneers have a penchant for, an everyday disappearing act that sees them slipping again into the shadows to conjure up their subsequent musical enterprise. After all, morsels of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ work have emerged right here and there; 2024 noticed them penning two lust-fuelled movie scores, capturing ‘Challenger’s intense, thumping starvation in a whirl of electronica earlier than indulging in natural tones for the curiously tender craving of ‘Queer’. However the thriller stays – what does the longer term maintain for the formidable 9 Inch Nails?
Tonight, followers are hoping that the ‘Peel It Again’ tour will permit a peek behind the curtains. Whereas no new tracks have been launched since 2020’s pair of ambient ‘Ghost V’ and ‘VI’ data, there’s a way that this tour might reveal the course the band are heading in – and everyone seems to be eager to get a way of what NIN are cooking up.
That’s how 1000’s discover themselves gathered at Manchester’s Co-op Stay, coming down early to sink into the thick digital haze of German-Iraqi DJ Boys Noize. Because the DJ’s techno and home beats fills the air, there’s additionally an elephant within the room – or, relatively, an enormous black field. It stands within the centre of the sector, a void with plumes of smoke sometimes billowing out the highest. As punters murmur and ponder what the field is concealing, Boys Noize continues to run via his immersive set.
Ultimately, the thriller is revealed. On the actual second Boys Noize closes off his ultimate observe, the field partitions drop – and there sits Trent Reznor himself, poised at his piano, immediately kicking into the poignant ‘A Minute To Breathe’. It’s a transfer that flips the conventions of a reside present on its head; not solely does Reznor begin with a “goodbye”, however it’s additionally completely at odds with the everyday fanfare one may affiliate with a grand rockstar entrance. There’s no swaggering out onstage, no bravado – simply delicate keys and vocals echoing spherical a silent area.
Because the efficiency attracts to its finish, that’s when the group lastly lets unfastened. The applause cracks via the stress, breaking the spell and giving Reznor the welcome he deserves – and it proves that 9 Inch Nails can nonetheless make an entrance like no one else. Reznor humbly takes within the reward, nonetheless not addressing the lots – earlier than diving into ‘That’s What I Get’, a ‘Fairly Hate Machine’ reduce that hasn’t seen the sunshine of day for the reason that ‘90s.
As Ross and co. be a part of Reznor on the small B-stage, it turns into clear that the observe, in addition to following reduce ‘The Fragile’, has had a makeover. Each are delivered with an added layer of depth, synthetics revitalised, and pacing shifted to actually hammer the emotion residence. It’s a dose of the acquainted in an unfamiliar packaging, respiratory new life into songs 1000’s maintain close to and pricey. And it’s one more reminder that 9 Inch Nails by no means play by the foundations, continually evolving and pushing the boundaries of their very own sound.
Ultimately, the gang make their strategy to the primary stage, revealing the symbolism of the ‘Peel It Again’ tour title. The stage is surrounded by layers of skinny curtains, with lights flickering on and off to disclose the band via the veil. Whereas Reznor may be seen rampaging his manner via cuts like ‘Want’ and the menacing, moshpit-hungry fury of ‘March of the Pigs’, the veiled environment and pulsating lights appear to remodel him at each flip.
At occasions Reznor is a phantom, sickeningly pale and far-removed, whereas different occasions harsh spotlights and shadows go away him disfigure and distorted. ‘Copy of A’ amps up the uncanny, disorienting aura of the efficiency, an array of Reznors solid up onto the curtains, every projection taking part in out at a slight delay. And ‘Gave Up’ appears to thoroughly remodel the temper once more, thick, neon pink lighting drenching the room in a membership ambiance as the group eagerly dances alongside.
Quickly, Reznor and Atticus return to the central B-stage – and Boys Noize joins them. Once more, 9 Inch Nails are eager to offer previous tunes a recent twist, and the DJ is the right companion to submerge the likes of ‘Vessel’ and ‘Got here Again Haunted’ right into a dense, techno realm. The string of remixes flip Co-op Stay right into a rave, the heart beat of drums intoxicating as the sector ground turns into a sweaty, smoky dancefloor.
When the primary stage comes again into play, the curtains have been absolutely ‘peeled’ again. And the ultimate leg feels equally as revealing, Reznor knocking out uncooked and emotionally charged cuts like ‘Considerably Broken’ alongside the blasphemous, thrumming nihilism of ‘Heresy’.
Because the set nears its finish, 9 Inch Nails work followers right into a frenzy with ‘The Good Drug’ and the screech-along anthem ‘Head Like A Gap’ – earlier than solely pulling the rug from beneath us. ‘Harm’ marks the grand finale, its sombre, introspective ache sinking the group again into the shocked silence it had been in on the very starting of the set.
It’s a full-circle second – an indication of how simply Reznor is ready to manipulate and management the group, charging them with livid, animalistic vitality as he wails, howls and wiggles his hips backward and forward, earlier than stripping all of it again to the core. The beforehand gorgeous, dazzling mild present additionally strips again to fundamentals, and, because the room croons together with a curious “what have I grow to be?”, the total weight of the observe is tangible. Collectively, the sector relishes within the emotional outpouring of Reznor, no curtain to masks his ache, soul bared for all to see. It’s truthful to say that 9 Inch Nails are nonetheless one of many strongest acts within the recreation – and we will’t wait to see what else this new period has to supply.
