Tag: Nine Inch Nails Chicago 2025

Top 25 concerts of 2025: #’s 5 – 1

I saw over 50 bands last year, so these five had to bring it to make the top of the list.

#5: Osees – Old National Center – October 22, 2025 – Indianapolis, IN

I’m not sure it would be proper for me to not see Osees at least once a year by this point (or The Black Angels, for that matter). This show was in a small ballroom in the basement of the Old National Center that didn’t have much airflow but did have rock-sold pillars at the four corners of the dance floor / mosh pit. It was a sweaty, loud affair, which is just what you want for an Osees show. They hadn’t played in Indianapolis in a few years, so the crowd was eager to see them — and many hadn’t seen them until that night. They were either shocked or delighted by the end.

#4: King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra – August 09, 2025 – Ravinia – Highland Park, IL

I almost didn’t include this show by King Gizzard (another band I seem to catch every year) because our seats were too far back to see the actual stage. However, this show teaming KGATLW up with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra was too neat of a show to pass up and, what put it into the top five, they sounded great. No joke, this is probably the best sound engineering I’ve experienced at a KGATLW show, and I’ve seen many (and all of them are recorded and released by their highly skilled sound crew). I’d never heard them so clear in a live setting.

#3: TV on the Radio – September 27, 2025 – Levitation Austin – Austin, TX

I wasn’t sure I’d ever get to see TVOTR live, so I was bouncing when my suspicions were confirmed and they were booked for Levitation Austin. The show was everything I’d hoped for — high energy, great sound, and powerful messages. It felt like a blessing to see them after so many years without a tour.

#2: Nine Inch Nails – August 20, 2025 – United Center – Chicago, IL

Here’s a show I almost didn’t attend because the first night at Chicago’s United Center sold out so fast that I couldn’t get tickets. Luckily, Trent Reznor and his pals decided to book another show the following night and I scored tickets for that. The set included three different stages, great new versions of classic tracks, new tunes, and NIN looking and sounding like they’d never taken a break to make Oscar-winning film music.

#1: Underworld – May 17, 2025 – Radius – Chicago, IL

Here’s the other band I wasn’t sure I’d ever get to see live. They don’t make many trips to the U.S., and the closest they’d come in recent years was Detroit (four hours from where I live). Seeing them in a relatively small venue half the distance away was an immediate priority, and then I learned they were playing two sets with no opening act. It was a stunning performance that had everyone jumping for hours with only a short intermission and left everyone floating by the end.

Who do you want to see this year? I’m already looking forward to catching The Hives, Dry Cleaning, LCD Soundsystem, Gary Numan, Failure, Shame, Alison Krauss, and (of course) Osees, not to mention a return to Levitation Austin. Levitation France is taking a hiatus this year, so perhaps Austin Psych Fest will take its place?

Keep your mind open.

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Live: Nine Inch Nails – United Center – Chicago, IL – August 20, 2025

There was a moment during Nine Inch Nails‘ set when frontman / founder Trent Reznor said, “We were talking about a year ago about touring, and we thought, ‘Does anybody even still care?'”

Judging by the two sold-out shows at Chicago’s United Center and the enthusiastic response of the entire crowd to his question and whole show, the answer was a resounding “Yes.”

Opening the show was a full-hour set by Germany’s own Boys Noize – a DJ and producer in his own right, who played a small stage and blasted the arena with industrial riffs, techno blasts, and even a remix of NIN’s “Down in It.” Mr. Noize would later join NIN on a second stage (of three) for a powerful remix set of NIN classics.

Boys Noize on Stage C.

NIN immediately started (almost on perfect beat) as soon as Boys Noize’s set ended. The curtain went up on a larger middle stage set up with synths, keyboards, DAWs, and who know what else on platforms that could sink below the stage to give the audience behind it a better view of the third, main stage at the other end from the small stage at the back of the place.

NIN on Stage B.

The set started with a piano version of “Right Where It Belongs” with Reznor playing and singing solo as his pals slowly joined him for similar, low key versions of “Ruiner” and “The Fragile.” Reznor’s drummer, Josh Freese no less, then kicked in the heavy beats of “Eraser” and continued to do so all night, putting on a show behind the kit. The band ran to Stage A and then blasted out rippers like “March of the Pigs” and “Reptile” before settling down a little bit with “Copy of A” and “Gave Up.”

Josh Freese going nuts.
Stage A!

After that, it was back to Stage B where Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Boys Noize flattened us with great “rave remixes” of “Closer,” “As Alive As You Need Me to Be,” and “Sin” — which was especially good, leaving my girlfriend’s daughter and I wide-eyed and agreeing NIN needs to release that remix now.

It was back to Stage A for the closing set, which included an ear-blasting version of “1,000,000,” “Every Day Is Exactly the Same,” “The Perfect Drug” (a nice surprise), and “Burn.” They closed, of course, with “Head Like a Hole” and “Hurt,” leaving all of us wanting more.

From what I’ve gathered, this is NIN’s first tour in almost twenty years. There’s no guarantee they’ll do another, as Reznor and Ross have (A) plenty of money and (B) plenty of movie scoring opportunities to keep them set for life. Don’t skip this tour if you can get there.

Keep your mind open.

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