Last week we had an opportunity to document Nine Inch Nails over two concerts in Chicago on their Peel It Back tour of 2025.
Nine Inch Nails has a history of giving it all on its tours, changing venue sizes, song sets, and visuals, and Peel It Back is no exception. The innovative two-stage set design allows the band to move around and change the mood of the entire show, both visually and sonically. The concerts start with Trent Reznor alone on the piano, where he is joined after the first track by his bandmates, before switching to the main set, where the drummer Josh Freese infuses another level of energy into the performance, absolutely killing it in parts like The Perfect Drug drum solo.
As always, Nine Inch Nails manages to sound crystal clear even through the most aurally demanding songs, and the new visuals add another layer of complexity and brilliance to the sound. A band videographer is on stage throughout the concert, and his live footage is immediately translated onto screens. They are especially compelling during Copy of A, as Reznor’s silhouette is multiplied across the stage, mirroring the song’s lyrics.
The Downward Spiral-heavy set that the band has chosen for this tour is a dream for any dedicated NIN fan, as are off-the-album tracks like “The Perfect Drug” and “Burn,” originally featured in David Lynch’s film Lost Highway and Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers. We know that Trent Reznor is not the one to dwell on the past, but since the culture is now experiencing a ‘90s moment, one could hardly need a better reminder of that brilliant decade in music than this tour.
All photography is by Matthew Reeves exclusively for StyleZeitgeist. Images may not be reproduced without expressed permission.
