Live Review : Nine Inch Nails @ O2 Apollo, Manchester on June 21st 2022

We all have tales about Trent Reznor being difficult. Whether it be playing behind a view-obscuring bank of lights (Leeds Festival 2007), looking bored and massively disinterested (Sonisphere 2009) or failing to acknowledge that there was an audience there at all (Manchester Arena 2014). Well, I am proud to report that tonight our Trent is personable and even bordering on affable. He interacts with the audience numerous times and voluntarily enters into a conversation with vocal members of the front row. He even seems to be, God forbid, actually enjoying himself and revelling in being back on the stage (he hints at as much during a short but heartfelt monologue about the effects of the pandemic). Basically, he seems to have decided not to be difficult on this short UK hop, which inevitably leads to a much more enjoyable evening. Nine Inch Nails have been doing this for over 30 years and are fundamentally incapable of putting on a poor show. However, when Trent is in the mood, as he is tonight, they can be very very special indeed.

The Apollo is rammed, and the audience is a bizarre mix of metalheads, electro musos and curious trendies. By the time, three songs in, they slide into an apocalyptic version of ‘Wish’, the place has become a sauna with condensation dripping off the ceiling. It gets to the point where the use of ice blue lighting feels soothing as it provides even the scarcest memories of what cold feels like. Aside from conjuring reminiscences of snow, the lighting setup is quite stunning. There are enough strobes to inflict multiple epileptic fits and the beams are concise enough to impressively partition up the stage, giving the illusion of Trent having his own private performance area. The staging is so precision engineered and so technically precise that you would expect everything to be rigidly rehearsed with the same set being regurgitated every night. However, that is not the case. This is the fourth show in the short UK run and we get a completely different selection of songs than were offered on the previous evenings.

©Corinne Schiavone

Tonight, in Manchester we get what can almost be described as a greatest hits set. Certainly, there are multiple sing-along (well to be honest scream along) opportunities with the inclusion of ‘Gave Up’, ‘Sin’, ‘Something I Can Never Have’, ‘Only and Head Like a Hole’. ‘Every Day is Exactly’ the Same ends up being hijacked by the audience and as the band fade their version out, the circular closing refrain is picked up by the crowd and sung acapella. It is one of those hair on the back of your neck moments that highlight the communal power of live music. Even Trent himself (the nadir of masculine indifference) seems moved by the moment.

Now, it's not all plain sailing (it wouldn't be Nine Inch Nails if it was). ‘Ahead of Ourselves’ and ‘God Break Down The Door’ from the turgid “Bad Witch” herald a mass exodus to loo’s, bar and anywhere a little cooler. The latter sees the appearance of that dreaded sax. Hats off to our Trent for trying to push the musical envelope, however it ends up coming across as rather conceited and convoluted. It's one of those foot shuffling moments, where everybody stands around slightly embarrassed, content to allow him to be idiosyncratic as the next song is sure to be decent, isn't it? ‘La Mer’, ‘The Frail ‘and ‘The Wretched’ are no one’s definition of floor-filling bangers, but they do elicit a level of recognition. However, it isn’t until the aforementioned ‘Every Day is Exactly the Same’ (via the electro-heavy ‘Me I’m Not’ and ‘Survivalism’) that the mid-set slum rectifies itself and the energy level surges upwards once more.

However, as you would expect the pinnacle of the set is a closing ‘Hurt’. It has become so built into our collective psyches that it is easy to forget what an extraordinary song it actually is. Trent performs the verses in a raspy whisper and in response the auditorium shifts into an aura of reverential hush. There are yells of shut up as devotees try to silence the chattering classes at the back. There is a surge of pure emotion as the track rev’s up and takes flight. We have all heard it a million times before but it still is a gut-punch of a track that causes us to collectively catch our breath. There is an outro of distorted noise as the band exit the stage but that is it. Yes, it sagged in the middle but the highs on either side of that low were so magnificent that they more than adequately outshine any deficiencies. For thirty years Nine Inch Nails have defied expectation and categorisation and tonight showed that they have no intent to stop.