The 2025 comeback of Nine Inch Nails brought an aging army of Trent Reznor disciples to Duluth, GA’s Gas South Arena to celebrate the surprisingly relevant legacy of the ’90s-centric act.

Early NIN saw Reznor embody the broken, tormented narrator of his songs, often recorded in secluded isolation from a humanity he openly loathed. There was little collaboration, much less joy during most of the man’s musical existence. And while the Peel It Back tour may be a return to the musical era of his spiraling mental health and addiction, the night turned out to be a celebration of Trent Reznor the man just as much as NIN the band.

Opener Boys Noize spun dark techno from a DJ stand perched in the middle of the arena as thousands of black-clad music fans filed in, turning the basketball arena into a goth dungeon. Amidst it all, a raised square platform covered from floor to ceiling drew the attention of the floor crowd, clearly waiting for the man at the center of the whole thing, Mr. Self Destruct himself.

After a flurry of (boys) noise, the black curtain raised to reveal Reznor alone at a piano. The usual bombast of a rock show opening number was replaced with silent awe during the With Teeth deep cut “Right Where It Belongs”. The moment served as a prelude to a show that would be as much for the diehard fans as the artist himself—deep cuts, newer era Nails, and just enough of the classics to keep the passive passersby happy.

Nine Inch Nails – “Right Where It Belongs” – 9/9/25

[Video: Kodeir]

As the final piano notes sustained into nothing, official member Atticus Ross and studio sideman Alesandro Cortini added atmospherics on a nearly unrecognizable reworking of “Ruiner”, off 1994’s The Downward Spiral. The tour comes on the 30th anniversary of the album’s release, and the focus would be obvious following the one-two punch that came next with the Spiral standout slow jam “Piggy” (remix style, for the heads).

The mini-stage went dark as a mammoth projection of drummer Josh Freese covered the main stage’s slowly rising curtain, smashing an extended intro of the cranium-pulverizing “Wish”.

Nine Inch Nails – “Wish” – 9/9/25

[Video: Kevin Seymour]

While the moment may have been a needed sleight of hand stage trick, it also served as a sweet spotlight for the veteran industry drummer who reunited with Reznor after being on the rebound from the Foo Fighters (since 2025 seems to have been the worst thing to happen to drummers since Spinal Tap).

The whole band was in place by the time the curtain came back up, bringing the Broken-era track to a climax with the surreal site of singer and fans alike giving a closed-fisted salute while screaming the singular “fist fuck” line.

The band tore through three Downward Spiral fan favorites—“March of the Pigs”, “Reptile”, and “Heresey”—before dropping into the trance groove of “Copy of A”.

Nine Inch Nails – “March Of The Pigs” – 9/9/25

[Video: Kevin Seymour]

The world of Nine Inch Nails has been on the cusp of technology since its inception as a Reznor studio guinea pig, and the visuals for the show were an awesome display of cutting-edge technology, especially on the highly underrated and underplayed Hesitation Marks track. Reznor’s shape was cast across the stage with each “copy of a…,” multiplying into mirrored ghosts of light.

Guitarist Robin Finck did some of the heavy lifting on the vocal cord-shredding screams of “Gave Up” before the underworld undertones of Boys Noize began to stir from the secondary stage.

Reznor and Ross joined the DJ as the overhead lighting rig descended to the industrial drone of what would eventually become “Vessel”, a track off 2007’s Year Zero. Trent traded off vocoder vocals with himself as the trio built on an amped-up version of the already technified tune.

“Closer” was up next, and somehow turned into even more of a disco sex funk anthem, with Reznor giving particular emphasis to the usually obscured lyric “I stay alive,” which served as a testimonial of sorts.

“As Alive As You Need To Be”, released this summer as part of the upcoming Tron soundtrack, proved that Reznor is still relevant, and there was no drop-off in energy from crowd or band from the evening’s biggest single to the newest.

“Came Back Haunted” closed out the mini-rave set, segueing back into the main stage with The Downward Spiral opening track “Mr. Self Destruct”. The song ended with Finck unleashing some ugly guitar, getting his own arena-sized projection from the onstage cameraman who found a way to capture truly amazing onstage footage without being a nuisance.

“The Perfect Drug” followed, with Freese proving that even the craziest of Reznor’s sequenced drum tracks can be matched by human hands. The now-iconic version of David Bowie’s “I’m Afraid of Americans” and “The Hand That Feeds” brought the show to a head before the percussive clatter of “Head Like A Hole” allowed the fans a moment to catch their breath for an arena-sized singalong when the chorus finally hit.

The encore roar was silenced by the ambient static and acoustic guitar of “Hurt”, a NIN show-ending tradition. The song has been the farewell for just about every show from the past 30 years, almost as if to solidify the song as Reznor’s in light of the Johnny Cash-ification of the tune. It usually ends with Reznor collapsing under the weight of what is essentially a musical suicide note recorded by a heroin addict in Sharon Tate’s living room. But the now 60-year-old father and film scorer said farewell with arms held high in a victory pose, smiling back at an arena full of people who also found their way out of a once bottomless descent.

Nine Inch Nails and Boys Noize will finish out the run this week with two nights at L.A.’s Kia Forum. Find tickets here.