Nine Inch Nails live at Mad Cool 2025: a blistering masterclass in how to headline a festival

Based on the sheer number of Nine Inch Nails t-shirts seen around the festival area today (July 11), you already know that Trent Reznor and co’s set is going to be one for the books before they even step on stage. Enlisted as the second headliner for Mad Cool 2025, the Ohio metal giants have a lot to live up to as they follow on from Muse’s era-spanning space-tacular the night before. If anyone is capable of raising the stakes, it’s them.

Nine Inch Nails’ appearance comes at an ideal moment for the band. Not only does it mark their long-anticipated return to Spain for the first time since 2018, but it also comes at the midway point in their latest tour – allowing the industrial rock titans to have fine-tuned their production and help make this one of the most refined and elaborate shows of their storied 30-year career.

Barely speaking a word to the audience other than the occasional “thank you” or “let’s do it”, Reznor instead lets the music speak for itself throughout the night. No punches are pulled as they rattle off hit after hit from an impressive setlist. ‘The Perfect Drug’, ‘The Hand That Feeds’ and ‘Head Like a Hole’ come in quick succession, creating a visceral wall of sound that’s bolstered by Reznor’s compelling showmanship, dressed all in black and wrestling the mic stand into submission like a panther finishing off his prey.

Given both Reznor and Atticus Ross’ award-winning work in film – nabbing numerous Golden Globes with their scores to The Social Network, Soul and Challengers – it’s no surprise that the stagecraft on display is a masterpiece in its own right. Bathed in a minimalist, soft yellow glow to begin with, Reznor and his gang of shadowy virtuosos are soon accompanied by a full-throttle visual whirlwind on the big screens behind them. Blistering renditions of ‘March Of The Pigs’ and ‘Heresy’ make for a fitting soundtrack to the cinematic chaos, before they wind down again, closing (of course) with the haunting classic ‘Hurt’.

Despite three decades worth of live shows behind them, Nine Inch Nails still possess the same unrivalled vigour we grew to love in their early days. Remember that iconic Woodstock in 1994? The only difference its that they now match that ferocity with a level of stately grandeur that only comes from experience and earned respect.

Reznor and Ross now turn their sights to their own festival, the inaugural Future Ruins at Los Angeles’ Equestrian Center, which will celebrate composers from the worlds of film and TV. And you’d be forgiven for wondering if all of these distractions might dampen their enthusiasm for the day job. But you’d be wrong to do so. Judging by their Mad Cool headline set, there is no question that the group won’t be meticulously maintaining their legacy over the next few decades. From the exquisite visuals (which, even in their calmest moments, still blow some of the biggest names out of the water) to their effortless on-stage rapport and the sheer quality of their live sound, this sensational outing is vintage Nails. Welcome back, guys. We’ve missed you.

Nine Inch Nails played:

‘The Beginning of the End’
‘Wish’
‘March of the Pigs’
‘Piggy’
‘The Frail’
‘The Wretched’
‘Heresy’
‘Less Than’
‘Echoplex’
‘Find My Way’
‘Closer’
‘Copy of A’
‘1,000,000’
‘The Good Soldier’
‘Every Day Is Exactly the Same’
‘Burn’
‘The Perfect Drug’
‘The Hand That Feeds’
‘Head Like a Hole’
‘Hurt’

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