Hey, pigs! All of our dreams practically came true when Nine Inch Nails announced in January that the band was hitting the road for the Peel It Back world tour in 2025. (“Practically,” because some of us are still awaiting that new album announcement.)
It didn’t take long after the news arrived for fans to start speculating as to who might open for the Grammy-winning band, who hasn’t released a proper NIN album since March 2020’s surprise drops of the instrumentals Ghosts V: Together and Ghosts VI: Locusts — and going farther back, to 2018’s Bad Witch, if we’re talking music with lyrics. Potential openers that were floated on forums such as Reddit have ranged from the industrial (Health, Youth Code) to synth-pop(Gary Numan) to dance/electronic (Boy Harsher). But it was electro-house veteran Boys Noize — Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ Challengers soundtrack collaborator — who NIN revealed in March had landed the coveted gig.
But what discussion of the Peel It Back Tour ahead of its June 15 launch in Dublin would be complete without a massive “Wish” list of tracks fans are hoping to hear live? With an impressive catalogue that includes 10 studio albums (plus three EPs, a live set and multiple film soundtracks) since 1989’s Pretty Hate Machine, that’s a heck of a lot of hits and fan-favorite deep cuts to consider fitting into a set.
That said, NIN might’ve offered some not-so-subtle hints about where the focus may be. After all, the critically lauded The Downward Spiral marked its 30th anniversary last year, and the name of this tour comes from the lyrics off the album’s lead single, “March of the Pigs,” so it wouldn’t be a surprise if the setlist was TDS heavy. (Perhaps the 14-track album will even be played front to back? It’s not exactly a pie-in-the-sky wish, since NIN performed the Broken EP from beginning to end at several shows during its 2018 tour, a year after the 1992 release marked its 25th anniversary.) Or maybe given Reznor’s harsh criticisms during the first Trump Administration, things will take a political bent, with a heavier-than-expected focus on 2007’s Year Zero. With the band’s penchant for regularly changing up the setlist from night to night, who knows what fans will be treated to!
But for the sake of discussion, let’s assume TDS will not be played in full. So what will make it to the stage while other worthy songs are set aside to fit into the allotted time for what could be a best-of trek? With the tour kickoff quickly approaching, nothing can stop us now from coming up with our dream setlist.
Album: Broken EP
Assuming this trek is a celebration of The Downward Spiral, it may not seem to make sense — especially to younger fans — to launch into what is sure to be a multi-hour sonic assault with the instrumental opener off Halo 5. But “Pinion” not only perfectly captures the essence of NIN in its desolation, but it was also the kickoff track for the Self Destruct/Further Down the Spiral tours in support of the 1994 album.
Album: The Downward Spiral
Indeed, Reznor is the voice inside our heads that takes us where we wanna go, so why not kick off the celebration of TDS with a block of its tracks? The first song off the seminal album captures both the aggressiveness and quiet desperation that is to come not only on this brilliant album, but what is sure to be an unforgettable show.
Album: The Downward Spiral
Step right up and keep that mosh pit going! There’s no reason to slow down after only two songs. And while the album’s lead single — which hit No. 59 on the Billboard Hot 100 — was written in the early half of the ’90s, its furious rant about the fakeness and in some cases, the outright lies of everyday life that the masses consume still stands. After all, how many have been fooled by “influencers” and A.I.?
Album: The Downward Spiral
Let’s get really bleak after the intense highs and heart-racing BPM of “March of the Pigs.” In perhaps the most industrial-sounding track by the band, Reznor is spiraling at rock bottom, his needs and loneliness so all-consuming and haunting that he’s ready to take everyone down with him. His depths are limitless … as is our willingness to follow on this journey.
Album: The Downward Spiral
Oh, you thought “Reptile” was low? Amateur. Turns out those limitless depths Reznor thought he found before in his “beautiful liar” are exceeded in the gut-wrenching “Hurt,” where a despair unlike any other reigns with a crown of s–t.
NIN has often performed this track — complete with black-and-white imagery of destruction, death and decay to drive the point home — as the last song of the encore. But it feels like too much of a bummer to end the Peel It Back Tour on such a depressing note, especially when the band has had so many highs to celebrate in its nearly 40-year career. So let’s use it as a moment to give the band — and moshers — a breather physically, though definitely not emotionally.
Album: The Fragile
Let’s keep the darkness going with NIN’s highest-charting song to date (No. 17 on the Hot 100). Sure, the four-and-a-half-minute track has only one verse, but it’s one that barrels into the soul like a shovel into a grave. With the outro’s harmonious “nah nah naaaah“s and the wailing-yet-staticky guitars, it’s a song that will fill each nook and cranny of stadiums worldwide before its abrupt ending.
Album: Still
This track from The Fragile/New Orleans era didn’t make it onto NIN’s proper third full-length release (it should’ve!), but at least was included on the companion album for live set And All That Could Have Been. Perhaps one of the most beautifully heartbreaking NIN tracks, Reznor’s vocals carry an ache and regret that feel worse than death as he softly croons about his existence being wiped clean from a loved one’s memory, and the world itself, yet all the while knowing of everything he could’ve had, yet were “never meant for me.”
Quick, bring the tempo up. Even the darkest of hearts can stand only so much pain …
Album: Broken
Break time is over! Bring on the rage! Is it really a NIN concert if the Grammy-winning “Wish” doesn’t get played? After all, having the entire venue shake as concertgoers scream the lyrics — “Gotta listen to your big time, hard-line, bad luck, fist f–k!” — back at Reznor while pumping their fists into the air is a staple of the band’s shows.
Album: Pretty Hate Machine
“Kinda like a cloud, I was up, way up in the sky” after the high of “Wish,” so let’s keep the fun train going with NIN’s debut single, whose lyrics feature lines from a popular nursery rhyme. (Imagine Reznor’s young children backstage dancing along to potentially the only lyrics of their dad’s that they’re familiar with …)
Album: Hesitation Marks
The pit is guaranteed to transform into a writhing dancefloor filled with booty shaking and head bopping for this irresistibly catchy, funky song that has a beat that rivals the sexiness of “Closer.”
Album: Year Zero
Lying beneath another great, dance-y beat, the song feels eerily prophetic despite arriving in 2007: “How can this be right?/ I’m afraid we’re going to ask you to leave/ Guess you cannot win/ With the color of your skin/ You won’t be getting in to the promised land.”
Though turning a mirror on religion (and some might argue, those who agree with the current immigration policies) might not be considered fun concert fare, Reznor’s refrain could challenge that belief and get attendees to raise their voices: “Come on, sing along, everybody now!”
Album: Not the Actual Events
What better time to highlight some of NIN’s beautifully atmospheric yet at times apocalyptic sound than in a giant venue? This track would allow the set to take another break from the aggression and dance vibes to “break through the surface and breathe,” while highlighting Reznor and musical partner Atticus Ross’ penchant for capturing the struggle of emotions, as they often do in their soundtrack work.
Album: Disco4: Part II, Health
While many fans didn’t get Health as the opener they had fervently hoped for, Reznor could throw the piggies a bone and perform the apocalyptic collab track, even without Jake Duszik to sing live. (After all, the Health frontman’s vocals often evoke an emotional-yet-genderless android’s voice — so why not use pre-recorded vocals and give the fans what they want?)
Album: Pretty Hate Machine
Hey, God! I think you owe me a great, big apology if this song doesn’t make it onto the setlist!
Album: With Teeth
Reznor has never hidden his disdain for the twice-impeached president, so why shouldn’t he share his stance on stage with one of his most political songs? The track — which reached No. 31 on the Hot 100 — was originally meant as criticism of the government’s foreign policy, with the band even planning to display an unaltered image of then-president George W. Bush during its 2005 VMAs performance. (NIN would end up pulling out of the show over MTV’s objections to the photo.) Perhaps we’ll get a portrait of Trump for this?
Album: Year Zero
War, climate change, political corruption and greed — not exactly happy topics, but nevertheless relevant today. And with Reznor’s skill in pairing these difficult subjects with an irresistible rhythm that’s also upbeat, the song deserves a spot on the setlist.
Album: Earthling, David Bowie
This may not be a proper NIN track, but Reznor did do practically a whole remix album of this song for the Thin White Duke, and the two men performed it together several times before the glam-rock pioneer’s death in 2016. And considering the current political climate and the Oscar-winning rocker’s own stance, performing this iconic track would not only serve as a tribute to Bowie, but also an acknowledgement of how much of the world feels about our country today.
Album: Bad Witch
Sing and clap along as Reznor croons about humans mutating into something new and unrecognizable … and not for the better.
Album: With Teeth
This song doesn’t get enough love, and it’s time to change that. Imagine the calm swelling of the music punctuated by the ominous drum beat as Reznor sings emotively about becoming someone he no longer recognizes — it’s cinematic in feel, and projects the fears of his protagonist no matter the volume of the music. Plus, this could be an opportunity for a surprise guest appearance from Dave Grohl, who played drums on the track.
Album: Natural Born Killers soundtrack
It’s fate, you know, for NIN to play this vitriolic, anti-society banger and get the mosh pit roiling.
Album: Pretty Hate Machine
We’re bowing down before the one we serve to get what we deserve — this resistance anthem! The fan favorite would be a great one with which to end the main set on a very high point.
Album: Broken
Oh the delicious anger! What better way for the band to return to the stage for an encore than with this Grammy-winning banger? Fans will be screaming back at NIN — after all, we’ve spent our lives learning conformity.
Album: The Crow soundtrack
If the tour is meant to celebrate The Downward Spiral, it would be fitting to also recognize NIN’s cover of the 1980 Joy Division song, which was featured in the Brandon Lee-starring film. Like TDS, The Crow soundtrack came calling in March 1994 — 21 days later, to be exact.
Album: Pretty Hate Machine
It comes down to this — more fists and hits in the encore!
Album: The Downward Spiral
We wouldn’t leave the song that launched NIN into the mainstream off the dream setlist (even if Trent has done just that a few times)! To save it for the encore would be musical edging of great proportions. After all, it’s indescribably sexy, ridiculously catchy and a wonderful climax to the night.
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