Coachella 2026: Nine Inch Noize Revamps Industrial Rock For A Ghoulish Rave

Trent Reznor mightiness ne'er flight those ghouls.

No 1 rather knew what to expect from Saturday’s re-vamped collaboration betwixt seasoned business rockers Nine Inch Nails and their caller tourmate, nan German electro shaper Boys Noize. Billed present arsenic Nine Inch Noize, nan pairing had acquisition connected stages together, teaming up for nan nightly mediate 3rd of Nails’ caller Peel It Back tour. That conception of nan show mostly stripped retired nan guitars to attraction connected clubby techno and nasty slashes of synth noise. What would it look for illustration arsenic a full Sahara Tent set, though?

INDIO, CA, APRIL 11, 2026: Nine Inch Noize performs astatine nan Sahara shape during nan Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival astatine nan Empire Polo Club successful Indio connected Saturday, April 11, 2026. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

A beautiful evil and bonzer group portion showing what nan Sahara allows an enactment that really wants to usage it.

Performing successful a cutout successful nan mediate of a immense elevated ramp, Reznor, his Nails bandmate Atticus Ross and Boys Noize hovered atop a dense rack of synths and samplers. They built connected nan ethos of their arena show, stripping nan NIN catalog for illustration “Closer,” “Heresy,” “The Warning” and “Copy of A” for parts, rebuilding them for this strobe-licked nine setting.

One astonishment for Coachella fans driving retired was a advertisement announcing Nine Inch Noize had a full medium of collaborative worldly en route, and nan segments they played present revealed really important Boys Noize is to this caller setup. His bone-snapping breakdowns and vicious, detuned clangs wouldn’t beryllium imaginable without Reznor’s ‘90s business vision, but present he returned nan favour to guarantee this combo translated connected a dedicated rave stage.

The Sahara is Coachella’s accustomed location for K-pop, hip-hop and EDM. But here, it yet recovered an enactment that afloat availed themselves of space. Just look astatine what crawled up that ramp aft them.

INDIO, CA, APRIL 11, 2026: Nine Inch Noize performs astatine nan Sahara shape during nan Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival astatine nan Empire Polo Club successful Indio connected Saturday, April 11, 2026. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

A twelve aliases truthful dancers—well, dancing is an elegant connection for what these muck-spackled, eye-blacked creatures were doing up there. Writhing successful statement astir nan band, clawing astatine them, occasionally slipping down nan ramp successful clip for illustration they were each descending to hell. It looked for illustration Nine Inch Noize were playing for nan cave goblins successful “The Descent,” but still benignant of sexy?

Reznor’s woman and How To Destroy Angels bandmate, Mariqueen Maandig Reznor, besides joined nan trio for immoderate prime vocal harmonies, and they looked they were having an absolute blast together. How overmuch nosy must it beryllium to guidelines adjacent to your woman onstage screaming “GOD IS DEAD AND NO ONE CARES” while a bunch of wretched fiends rotation astir astatine your feet?

INDIO, CA, APRIL 11, 2026: Nine Inch Noize performs astatine nan Sahara shape during nan Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival astatine nan Empire Polo Club successful Indio connected Saturday, April 11, 2026. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

A halfway rule of NIN is that nan set is malleable. Members travel and go, styles germinate pinch nan times and devices available, but wherever Reznor and Ross are gathered successful nan sanction of elegant brutality, nan set tin travel anywhere. Who knows if Nine Inch Nails will enactment connected circuit for overmuch longer, fixed nan duo’s robust film-score career. Part of maine wants this Nine Inch Noize group to participate Coachella lore and beryllium a one-and-done occasion.

But if you’ve put decades into watching this band, you merit to spot what this incarnation tin wrench and writhe into.