Peel It Back Tour

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Peel It Back
Tour by Nine Inch Nails
Official event poster
Location
  • Europe
  • North America
Start dateJune 15, 2025
End dateMarch 16, 2026
No. of shows63
Supporting actBoys Noize
Attendance450,000+ (2025)
Websitenin.com
Nine Inch Nails concert chronology

The Peel It Back Tour is an ongoing concert tour by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, consisting of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, who are joined by longtime touring members Robin Finck and Alessandro Cortini. Ilan Rubin performed during the European leg, with Josh Freese taking over starting with the North American leg. Boys Noize has been the opening act for every show on the tour. The tour, consisting of 63 shows across Europe and North America, started in Dublin, Ireland on June 15, 2025, and is scheduled to finish in Sacramento, United States on March 16, 2026. It was preceeded by the band's US and UK shows in 2022.

After Reznor and Ross had focused on composing film scores, they made plans to put their creative inspiration into new Nine Inch Nails work. A new Nine Inch Nails project was expected since December 2024, and leaks regarding concert dates began in mid-January 2025 until the band confirmed their, but the announcement had been delayed due to the ongoing Los Angeles wildfires. They later confirmed dates for the Peel It Back Tour, with a European leg running from June through July and a North American leg from August through September. In October, they announced an extension adding additional North American shows scheduled for February and March 2026.

From their discography, the band played both their main hits and deep cuts, and shows were split between a main and B-stage. The concert's staging displayed visuals of rain, moving silhouettes, and dramatic curtain drops, with recording done by way of hand-held cinematography, and using displays 3D projected onto translucent fabric. The Peel It Back Tour received critical acclaim, gaining praise for its lighting and production, energetic performances, and Freese's return.

Background and events

[edit]

In April 2024, Nine Inch Nails announced numerous upcoming projects through new multimedia company With Teeth, including a music festival, a new album, short film, and video game. In August, they announced that the band would compose the score to Disney's Tron: Ares (2025), the first of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross's film scores to credit the Nine Inch Nails name after over a dozen prior works.[1][2][3] After having been focused more on film scores,[4] Reznor indicated in December 2024 that he and Ross were "taking the inspiration we've garnered and funneling it into a Nine Inch Nails project", and that the duo was ready to return to the "driver's seat".[5] Reznor elaborated that material released by "Nine Inch Nails" had been their work in relation to the zeitgeist, which he felt less connected to as he aged, but said that this purpose was changing, and that beyond the Tron score he mused that other Nine Inch Nails activity in 2025 was not out of the question.[6]

Plans for a tour titled "Peel It Back" leaked on January 13, 2025, the title alluding to the band's song "March of the Pigs" from The Downward Spiral (1994).[4] These leaks indicated August and September shows in the United States, Canada, and Europe; a September 10 date at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Florida suggested that tickets were going on sale starting January 17.[7] The leaks included an associated Ticketmaster listing for the Tampa date, with numerous concert locations in America emerging online, as well as in Toronto, Canada and Manchester, England.[1] On the 14th, the band confirmed they were touring, with further details to follow, but their announcement was paused due to the concurrent Los Angeles wildfires.[4][8] The Peel It Back Tour marks the band's first tour since the completion of their 2022 US and UK shows.[4] Dates for a North American leg were indicated by the online leaks with shows in Brooklyn, Tampa, Atlanta, Raleigh, Philadelphia, Toronto, and Cleveland; as well dates for a Europe leg with shows in Manchester and London.[4]

On January 22, 2025, Nine Inch Nails announced the tour dates, with a European leg starting in June in Dublin and ending in July; and a North American leg starting in August and ending in September in Los Angeles.[9] The dates included arena shows and stops at European music festivals.[10] Three more shows were added to the tour on January 29.[11] On March 5, Nine Inch Nails announced that Boys Noize, who completed the Challengers (MIXED) remix album for their 2024 score of the film Challengers, would open for the band on every show of the Peel It Back Tour.[12] The show in Lyon was canceled by June 13.[13] At the June 15 opening show in Ireland, the band's lineup was revealed which, along with Reznor and Ross, included Robin Finck, Alessandro Cortini, and Ilan Rubin;[14] Finck served as guitarist,[15] Cortini as bassist / keyboardist,[16] and Rubin served as drummer.[17] Rubin would depart from the band after the European leg to join the Foo Fighters, being replaced by past member Josh Freese starting with the North American leg, who himself had been fired from the Foo Fighters a few months before.[18][17] Reznor said at the first show of the North American leg that Freese had rehearsed for the Peel It Back Tour for only one day, as opposed to the months of practice the other members had beforehand.[15]

On October 1, 2025, the band announced the tour would be extended into 2026 with 22 additional North American dates, starting in February in New Orleans and ending in March in Sacramento.[19][20]

Performances

[edit]

The arena concert format has been structured around two performance spaces: a main stage for performing their hit songs, and a B-stage for the deep cuts, acoustic renditions, and remixes by Boys Noize.[21][17] The band played songs from their releases including Pretty Hate Machine (1989),[22] Broken (1992), The Downward Spiral (1994), Further Down the Spiral (1995),[23] With Teeth (2005), and Hesitation Marks (2013).[24] The band often switched up their setlists from night to night.[25] The beginning of the North American leg in Oakland saw the live debut of the song "As Alive As You Need Me to Be" from the Tron: Ares soundtrack (2025).[17] Cover songs played include David Bowie's "I'm Afraid of Americans" (1997),[24] and How to Destroy Angels's "Parasite" (2010).[23]

Produced by Live Nation,[10][26] the shows have been led in collaboration with creative director Todd Tourso and MTLA.studio, and featured the work of the band's longtime lighting designer Paul "Arlo" Guthrie.[21] The concert staging displayed visuals of rain, moving silhouettes, and dramatic curtain drops marking movements on the stage,[24] shot with hand-held cinematography.[21] The visuals were created using 3D projection onto translucent fabric, rather than typical LED panels.[27] The imagery often produced a holographic effect, otherwise creating a psychedelic effect when footage was played out-of-sync.[28] A mechanism was situated above the B-stage, which projected mood lighting for each song.[29]

Reception

[edit]

The Peel It Back Tour received critical acclaim.[30][31][32] Aspects of praise were the lighting and production,[32][26] energetic performances,[26] and drummer Josh Freese's return.[33] Among the biggest concert tours in 2025,[18] it attracted over 450,000 concertgoers during the 2025 shows.[20]

Concerning the debut show, The Times opined it was "a thrilling onslaught" of "angst, sincerity and a nightmarish otherworldliness" that brought to mind Reznor's recently passed creative collaborator David Lynch.[34] Of the same show, The Irish Times praised the "satisfyingly immense" staging, and the artistry of the performances.[24] Both papers agreed that the show took a little while to get into gear.[34][24] Louder Sound wrote the performances of understated songs sparked "wonder and awe", and said the more energetic performances were "thrillingly violent" and palpable.[35] Consequence described the production as "visually stunning", praising the futuristic lighting and lauding the projections on the main stage as "breathtaking" and cinematic.[29] BrooklynVegan praised the lighting and talent of the cinematographer, and singled out the contrubutions of Tourso and Guthrie for achieving "jaw-dropping visuals" that "really made the show".[28] The San Francisco Chronicle wrote Reznor's voice was in "fine form" emotionally, projecting "anguish and loss with both force and nuance".[15] Evening Standard wrote the staging was "breathtaking".[22] Several publications witnessed issues during their shows, including a microphone malfunction at one show, Reznor being "baptized" by a leaky fog machine at another, and what the Chicago Sun-Times described as "obnoxious Trent cat callers"; critics noted Reznor's response and resolve in the face of them.[36]

Louder called the B-stage collaboration with Boys Noize "joyously intense",[35] The Irish Times described it as "thrilling" and compared it to a scene out of a dystopian film,[24] and the San Francisco Chronicle praised the rendition of "Copy of A".[15] The Evening Standard said the rendition of "Came Back Haunted" foremostly displayed the dance music aspect of the band, bringing to mind the score to Challengers,[22] though The Times opined it as "crushing dancefloor workouts" that suggested "an indulgence between friends rather than a gesture to fans".[34] Evening Standard said in his opening act, the DJ turned the scene into "a Blade film"—a "perfect setup" for the techno-inspired band, describing the set as erotically "moody, spectacular and pulsating";[22] Stereogum agreed with the Blade comparison and concurred that Boys Noize effectively set up a "mood" for Reznor.[25] San Francisco Chronicle praised drummer Freese for his competency returning to the band in his first show,[15] the Chicago Sun-Times wrote that the drum part on "The Perfect Drug"—a song Freese never played during his original tenure with the band—served as a litmus test for the drummer that the newspaper wrote he "passed with honors".[16] The Los Angeles Times wrote that by the end of the tour Freese had become a "fan-favorite returning hero" who added "pure rocker muscle" to the band,[33] and BrooklynVegan similarly noted positive fan reaction, praising his introductory drum solo during their show as "hypnoti[c]".[28]

Critics praised the political timeliness of performing "Head Like a Hole" and the Reznor-produced "I'm Afraid of Americans".[37] Irish Times praised the "stark minimalist beauty" of "The Frail" and "doomy grandeur" of "The Wretched",[24] while Stereogum likened Reznor to Elton John during his piano performances.[25] Louder described the ending performance of "Hurt" as quietly devastating, uniting an "enraptured" and "utterly immersed" room,[35] The Irish Times described Reznor's "majestic" performance as reminding everyone of its roots past Johnny Cash's cover,[24] The Times described it as "quietly yet devastatingly" performed with "dark charisma"—describing it as a moment of "searing humanity and fragility",[34] Los Angeles Times felt Reznor displayed "tightly coiled emotion and intimate grandeur",[33] and San Francisco Chronicle wrote that Reznor, with "visceral pain and regret", demonstrated that the words "Everyone I know / Goes away in the end" remained "timeless" decades after the song's release.[15]

Tour dates

[edit]
List of 2025 concerts, showing date, city, country and locale[10][11]
Date (2025) City Country Venue / festival
June 15 Dublin Ireland 3Arena
June 17 Manchester England Co-op Live
June 18 London The O2
June 20 Cologne Germany Lanxess Arena
June 21[a] Dessel Belgium Graspop Metal Meeting
June 24 Milan Italy Parco Musica Milano
June 26 Zürich Switzerland Hallenstadion
June 27 Vienna Austria Wiener Stadthalle
June 29 Amsterdam Netherlands Ziggo Dome
July 1 Berlin Germany Uber Arena
July 3[a] Gdynia Poland Open'er
July 5[a] Roskilde Denmark Roskilde Festival
July 7 Paris France Accor Arena
July 11[a] Madrid Spain Mad Cool
July 12[a] Oeiras Portugal NOS Alive
August 6 Oakland United States Oakland Arena
August 8 Portland Moda Center
August 10 Vancouver Canada Rogers Arena
August 12 Seattle United States Climate Pledge Arena
August 14 West Valley City Maverik Center
August 15 Denver Ball Arena
August 17 Saint Paul Xcel Energy Center
August 19 Chicago United Center
August 20
August 22 Detroit Little Caesars Arena
August 23 Toronto Canada Scotiabank Arena
August 26 Baltimore United States CFG Bank Arena
August 27 Philadelphia Xfinity Mobile Arena
August 29 Boston TD Garden
August 31 Cleveland Rocket Arena
September 2 Brooklyn Barclays Center
September 3
September 5 Raleigh Lenovo Center
September 6 Nashville Bridgestone Arena
September 9 Duluth Gas South Arena
September 10 Tampa Benchmark International Arena
September 12 Houston Toyota Center
September 13 Fort Worth Dickies Arena
September 16 Phoenix PHX Arena
September 18 Los Angeles Kia Forum
September 19

Notes

  • ^[a] This concert was part of a European music festival.[10]
List of 2026 concerts, showing date, city, country and locale[19]
Date (2026) City Country Venue
February 5 New Orleans United States Smoothie King Center
February 7 Jacksonville VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena
February 10 Charlotte Spectrum Center
February 11 Washington, DC Capital One Arena
February 13 Boston TD Garden
February 14 Newark Prudential Center
February 16 Montreal Canada Bell Centre
February 18 Hamilton TD Coliseum
February 20 Columbus United States Schottenstein Center
February 22 Grand Rapids Van Andel Arena
February 23 Milwaukee Fiserv Forum
February 25 St. Louis Enterprise Center
February 27 Tulsa BOK Center
March 1 Austin Moody Center
March 3 Dallas American Airlines Center
March 6 Glendale Desert Diamond Arena
March 7 Las Vegas MGM Grand Garden Arena
March 9 San Diego Pechanga Arena
March 10 Anaheim Honda Center
March 13 Salt Lake City Delta Center
March 15 San Francisco Chase Center
March 16 Sacramento Golden 1 Center
List of canceled concerts, showing date, city, country, and locale[13]
Date (2025) City Country Venue
July 8 Lyon France LDLC Arena

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Breihan, Tom (January 13, 2025). "Nine Inch Nails Appear To Plan 2025 World Tour". Stereogum. Archived from the original on January 14, 2025. Retrieved January 13, 2025.
  2. ^ Baron, Zach (April 4, 2024). "Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross Have a Plan to Soundtrack Everything". GQ. Archived from the original on May 31, 2024. Retrieved August 15, 2024.
  3. ^ Larson, Jeremy D. (August 10, 2024). "Nine Inch Nails to Score New Tron Movie". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on August 31, 2024. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e Jenke, Tyler; Lynch, Jessica (January 14, 2025). "Nine Inch Nails Confirm Tour, Delay Details Due to LA Wildfires". Billboard. Archived from the original on January 14, 2025. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
  5. ^ Light, Alan (December 3, 2024). "Trent Reznor's Upward Spiral". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on December 5, 2024. Retrieved January 13, 2025.
  6. ^ Shannon Miller, Liz (December 12, 2024). "Composers of the Year Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross Were Up for the Challenge". Consequence. Archived from the original on December 18, 2024. Retrieved January 13, 2025.
  7. ^ Roland, Tyler (January 13, 2025). "Nine Inch Nails set to announce 2025 Peel It Back world tour". The Needle Drop. Archived from the original on January 14, 2025. Retrieved January 13, 2025.
  8. ^ Singh, Surej (January 14, 205). "Nine Inch Nails confirm 2025 tour plans". NME. Archived from the original on January 14, 2025. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
  9. ^ Aswad, Jem (January 22, 2025). "Nine Inch Nails Announce 'Peel It Back 2025' World Tour Dates". Variety. Archived from the original on January 27, 2025. Retrieved January 22, 2025.
  10. ^ a b c d Kaufman, Gil (January 22, 2025). "Nine Inch Nails Reveal Dates For 2025 Peel It Back World Tour". Billboard. Archived from the original on January 23, 2025. Retrieved January 22, 2025.
  11. ^ a b Hatfield, Amanda (January 29, 2025). "Nine Inch Nails add new shows to 2025 tour". BrooklynVegan. Archived from the original on January 30, 2025. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
  12. ^ Bain, Katie (March 5, 2025). "Boys Noize to Open for Nine Inch Nails on the Band's Upcoming Peel It Back Tour". Billboard. Archived from the original on March 19, 2025. Retrieved March 7, 2025.
  13. ^ a b "Mauvaise nouvelle : le concert de Nine Inch Nails à Lyon est annulé !" [Bad news: the Nine Inch Nails concert in Lyon is cancelled!]. Lyon Poche (in French). June 13, 2025. Archived from the original on July 30, 2025. Retrieved July 30, 2025.
  14. ^ Spanos, Brittany (June 16, 2025). "Nine Inch Nails Perform Live Rarities at Tour Kickoff in Dublin". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on June 17, 2025. Retrieved June 16, 2025.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g Inoue, Todd (August 7, 2025). "Divine timing or technical fail? NIN's fog machine baptizes Trent Reznor in front of 13,500 fans". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on August 9, 2025. Retrieved August 9, 2025.
  16. ^ a b c Fragassi, Selena (August 20, 2025). "Review: Nine Inch Nails' masterful, multilayered performance showcases the band's constant evolution". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on August 30, 2025. Retrieved September 20, 2025.
  17. ^ a b c d Kaufman, Spencer (August 7, 2025). "Nine Inch Nails Kick Off North American Tour with Josh Freese on Drums: Video + Setlist". Consequence. Archived from the original on August 7, 2025. Retrieved August 7, 2025.
  18. ^ a b Millman, Ethan (July 30, 2025). "Foo Fighters' New Drummer Revealed (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on August 7, 2025. Retrieved August 7, 2025.
  19. ^ a b Monroe, Jazz (October 1, 2025). "Nine Inch Nails Announce 2026 Tour". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on October 1, 2025. Retrieved October 1, 2025.
  20. ^ a b Aswad, Jem (October 1, 2025). "Nine Inch Nails Add 20+ North American Dates to 'Peel It Back' Tour". Variety. Archived from the original on October 1, 2025. Retrieved October 1, 2025.
  21. ^ a b c Dunworth, Liberty (June 20, 2025). "Check out these photos from Nine Inch Nails' epic 'Peel It Back' UK tour". NME. Archived from the original on June 20, 2025. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  22. ^ a b c d e f Robinson, Martin (June 19, 2025). "Nine Inch Nails at the O2: 'Trent Reznor is the last great art rock star'". Evening Standard. Archived from the original on June 20, 2025. Retrieved June 22, 2025.
  23. ^ a b Brannigan, Paul (June 16, 2025). "Watch Nine Inch Nails play Closer, Head Like A Hole and Hurt on the opening night of their Peel It Back world tour". Louder Sound. Archived from the original on June 19, 2025. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  24. ^ a b c d e f g h i O'Regan, Nadine (June 16, 2025). "Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails at 3Arena review: Peel It Back tour begins unshowily, then builds to a thrilling mid-set sequence". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on June 18, 2025. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  25. ^ a b c Breihan, Tom (August 28, 2025). "Nine Inch Nails' Live Show Is Fucking Incredible". Stereogum. Archived from the original on August 30, 2025. Retrieved September 20, 2025.
  26. ^ a b c Kaufman, Gil (October 1, 2025). "Nine Inch Nails Add 20 New 2026 North American Dates to Peel It Back Tour". Billboard. Archived from the original on October 1, 2025. Retrieved October 1, 2025.
  27. ^ Garner, Emily (June 19, 2025). "In pictures: Nine Inch Nails' mind-blowing Peel It Back Tour 2025". Kerrang!. Archived from the original on June 20, 2025. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  28. ^ a b c Pearis, Bill (September 3, 2025). "Nine Inch Nails' 'Peel It Back' tour is a marvel of sight and sound: Barclays Center review". BrooklynVegan. Archived from the original on September 20, 2025. Retrieved October 1, 2025.
  29. ^ a b Kaufman, Spencer (September 3, 2025). "Nine Inch Nails Serve Up a Feast for the Eyes and Ears in Brooklyn: Review, Photos, Video + Setlist". Consequence. Archived from the original on September 22, 2025. Retrieved October 1, 2025.
  30. ^ Harrison, Scoop (October 1, 2025). "Nine Inch Nails Announce 2026 Tour Dates". Consequence. Archived from the original on October 1, 2025. Retrieved October 1, 2025. NIN's "Peel It Back" tour, their first jaunt in three years, has been met with universal praise.
  31. ^ "Nine Inch Nails Announce February/March 2026 North American Tour". Blabbermouth.net. October 1, 2025. Archived from the original on October 1, 2025. Retrieved October 1, 2025. Since kicking off, the tour has drawn over 450,000 fans across two legs and earned widespread critical acclaim
  32. ^ a b "Nine Inch Nails Extend 'Peel It Back' Tour Into 2026". Spin. October 1, 2025. Archived from the original on October 1, 2025. Retrieved October 1, 2025. Peel It Back was met with near universal acclaim for its next-level lighting and production
  33. ^ a b c d Brown, August (September 19, 2025). "At the Forum, Nine Inch Nails conjure rage and dread. Be afraid, Americans". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on September 20, 2025. Retrieved September 20, 2025.
  34. ^ a b c d e Power, Ed (June 16, 2025). "Nine Inch Nails review — hail the big daddies of nihilistic rock". The Times. Archived from the original on June 16, 2025. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  35. ^ a b c d Brannigan, Paul (June 19, 2025). ""This is how you make a comeback, not pandering, not acquiescing to expectations, but reconfiguring your art with fearlessness and quiet confidence." Nine Inch Nails' Peel It Back tour is a breathtaking spectacle, and a personal triumph for Trent Reznor". Louder Sound. Archived from the original on June 20, 2025. Retrieved June 22, 2025.
  36. ^ According to:[35][22][15][16]
  37. ^ According to:[34][24][22][33]