I’ve been a fan of Nine Inch Nails (usually abbreviated as NIN within the fandom) for most of my life, which seems weird until you consider that I am now 40 years old and thus an “elder millennial.” Liam and I saw NIN in 2022 and had a great time, so since then we had been on the lookout for future tour dates. (SIDEBAR: In case you are unaware of NIN or don’t know what Trent Reznor’s whole deal is, I recommend reading this Vulture interview from 2017.)

We missed the band’s 2025 show at the Oakland Arena, so I was REALLY EXCITED for NIN’s March 15th show at the Chase Center in San Francisco. I also posted some video clips on my Instagram from the show, which you can view here.

The Chase Center is a basketball arena that can be set up to accommodate concerts; we’d been there twice in 2022 to see Bjork and Roxy Music. We had an amazing time at both shows. The arena is also very straightforward to navigate, which is a huge feat in itself—-I’ve had ISSUES navigating at past arena shows, especially when the show is over and it’s time for everyone to leave. We experienced an unfortunate “everyone leaves at the same time” bottleneck at John Mulaney’s 2021 show at the Golden1 Center in Sacramento; it took us 25 MINUTES to leave the building, because there were so many people who were not exiting the building fast enough. It was also one of those shows where the audience had to put their phones in pouches before the show and return the pouches before leaving, which most likely contributed to the slowness. Anyway, I have never experienced that happening at the Chase Center, which is good because I HATE STANDING IN A HUGE, UNMOVING CROWD for more than 5-10 minutes max. Ugh.

Like a lot of millennials, it took me a couple decades of going to see live music to learn that ear protection is essential for me if I am to remain comfortable for the duration of the show. I have sensitive ears and dislike loud, sustained noises to the point of carrying earplugs with me wherever I go. Having seen NIN once before in 2022, I was well aware of the importance of hearing protection. For this show, I ended up bringing earplugs plus over-ear defenders to this show (usually used with a leaf blower or other yard equipment) just in case the music was really loud. IT WAS REALLY LOUD! Sure, having two forms of ear protection is nerdy, but at least I didn’t hear that eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee echo in my ears for hours after the show.

The opening act was Boys Noize, a DJ whom I had not heard of previously. I am not much of an EDM listener because the genre is just not for me; however, Boys Noize is a big reason why we got a new NIN live album this year, so I’m willing to give him a pass. The people-watching opportunities during his 40-minute opening set were top notch; the amount of millennial and gen-x dudes FEELING THEMSELVES and expressing that through dance was larger than I expected. I’m sure that there are folks who would dismiss the dancing guys as “cringe,” but it was nice to see people having fun at a show while staying out of each other’s way. There were also a significant number of people who were in the nosebleed seats and dancing during the whole show, which I thought was a great strategy for people who wanted to dance but also didn’t want to block other people’s views of the stage. One of the songs that Boys Noize played was a very extended remix of Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy the Silence,” and you had better believe that the audience got hyped once that song’s famous synth melody went on for four additional minutes.

The stage design for this tour was beautifully executed—-there was a smaller mini stage (called a “b-stage” according to setlist.org) in the center of the arena, in addition to the regular stage. As Boys Noize finished his opening set and the house lights dimmed, a giant curtain that had covered the b-stage dropped to reveal a piano and other instruments. Trent emerged from a tunnel/passageway onto the b-stage to a rapturous welcome from the audience. He opened the show with stunning solo piano versions of “Right Where It Belongs” (featuring the outro from “Somewhat Damaged” at the end of the song!!!) and “Ruiner” (yes, one of NIN’s most loudly intense songs got the ballad treatment, and it was awesome).

The rest of the band emerged onto the b-stage one by one for an absolutely crushing version of “Piggy.” They returned to the mystery tunnel for a few minutes before showing up on the main stage to rip through “Wish,” “March of the Pigs,” and a few other NIN classics. “Heresy” was brutal in the best way possible; you might not expect that a 1994 song that is partially about the Religious Right’s hypocrisy to age as well as it has. Unfortunately, IT’S STILL RELEVANT! I have mixed feelings about this because “Heresy” is one of my favorite NIN songs, but I wish its political content was not as relevant as it is.

Boys Noize came back out to do a collaborative set with the band on the b-stage, which added a solid industrial crunch to “Closer,” “Vessel,” and the excellent How to Destroy Angels deep cut “Parasite.” (SIDEBAR: I would love another How to Destroy Angels album—-this was the 2010s-era side project that Trent Reznor fronted with his wife, singer and musician Mariqueen Maandig—-but I am also not going to look a gift NIN/Boys Noize live album in the mouth.) By the time this portion of the show ended, I thought my eyeballs were going to melt out of my face—-although that might have been from the heavy use of strobe lights for the entire show.

Liam and I did end up leaving early because our collective glute(s) muscles were falling asleep (thanks, uncomfortable basketball arena chairs!); I was a little bummed to miss NIN’s live cover of the 1997 Trent Reznor/David Bowie collaboration “I’m Afraid of Americans” (ANOTHER SONG THAT IS STILL RELEVANT, HHHHHHHHHHRGGGGGGGGHHHHH) but when your thighs and butt start to get that pins & needles feeling, that can be a signal that it’s time to leave.

It’s honestly pretty amazing that NIN have a.) lasted long enough to become a legacy touring act (Reznor had an alcohol and cocaine addiction in the 1990s), and b.) produced a pair of musicians who are so close to an EGOT (Reznor and fellow NIN member Atticus Ross just need a Tony Award to complete the set). I am also impressed that Reznor’s voice pretty much sounds the exact same as it did in the mid to late 1990s; when Liam pointed this out a few days after the show, my face made the surprised emoji expression for a bit. 😲 Of course, this is not meant to dump on singers from the same era whose voices have changed-—it’s just not something that you hear often.

With the string of EPs that have come after their last full album Hesitation Marks (2013), the members of NIN have done an admirable job of pushing their sound into new directions without going all Spinal Tap jazz odyssey on their fans. I am looking forward to seeing (and hearing) where they go next.

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