21.05.2025 Nine Inch Nails

Graspop Metal Meeting

Dessel (Belgium)

The finale of the third festival day was approaching, and it came with a premiere: for the first time ever, Nine Inch Nails were performing at Graspop. Unfortunately, after Korn’s phenomenal show, the crowd had thinned out noticeably. A shame, really. The two guys from the USA would have deserved a much larger audience. At exactly midnight, the first notes of “Laura Palmer’s Theme” echoed through the speakers, and a stage completely shrouded in fog was slowly illuminated by the first spotlights.
That aesthetic continued into the beginning of the set. Trent Reznor and his bandmate Atticus Ross appeared only as silhouettes, moving through fog that was constantly shifting in color. They were visible mainly through the screens at the sides of the stage, where a crew member roamed with a handheld camera, capturing close‑ups in real time. It was an incredibly striking experience, paired with the outstanding sound Nine Inch Nails, supported by additional live musicians, delivered. The whole thing wasn’t exactly metal. It’s hard to categorize: very electronic, yet always grounded by guitars. The closest label would be electronic alternative rock. Still, the hypnotic show cast a spell over the audience, who followed the visual and sonic artwork on stage in near‑reverent silence. The set was a journey through more than 35 years of band history, though dominated by their 1994 breakthrough album "The Downward Spiral". Reznor sang, screamed, and suffered into the microphone during songs like “Mr. Self Destruct.” At times he picked up a guitar, and the other musicians constantly switched between keyboards and string instruments. The further the show progressed, the more the fog slowly revealed the performers. A cover of David Bowie’s “I’m Afraid of Americans” was another highlight. The music was varied, dark, and deeply immersive, almost intoxicating. That’s why it felt like a pity that the band didn’t even use their full allotted time, ending the set about ten minutes early as the haunting notes of “Hurt” faded into silence.
I had listened to some Nine Inch Nails tracks beforehand, the project that only truly becomes a “band” live, when additional musicians join in. I already liked the songs on streaming, but what they delivered that night was on a completely different level. Yes, the music is unusual, and the artistic performance, similar to Vowws earlier that day, with the “invisible” band hidden in fog and revealed only through the cameraman’s lens, was strange at first. I wasn’t the only one who needed a moment to adjust. But song by song, you were drawn deeper into this bizarre piece of art, pulled in by the spell of the incredibly charismatic frontman, until you suddenly realized you were in a trance, staring at the stage and barely noticing anything around you. As I said, Nine Inch Nails are musically very unique and certainly not for everyone. But with this show, they proved that they are truly among the great, and absolutely deserved to close out such an incredible day.

Setlist:

Laura Palmer’s Theme (Angelo Badalamenti Song)
Somewhat Damaged
Wish
Mr. Self Destruct
March Of The Pigs
Piggy (Tour Debut)
The Lovers
Reptile
Heresy
Less Than
Closer (With „The Only Time“ Interpolation)
Copy Of A
The Perfect Drug
I’m Afraid Of Americans (David Bowie Cover)
Burn (Tour Debut)
Gave Up
The Hand That Feeds
Head Like A Hole
Hurt

Weblinks:

	Nine Inch Nails Homepage of the US American band Nine Inch Nails.
	Graspop Metal Meeting Homepage of the Graspop Metal Meeting Festival at Dessel (Belgium).