Nine Inch Noize rave set
Nine Inch Noize turned an industrial-rock template into a “ghoulish rave” on the Sahara stage, stripping out guitars in favor of clubby techno and jagged synth noise during their April 11 set. Critics described the performance as an electronic-forward mutation of industrial rock that foregrounded dance textures over traditional rock instrumentation. (latimes.com) (nationaltoday.com)
Nine Inch Noize used a 45-minute Coachella set on April 11 to recast Nine Inch Nails songs as a Sahara-stage dance show. (coachella.com) (nme.com) The group is Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of Nine Inch Nails with producer Boys Noize, and Coachella placed them on the Sahara stage in Indio, California, at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday of Weekend 1. (consequence.net) (setlist.fm) Their Coachella performance was billed as the project’s debut show, and the setlist ran 11 songs built mostly from remixed Nine Inch Nails material. Mariqueen Maandig joined onstage, and the band also played “Parasite” from How to Destroy Angels and a remix of Soft Cell’s “Memorabilia.” (setlist.fm) (brooklynvegan.com) Industrial rock has long mixed machine-made sounds with rock structure, but this set pushed the balance toward techno rhythms, DJ gear and synth noise instead of guitar-led arrangements. Reviewers described reworked versions of “Closer,” “Copy of A” and “Me, I’m Not” as beat-driven and club-oriented. (nme.com) (consequence.net) The staging matched that shift. NME reported a tunnel cut through a mountain-like set with a dozen dancers, while Consequence described performers crawling and swarming the stage around Reznor during “Closer.” (nme.com) (consequence.net) The Coachella slot also worked as an album preview. NME reported that Nine Inch Noize’s first full-length record is due April 17 and carries the catalog tag “HALO 38,” extending Nine Inch Nails’ long-running numbered release system. (nme.com) The project did not appear out of nowhere. Boys Noize had already worked with Reznor and Ross on a reimagining of their “Challengers” score in 2024, and NME reported that the collaboration continued on the “TRON: Ares” soundtrack and on the “Peel It Back Tour.” (nme.com) (nin.wiki) Coachella’s own livestream page said all seven stages streamed on YouTube for April 10-12 and April 17-19, which widened the audience for a side project that might otherwise have stayed a festival-curiosity set. The festival schedule also shows Nine Inch Noize returning for Weekend 2 on April 18. (coachella.com 1) (coachella.com 2) For one night in the desert, Reznor’s catalog stopped behaving like a rock show and started moving like a warehouse set. The songs stayed recognizable, but the frame around them changed. (consequence.net) (brooklynvegan.com)
