Here is this week's Luminate Data Market Watch report which features Canadian music stats for the current week and YTD with comparisons to last year. This chart is published every Tuesday. The abbreviation "TEA" is a term used to describe the sale of music downloads or singles. A track equivalent album is equal to 10 tracks, or 10 songs.
NIN’s last studio album, Ghosts VI: Locusts, came out in 2020, so this tour isn’t about promoting new music. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have been kept busy with their film score work, including two Oscar wins for best original score (The Social Network and Soul), and the recent chart-topping Tron: Ares soundtrack.
Instead, the tour provides an opportunity for them to deliver audience favourites and a few deep cuts from the extensive Nine Inch Nails catalogue dating back to 1989’s debut and that has sold over 20 million albums worldwide. Dominating the set list with five entries was the band’s 1994 classic,The Downward Spiral.
The Hamilton show reaffirmed the strength of their music while showcasing a dynamic band that remains at the top of its game as a concert act. This gig served as a masterclass in crowd-pleasing stagecraft as the band seamlessly switched between two different stages while rotating personnel and instrumentation and serving up neatly choreographed projected visuals and oft-dazzling lighting.
Trent Reznor performing live with Nine Inch Nails in 2025.Courtesy Photo
Priming the crowd for the headliner, noted DJ/producer Boys Noize set up on a third smaller platform in the arena, delivering danceable beats for exactly an hour before the spotlight switched directly to a stage erected in the middle of the crowd on the floor. There, frontman Reznor was seated at a piano, delivering a mellow version of “(You Made It Feel Like) Home” from Luca Guadagnino's 2023 film Bones and All — the calm before the sonic storm.
His bandmates slowly joined him and the pace picked up, with a punk energy arriving when, after the three opening songs, the action moved to the main stage. From there, the 100-minute set took many musical twists and turns, confirming Nine Inch Nails’ stylistic versatility. Though deservedly considered pioneers in the industrial rock genre, they are so much more, and their musical eclecticism has helped keep their sound fresh.
There were punk, stoner rock and EDM elements, alongside the heavy beats, propulsive percussion and intense vocals of their industrial-based sonic assaults.
With the exception of a fiery drum solo from Josh Freese (rejoining the band after a stint in Foo Fighters), the crowd’s attention was firmly fixed upon Reznor. The energetic frontman played both keyboards and guitar, in between prowling the stage, exhorting the crowd to clap along and serving up his oft dark or angst-filled odes to lust, sin and addiction.
Refreshingly, Reznor doesn’t pander to the audience with banal between-song banter (no ‘how ya doing, Hamilton?’ schtick). He uttered just a couple of ‘thank you’s during the set until he introduced the ace band near the end, adding “we love your country.”
A second segment on the smaller B-stage focused upon industrial meets EDM cuts and featuring Boys Noize included NIN classic ”Closer” (featuring the tender lines "I want to f— you like an animal”). The final act back on the main stage was heavily loaded with such classic and crowd singalong favourites as “Perfect Drug,” “The Hand That Feeds” and “Head Like A Hole.”
The choice of encore was absolutely no surprise. Thanks in part to the riveting and haunting cover by Johnny Cash, “Hurt” remains the one Nine Inch Nails song widely known outside their loyal fan base and Reznor and company did it proud here. With nary a hint of going through the motions, they delivered a compelling rendition that guaranteed the crowd that then headed for the exits left with satisfied smiles and memories of one fine show that will linger.
It may have been a taste of more to come. Reznor has teased that new Nine Inch Nails music may be on the way soon, and that he's prioritizing the band over everything else.
TD Coliseum, the Hamilton arena formerly known as Copps Coliseum and FirstOntario Centre, has only been open four months since its $300M rejuvenation and it is already making a serious mark on the region’s music scene. The music-first venue is designed for big-stage acoustics and staging, and the sound and lighting for Nine Inch Nails were top-notch. It was interesting to see many Americans in the crowd, lured by their stronger dollar and the conveniently closer proximity to the border than Toronto.
The venue will soon announce itself to the wider Canadian music industry by hosting the Juno Awards on March 29.
