Boston has been getting a bit spoiled with Nine Inch Nails lately. It was only last summer when Trent Reznor and his motley crew of industrial miscreants were in town on the first leg of the Peel It Back Tour. Before that, they came through to top the bill on the opening night of the 2022 edition of Boston Calling, then stuck around for an encore the following evening when headliner The Strokes had to pull out at the eleventh hour due to illness.
Still, when the second North American leg of Peel It Back was revealed in October, it was downright shocking to see the Garden on the docket once again (February 13). In fact, Boston is the only city visited in both rounds. And while no official reason was given, there was an overwhelming demand for tickets for the late August show, perhaps more than at any other stop.
Is the NIN fanbase really that strong here? And who makes it up? Old school fans of Pretty Hate Machine desperately seeking nostalgia in turbulent times? Tortured individuals who find comfort in the sprawling 1999 masterpiece The Fragile? A surplus of Gen Z wanting to know why all their current favorite artists hat tip Reznor? Who knows! At the end of the day, wherever the audience is coming from, they’re getting one of the most groundbreaking shows in recent memory.
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Billed as “a four-act live experience,” the Peel It Back run sees Nine Inch Nails ditching the standard LED wall for translucent fabric, incorporating raw handheld footage and layered projections, all while building an immersive, three-dimensional atmosphere that feels unlike anything they’ve done previously. It’s a vibe that’s carrying over into the performance as well, with the current edition of the trek kicking off in New Orleans last week and seeing Reznor incorporate Depeche Mode’s “Stripped” into “Something I Can Never Have” in addition to dusting off the With Teeth outtake “Non-Entity” for the first time in 17 years.
Techno-tinged opener Boys Noize is once again pulling double-duty as support and providing an assist during the third act on the B-stage. NOLA saw the NIN collaboration with the German producer bear “Vessel,” “Closer,” and, from Reznor’s How to Destroy Angels side project, “Parasite.”
The most interesting subplot will be how much the set gets switched up from the summer, given it’s the only date to revisit the same location. When NIN were last faced with this type of quandary, it was coincidentally at Boston Calling, where they dropped a radically different setlist the second night, with only four songs carrying over from the first. Maybe this time, Trent will break out The Fragile single and live white whale “We’re in This Together” for only the fifth time ever? We can wish.
NINE INCH NAILS + BOYS NOIZE :: Friday, February 13 at TD Garden, 100 Legends Way in Boston, MA :: 8 p.m., all ages, $85.55 to $220.60 :: Event info :: Advance tickets
