Nine Inch Nails closed out their Peel It Back tour with an otherworldly performance in Sacramento, California last night.
The set began with Trent Reznor performing solo on a secondary stage located in the middle of Golden 1 Center. There, he launched into a hypnotizing rendition of “Something I Can Never Have,” the poignant album cut from 1989’s Pretty Hate Machine. With only Reznor’s voice and a piano, the tune felt stark and vulnerable, while dripping with emotion. It served as a table-setter for what would be a momentous night.
Slowly, Reznor’s bandmates joined him on the secondary stage for performances of “Non-Entity” and “Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now).” A thunderous solo from drummer Josh Freese gave the group enough time to make their way to the main stage, where they rocked through the 1992 classic “Wish.”
Further early highlights included “March of the Pigs,” “Find My Way” and Copy of A.” Smoke and an impressive display of colorful lights shrouded Reznor as he and his bandmates performed. These visuals often felt abstract and alien in nature as they moved around the band, adding further magnetism to the environment.
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Nine Inch Nails briefly returned to the secondary stage for another block of songs, including their recent Grammy-winning single “As Alive As You Need Me to Be” and a revamped version of their famous hit “Closer.”
They returned to the main stage to close things out with an array of classic tracks, including “The Perfect Drug,” “The Hand That Feeds” and “Head Like a Hole.” The final song of the night was NIN’s hauntingly beautiful tune “Hurt,” embraced by an entranced audience who sang along, then burst into applause at its conclusion. Full set list from the show can be found below.
Trent Reznor Addresses Nine Inch Nails’ Future Touring
Nine Inch Nails’ Peel It Back tour began in September 2025 and ran for a total of 63 performances. During a Feb 27 stop in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Reznor inferred the band would be stepping away from the road at the conclusion of the tour.
“I don’t know if we’re gonna be touring anymore after this, but I’m proud of the show that we’re doing right now,” the frontman declared at the time.
During the late stages of last night’s tour finale in Sacramento, Reznor elaborated on Nine Inch Nails’ future.
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“As some of you may know, this is the last show of the tour,” the rocker began as he addressed the crowd. “And to be clear, I think I said something the other day that then got misconstrued into something that is not intentionally necessarily true. What I said was, this is the last show of this tour, and we don’t have any shows booked, and we don’t have any plans to book any shows any time in the future so far. That doesn’t mean we may not tour again.”
“We may tour again,” he continued. “It won’t be next month, it won’t be this year. I never said we were intentionally stopping, and I never meant that. But, to be truthful, we didn’t tour for a while before this tour because, frankly, I didn’t know if we could do it well, and if it still mattered, and if really feel like we had something to say. And the combination of this band, and this crew, and a lot of hard work, and we put on a show that I’m really f—ing proud of. I thank you for coming and attending. I appreciate it. It makes us all feel like we have a f—ing purpose.”
Looking ahead, Reznor made it clear NIN won’t be slowing down, regardless of whether or not they tour.
“What we’re going to do is work on some new music, and make some new s—,” he announced. “And if we feel inspired, and if we feel we can beat this [show], we’ll see you again. And I hope to see you again, and I hope you come see us if we do.”
Though their Peel It Back tour has come to a close, Nine Inch Nails is still scheduled to appear at both weekends of the Coachella festival next month. They’ll be joining with German electronic artist Boys Noize – who served as opener throughout the Peel It Back tour – to perform under the moniker Nine Inch Noize. Though the artists previously joined forces on material for the soundtracks to Challengers and TRON: Ares, little is known about what their collaborative sets will entail.
Nine Inch Nails, March 16, 2026 Sacramento Set List
1. “Something I Can Never Have”
2. “Non-Entity”
3. “Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)”
4. “Wish”
5. “March of the Pigs”
6. “The Frail”
7. “Reptile”
8. “Find My Way”
9. “Copy of A”
10. “Gave Up”
11. “She’s Gone Away”
12. “Closer”
13. “Parasite”
14. “As Alive as You Need Me to Be”
15. “Mr. Self Destruct”
16. “Less Than”
17. “The Perfect Drug”
18. “Burn”
19. “The Hand That Feeds”
20. “Head Like a Hole”
21. “Hurt”
Nine Inch Nails Albums Ranked
Industrial rock powerhouse helped change the alternative landscape in the ’90s and has continued to move forward ever since.
Gallery Credit: Michael Gallucci
