Show Review: Nine Inch Nails Conclude 'Peel It Back' North American Tour in Sacramento
Nine Inch Nails
w/ Boyz Noise
Golden 1 Center
Sacramento, CA
March 16th, 2026
Review by Jared Stossel
Not even a minute into the first song of Nine Inch Nails’ tour-concluding set at Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center last night, and it was clear to see why the Trent Reznor-fronted act has endured for so many decades in the mainstream. Industrial rock is not a genre that typically thrives in vast arenas - it brings to mind images of late 90s and early 2000s-era clubs and the cyberpunk aesthetics of what we all believed the future would look like when we were kids. Reznor has made a project that elevates itself far beyond genre tropes, and has been steadily cranking out endearing work since 1989’s Pretty Hate Machine. It takes an artist with that kind of catalog to be able to open an arena show by himself, little to no fanfare, with a piano ballad (“Something I Can Never Have”).
Nine Inch Nails concluded their long-running and critically acclaimed North American ‘Peel It Back’ tour in Northern California, with a tight 90 minute show that found the band turning the Kings’ home court into an industrial rock haven. The band were joined by producer Boys Noize, who opened with a one-hour DJ set and later joined Reznor and co. in the third act of the evening for a series of song remixes. Nine Inch Nails played through a handful of heavy-hitting tracks like “March of the Pigs”, “Reptile”, “Mr. Self Destruct”, and “The Hand That Feeds”, utilizing two different stages (the main stage in the usual spot, and a smaller B-stage in the center of the general admission floor).
The band - Reznor, keyboardist Atticus Ross, guitarist Robin Finck, drummer Josh Freese, and bassist Stu Brooks - powered through song after song and the most use of their stage space. The front of the main stage was covered by a synthetic screen for a majority of the performance, which was then projected with light tricks and trippy visuals. A videographer ran around the stage, getting right into the middle of the action, with the images then projected up onto the screen in an at-times disorienting effect.
Reznor spoke very little, only to thank people for coming out about four songs from the end of the show, to introduce the band, and to clarify that the band’s recent comments that they were “done touring after this” were misconstrued. He made it clear that the band is going to work on new music, and if they can do a show like this again in the future and it feels right, they will come back and tour. There’s just nothing on the calendar for the foreseeable future.
With the brightest lights I think I’ve ever seen used in a concert in recent years, Nine Inch Nails finished the show with a blistering performance of “Head Like A Hole”, complete with Reznor throwing his guitar into the air for the second time in the evening. Bookending the evening was a performance of the emotionally poignant “Hurt”. For the second time that night, just like at the beginning of the show, the arena went dead silent, hanging on every lyric, and only roaring back to life during the chorus.
This was an outstanding show, and it’s evident why some are calling it the best of the year. I will admit that I’ve known very few Nine Inch Nails songs other than the hits and the scoring work that Ross and Atticus have done for films over the last two decades, so it was exciting to receive a crash course in the band’s catalog last night. This is definitely one of the better performances I’ve seen from a rock act in a long time, and it definitely made me want to break into their discography. Seems like I’ve got a lot of catching up to do.
Nine Inch Nails Set List
Act 1: B-Stage
Something I Can Never Have (with snippet of Depeche Mode’s “Stripped”)
Non-Entity
Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)
Act 2: Main Stage
Wish
March of the Pigs
The Frail
Reptile
Find My Way
Copy of A
Gave Up
Act 3: B-Stage With Boys Noize
She’s Gone Away
Closer
Parasite (How To Destroy Angels cover)
As Alive As You Need Me To Be
Act 4: Main Stage
Mr. Self Destruct
Less Than
The Perfect Drug
Burn
The Hand That Feeds
Head Like A Hole
Hurt
