Nine Inch Nails at Radio City Music Hall

Trent Reznor was born and raised in western Pennsylvania, where he began playing the piano at age 12. In high school in the early 1980s, he learned to play the tenor saxophone and tuba, and was a member of both the jazz and marching band. After school, he sang and played keyboards in the new wave band Option 30. Pursuing a career in music, Reznor moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where he joined a cover band called the Urge, then joined the Innocent in 1985, and Exotic Birds in 1986. He worked as assistant engineer and janitor in a recording studio, where he recorded demos of his own songs during unused studio time. Unable to find musicians that could articulate the music as he desired, Reznor played all the instruments except drums and called the project Nine Inch Nails. Over the years, Nine Inch Nails achieved record sales exceeding 20 million copies worldwide. Although he has used other musicians in the studio and on stage, Reznor was the only constant member of the band until 2016, when he recruited keyboardist/synthesizer player Atticus Ross as a permanent member. Nine Inch Nails' ninth studio album, Bad Witch, was released on June 22, 2018.

Nine Inch Nails brought its "Cold and Black and Infinite North America 2018 Tour" to Radio City Music Hall for two nights. Reznor and Ross were joined by multi-instrumentalist Robin Finck, keyboardist Alessandro Cortini , and drummer Ilan Rubin. The band came on stage loaded with ripping energy, slowed down for a few atmospheric tunes, and then returned with more wild frenzy. Amidst dense fog and flashing lights, Reznor sang and shouted with fury, frequently shifting from whispers to screams, while the band played coarse and cutting riffs behind him. The set included somewhat re-envisioned workings of better known songs, including "Wish", "March of the Pigs", "The Hand That Feeds", "Head Like a Hole," and "Hurt," plus new songs, deep cuts and surprising covers of David Bowie's "I'm Afraid of Americans" and Joy Division's "Digital." Many songs, built on tension and release, impacted like an explosive series of volcanic eruptions. Noise, distortion, and dissonance propelled with chromatic melodies added to the crushing intensity of the sonic assault. This was the summit of what industrial rock could be.

Visit Nine Inch Nails at www.nin.com.

Setlist:

1. Mr. Self Destruct
2. Wish
3. Less Than
4. March of the Pigs
5. The Lovers
6. This Isn't the Place
7. Reptile
8. The Perfect Drug
9. Shit Mirror
10. Ahead of Ourselves
11. God Break Down the Door
12. Copy of A
13. Gave Up
14. I'm Afraid of Americans (David Bowie cover)
15. Digital (Joy Division cover)
16. The Hand That Feeds
17. Head Like a Hole

Encore:

1. All the Love in the World
2. Over and Out
3. Hurt