So it was suppose to be a boring break during the break between the Europe and North American legs of the Peel It Back tour, but the week before saw a pretty big personnel change. Then-current drummer Ilan Rubin was announced as The Foo Fighters' new drummer, replacing Josh Freese who had been let go from the band earlier this year. At the same time, it was announced that Josh Freese had returned to drum for NIN after he had drummed for them betwen 2005-08 (Interesting enough he was replaced by Ilan who been the drummer for NIN since 2009). It appears that Ilan told Trent that he had accepted the job with the Foos only for Trent to let him go and go back to Josh. This is about a week before the North American leg of the tour begin, by the way. A one for one drummer trade between The Foo Fighters and Nine Inch Nails. For me personally, it was great news, because Josh Freese has always been my favourite NIN drummer. As someone who likes to listen to live recordings of NIN shows, I've been skipping listening to shows with Ilan because Josh's drumming is that much better to me. No slight against Ilan, he's a great drummer and musician, but Josh is just the definitive NIN drummer for me.
Moda Center, Portland, Oregon - Aug. 8, 2025
B Stage:
1. A Minute to Breathe - they've either been playing this or Right Where It Belongs as opener and I was glad to get it at least once this tour
2. Ruiner
3. Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)
Main Stage:
4. Wish - This might be my favourite song that Josh drums on, the energy, the precision, and the double bass at the end of the song is just eargasmic
5. March of the Pigs
6. Reptile
7. Heresy - They played this at the Paris show, but during the 2nd part of the main stage set and featured unique visuals from that show
8. Copy of a
9. Gave Up
B Stage:
10. She's Gone Away - always great to hear songs I've never experienced live before, this new interpretation of the song has been growing on me
11. As Alive as You Need Me to Be - another live debut for me, and one I keep going back to. As the latest single from the upcoming Tron: Ares film, I found the song to be fine. It's catchy and easy to listen to, but not among NIN's all time great songs. But wow, live, this is an incredible experience
12. Sin
13. Came Back Haunted
Main Stage:
14. 1,000,000
15. Less Than
16. Closer
17. I'm Afraid of Americans
18. The Perfect Drug - Josh's drum solo is just *chef's kiss*
19. Head Like a Hole
20. Hurt
I have to say, I've seen multiple shows in the Portland area and the crowds have been fine if not a little laid back compared to other shows I've seen in other cities. However, this crowd was just on fire, singing along, headbanging and dancing to every thing and cheering loudly and proudly. Best crowd of the 4 shows I saw on this tour.
On my plane to Vancouver from Portland, I met a handful of other fans who like me, had been at the Portland show and were flying to Vancouver to see that show too. I had a good chat with a nice guy named Sharif, we raved about Josh Freese being back in the band as he's our favourite NIN drummer and one of our favourite drummers period. While this was my last show of this tour, he has the pleasure of going to 12 shows this tour. I've been to 22 shows overall, but he's got more than double with 50+ so I've got a lot of catching up to do. Nine Inch Nails travel well and it's always nice meeting other fans and talking about shows. NIN's music has a reputation for being dark, aggressive, sexual, depressing, etc. and that reputation extends to it's fans, and it can be true to an extent, but it's great to meet other "normal" people.
Rogers Arena, Vancouver, BC - Aug. 10, 2025
B Stage:
1. Right Where It Belongs
2. Ruiner
3. Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)
Main Stage:
4. Wish
5. March of the Pigs
6. Reptile
7. The Lovers
8. Copy of a
9. Gave Up
B Stage:
10. Vessel
11. The Warning
12. As Alive as You Need Me to Be
13. Came Back Haunted
Main Stage:
14. Somewhat Damaged - I has missed this at all 3 previous shows I was at, and was glad to finally hear it at this show, a personal favourite of mine
15. Less Than
16. Closer
17. The Perfect Drug
18. I'm Afraid of Americans - before this song Trent said that he had been in Vancouver in recent months because of Tron: Ares which was filming here and mentioned he likes it here so much he might move here! We'd love to have you!
19. The Hand That Feeds
20. Head Like a Hole
21. Hurt
Interestingly enough, perusing the setlists for other shows on this tour, and this was the first and only 21 song setlist of the tour (so far, at least). Every other show has been 20 songs or less. At both shows, during the band introductions, Josh got a lot of love from the crowd, which was great to see.
It'll be interesting to see if there will be another leg of this tour. Sales and reviews have been great, and getting Josh back just to do one leg of a tour seems wasteful. I would not be surprised if there was another leg sometime next year, and I would like to see a few shows. Bring it on, please!
Pretty trivial but I noticed that date wise, I was at the 7/7 and 8/8 shows after being at the 9/9 show in 2022.
