Pop Break Live: Nine Inch Nails ‘Peal it Back’ Tour 2025 at The Toyota Center in Houston, Texas on September 12, 2025
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Words + Photos by Amanda Rivas
Before giving my first written concert review, I am a long-time Nine Inch Nails (NIN) fan and have been since fifth grade. When I first heard The Downward Spiral, I was captivated and have listened to every album and EP, including Trent Reznor’s side projects. Having attended six NIN tours, I knew I had to be there when this latest tour was announced.
The Peel It Back Tour began on June 15, 2025, in Dublin, Ireland and ended in Los Angeles, CA on September 19, 2025. Boys Noize, the electronic music record producer, songwriter, and DJ named one of the “Top 10 DJs Who Rule The World,” by Rolling Stone magazine, was the supporting act for all tour dates.
NIN is known for their elaborate tour production and this time was no different. This show, which took place at Houston’s Toyota Center, featured two stages — the main stage with a giant screen, and an elevated square shaped B-stage where all four sides were surrounded by those in General Admission.
Boys Noize opened the show, playing an hour of NIN-inspired industrial EDM tracks, at a small DJ booth in front of the middle section of the first row. This performance felt a bit one-dimensional as the overall place and tone did not change nor was there a wide range of songs — which was disappointing given the accolades heaped upon him. While this did not work for me, a good portion of the crowd was into the performance and the overall feeling was small, fun EDM crowd energy.
Nine Inch Nails opened with an acoustic performance of “Right Where It Belongs,” on the smaller B-stage. This gave an intimate, personal feel and then things picked up with an electric performance of “Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now).” Trent ran back to the main stage and performed “Wish,” “Reptile,” “March of the Pigs,” and several others across his extensive discography.
Caution to anyone who has issues with flashing lights: the lighting for the entire main stage portion of the show is incredibly bright and can be almost too overwhelming, especially if you have never attended a NIN show before. The band rotated between both stages for the duration of the set and Boys Noize joined for “As Alive As You Need Me To Be.” The entire show involved a single camera man filming the band at various angles with the video projected on large screens throughout the night. This gave a simple, clean, artistic, presentation that fits Trent’s need for perfection down to a T.
Josh Freese, returning to NIN, also received his well-deserved flowers throughout the night, aweing the audience with his drumming skills. Overall, this tour was one of the best NIN shows I attended. Production quality, set list, connection with the audience, and the crowd energy were incredible and you can absolutely count on me being at the next tour.
Setlist via Setlist.fm
B-Stage:
Right Where It Belongs (acoustic piano version; with “Somewhat Damaged” outro snippet)
Ruiner (partially acoustic version)
Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)
Main Stage (Unpeeled)
Wish (with Josh Freese drum intro)
March of the Pigs
Reptile
Heresy
Copy of A
Gave Up
B-Stage with Boys Noize
Vessel
Play Video
As Alive as You Need Me to Be
Sin
Main Stage (Peeled)
Mr. Self Destruct
Less Than
The Perfect Drug
I’m Afraid of Americans (David Bowie cover)
The Hand That Feeds
Head Like a Hole
Hurt
