The St. Louis Enterprise Center has a strange way of shrinking a person with its capacious 22,000-seat auditorium, but Trent Reznor, frontman of alternative rock band Nine Inch Nails, stood larger than life as he performed in the beating heart of center stage on Feb. 25.
Despite the band’s harsh and aggressive style, their St. Louis show attracted a diverse crowd of fans. A testament to the band’s broad allure, every age could be found in the audience, even, somewhat controversially, young children with their parents.
Still, everyone shared the anticipation as the stadium lights blinked off to reveal Reznor, alone at a piano on the B-stage, surrounded by the audience on all sides. Reznor, along with Nine Inch Nails bandmate Atticus Ross and accompanying musicians Robin Finck on guitar, Stu Brooks on bass and Josh Freese on drums utilized both the Enterprise Center’s B-stage and its larger main stage to perform a set that included a mix of ‘90s classics and deep cuts from their newest album, “Peel it Back,” for which their on-going tour is named.
While the music itself was expectedly electrifying, what really made the performance unforgettable was the array of stage effects. These included massive translucent curtains that displayed projections such as rain, lasers and live camera footage. This made it impossible to look away as the band swiftly shifted between songs and stages.
Although each song was played with unique passion and energy, a few standout performances included the ‘90s hit “Closer,” which was accompanied by bright red strobe lighting, and “Head Like a Hole,” during which the fog machine and stage lights worked up to overdrive to produce a spectacular wall of lights behind Reznor and the rest of the band.
As the massive crowd slowly filed out of the auditorium, murmurs could be heard praising the performance, which skipped the encore but made sure to take ample time for each performer’s bow.
Although “Peel It Back” is reported to be Nine Inch Nails’ final tour, their unforgettable energy onstage shows the world just how they have maintained their legendary rock reputation for more than three decades.
