Nine Inch Nails in Concert
It's hard to imagine alternative music without Nine Inch Nails' hand painting it all in black. But the now iconic band had some rather humble beginnings. Musician Trent Reznor dreamed it all up as an assistant engineer and janitor at a studio in Cleveland, Ohio, back in the late 1980s. This job gave him access to a space where he could record demos—all by himself. These songs would eventually take him on tour in 1988, even supporting a major influence of Reznor’s, Skinny Puppy. This led to the 1989 release of NIN’s debut album, 'Pretty Hate Machine,' a collection of dark, grimy industrial pop that wormed its way into the mainstream consciousness with singles like “Head Like a Hole,” and ended up peaking at No. 75 on the Billboard 200. Quickly, NIN would be everywhere, even landing a coveted spot at the first Lollapalooza in 1991. But this was only the beginning.
NIN’s second album, 1994's 'The Downward Spiral,' proved Reznor's star power in all of its doom and drama, especially with major hits like "Closer" and "Hurt." The accompanying Self Destruct Tour saw those songs transformed into wild and vicious performances, feeding the dark myths behind Reznor’s shocking NIN persona. But his last release of the '90s, 'The Fragile,' would show a slightly more introspective side with its haunting mix of beauty and brutality.
Into the 21st century, NIN has never quite stayed the same—in sound or in lineup—but Reznor's ferocity and fearlessness as an ever-evolving artist has. He’s consistently challenging the idea of electronic music and its ability to play with the psyche, even in its most minimalist form with ambient releases like 'Ghosts I-IV' and his own award-winning film score work with Atticus Ross. Still, NIN is every bit as steely and subversive as it ever was—as proven yet again with the experimental industrial rock of 2018’s 'Bad Witch' and its supporting Cold and Black and Infinite Tour.
Over the course of their career, NIN have brought countless venues to capacity, like Zappos Theater.
