The first NIN show I was at was the FTDS tour in 1994. It was the tour the Hurt video was recorded at. Before that midsection set the last song before the curtain came down was Happiness in Slavery and it was chaos. The stage was littered in keyboard keys. They smashed everything on stage and then Trent would walk off stage and grab more things just to destroy them without even playing them. Between everything I could see being destroyed and a curtain coming down (for the film), I thought the show was over. What did they have left to play on? All I was thinking was “that was great but way too short” It was also one of the first concerts I was ever at and the very first arena show and I couldn’t enjoy other concerts for a while until I eventually convinced myself the other bands aren’t boring, Trent is just insane
3:04 is my favourite clip of all the NIN destruction/madness video clips in existence. I recall that I was crying with laughter for around 20 minutes straight when I first saw that clip back in the day. Trent dive bombing Robin then simultaneously taking both Danny and a keyboard out before smashing into the ground in the most hilarious way possible. God I freaking love this band so much ;)
It never gets any less painful to watch this 😂. I remember watching their Woodstock performance live on TV in ‘94 I think and thinking “that’s surely not a DX7 he’s just killed on stage? Gotta be a crappy Casiotone, right?” Oh dear, was I in for a shock when I first saw this video years ago 😂😭😭
The band rehearsed this and were all in it (it got out of hand at times such as when Reznor threw a Mic stand at Chris Verenna and split his head open) and the technicians got paid mad amounts of money and in equipment and fame. Billy Howerdel first real taste of being a Rockstar was thanks to Reznor knocking himself out and being too rattled to play guitar so Howerdel got his shot on the big stage
They canceled a few shows on the further down the spiral tour due to injuries (the one to Chris Vrenna’s head mentioned in this video and Robin getting the tip of his finger sliced off at another one). In fact Ruiner disappeared from the Setlist halfway through that tour because Robin couldn’t play the solo while his finger was still healing
I feel like im watch a Hanatarash Concert, only im not in any danger from the lead act (........possibly) Also, i feel both horrible and also jealous of the guy who ends up having to repair that keyboard (or any of their instruments)
WARNING: These are some very worst moments for Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor who destroyed his Yamaha DX7 keyboard. So please don't ever imitate what he did!!!
Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of NIN (including the Downward Spiral era). But in those shots where Trent is stomping around destroying everything, he looks to me less like an edgy dark lord and more like a big toddler having a massive tantrum. I almost want a grown up to come on stage, grab him by the arm and say 'oi - you are fucking gonna clean this mess up now, you little brat!' Maybe you had to be there to feel the intended effect.
