Austin City Limits presents an epic hour with Nine Inch Nails. The special broadcast airs as a preview of our upcoming milestone 40th Anniversary Season. NIN’s arena-worthy ACL debut showcases ten songs, and will encore during the program’s Season 40, launching in the fall of 2014.
“We’ve waited a long time to do anything like this,” says Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor from the ACL stage. This rare hour of television with the legendary industrial rock band offers a fascinating look at their artistry in a flawless performance filled with unparalleled intensity. NIN’s Reznor and the seven-piece band—Alessandro Cortini, Josh Eustis, Robin Finck, Lisa Fischer, Sharlotte Gibson, Pino Palladino and Ilan Rubin—deliver an electrifying set that is a masterpiece of tension and release. Opening with the sultry “All Time Low” from the critically-acclaimed Hesitation Marks, their first album in five years, the band perform tracks from the recent release as well as earlier works, including 1999’s The Fragile. NIN segue into a revamped version of “Sanctified” from the 1989 debut Pretty Hate Machine, with the vocal duo of Fischer and Gibson adding soaring depth and texture to the pummeling rhythms throughout the riveting hourlong debut. The cathartic performance comes to a close with a redemptive take on the NIN classic “Hurt”, with Reznor gripping the microphone while howling the confessional lyrics as the Austin audience begs for more.
“We never thought we’d see the day when Nine Inch Nails would set foot on the ACL stage,” says Executive Producer Terry Lickona. “I mean, they never did television for 25 years! I came away from this show having the greatest respect for Trent Reznor. He’s one of the most focused, intense and creative artists I’ve ever worked with.”