Nine Inch Nails Thrillingly Vacillate Between Extremes at Rocket Arena

Nine Inch Nails at Rocket Arena in Cleveland Credit: Eric Heisig

Nine Inch Nails’ latest tour is all about extremes.

From piano ballads to industrial rockers to dance makeovers, the show the band puts on during its “Peel It Back Tour,” which included a stop Sunday at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, represents many of the things leader Trent Reznor and his crew have done since he started the project in this city in 1988.

And that, combined with first-class lights and graphics presentation, made for an exhilarating 100 minutes.

Before we go farther, though, let’s address what Reznor did during the show for Cleveland, which, in his own words, “shaped me into who I became.” The answer: not much. There was little to set this show apart from others on the tour. He even dropped a song from the upcoming soundtrack to “Tron: Ares” that online setlist show was played at other recent stops.

But that’s a minor gripe for what was otherwise one of the most unique concerts the city hosted this year.

Really, the show was about 2 1/2 hours long, as opening DJ Boys Noize played for roughly an hour, sounding like the music playing in a warehouse hosting a dance party as Batman bursts in to beat up the bad guys. There was no set break, and the DJ’s finale cued the curtain covering a small square stage set up in the middle of the arena to drop.

Reznor–whose band, which now splits its time with a prolific career scoring movies, was making his first appearance in Northeast Ohio since a 2022 show at Blossom Music Center–was alone. He went right into 2005’s “Right Where It Belongs,” captivating a capacity crowd with just his voice and piano playing. Gradually, his bandmates joined him during “Ruiner” and “Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now).”

Then it was to the main stage, where moody lighting, strobes and images projected onto and behind a transparent screen surrounding the band. That’s where Nine Inch Nails ripped into taut, intense, feedback-laden takes on “Wish” and “March of the Pigs.” Reznor, alternating between guitar and clutching a microphone like his life depended on it, sounded just as good at age 60 as he did decades ago.

Special props also go to journeyman drummer/Foo Fighters castoff Josh Freese, who mercilessly pounded the skins throughout the night, and guitarist Robin Finck, who switched from histrionics to more mellow textures in a split second.

The show vacillated between the searing and the dance-y, from hits to deep cuts. For every hyper-aggressive song like “Mr. Self Destruct,” there was a “Copy of A” (which featured cartoon graphics following his stage moves). For every “Head Like a Hole,” there was the band’s cover of David Bowie’s “I’m Afraid of Americans.”

And then there was the mid-show collaboration with Boys Noize, which saw the DJ collaborating on remixes of 1994’s “Closer” and deeper tracks like “Vessel” and “Came Back Haunted.” The segment augmented the intensity of the harder songs with electronic textures. Of course, this is nothing new for the band, but the takes on the tunes were fresh and left this reviewer wanting more (including that unplayed song).

The band closed with “Hurt,” again providing a showcase for Reznor’s underrated vocals. Like the 18 songs before it, it was unflinchingly raw and intense. But it also showed another dimension to Nine Inch Nails music on a night which already featured many of them.

Setlist (via setlist.fm and my own recollection):
1. Right Where It Belongs
2. Ruiner
3. Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)
4. Wish
5. March of the Pigs
6. Reptile
7. Find My Way
8. Copy of A
9. Gave Up
10. Vessel (with Boys Noize)
11. Closer (with Boys Noize)
12. Came Back Haunted (with Boys Noize)
13. Mr. Self Destruct
14. Less Than
15. The Perfect Drug
16. I’m Afraid of Americans (David Bowie cover)
17. The Hand That Feeds
18. Head Like a Hole
Encore:
19. Hurt