Nine Inch Nails at the O2 Arena

The 90s: what an incredible time for music. You had grunge, alternative, metal, plus so many other genres which brought about the fantastic bands we were lucky enough to experience and now have engrained in our memory. Then there was the beauty of it all too; the music felt real. The artists wrote music that was a free form of catharsis – raw and original. Nine Inch Nails was and still is an example of those principles, and they put on one of the most badass concerts of 2014 at the O2 Arena this May.

Trent Reznor and his gang are bringing the tour to a conclusion, before they shoot off on another tour with Soundgarden to promote their most recent album Hesitation Marks. The show was just as expected: flawless. The band had wild and trippy visuals on screen behind them, met with crazy strobe lights and erratic lasers. At one point while the band was playing, they had a motion effect of some sort projecting a shadow behind them that looked like thermal vision. The stage visuals eerily, yet somewhat beautifully, coincided with the mood and tone of the songs.

They played recent hits such as Copy of A and Came Back Haunted, and then blasted the likes of Closer, Head Like a Hole, The Wretched and many more of the NIN classics. They closed out the show with Hurt: a depressing but ironically pleasant way to conclude the show. The band performed as expected, with Trent Reznor showing off his artistic prowess with crazy electronic instrument improvisations and Ilan Rubin providing his outstanding expertise on the drums. For a large venue, the O2 did a phenomenal job at balancing the sound, keeping the band perfectly in sync.

What else is there to expect? Nine Inch Nails put on a diverse and eccentric show, something the industry newcomers should take inspiration from; they could learn a thing or two from these guys. With Reznor looking and sounding as good as he always has, we’ll be sure to see them again in London real soon…

Joe Hoffman
Photo: Laura Musselman Duffy

For further information and future events visit Nine Inch Nails’ website here

Watch the video for Came Back Haunted here: