Nine Inch Noize – The dream collaboration brings a truly unique EDM show to Coachella
NIN and Boize Noise Team Up for the Best Performance at Coachella so far
Nine Inch Nails, made up of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, have been touring with German EDM producer Boys Noize for a while now. While clips of the team-up have looked impressive, nothing really prepared us for the full cinematic experience that “Nine Inch Noize” brought to the Sahara Tent at Coachella.
With a deliberate stage setup designed to maximise the intensity of the Sahara stage, Reznor delivered a typically industrial performance, centred around a lowered square lighting rig. This was pushed further with choreography from around 20 zombie-like dancers and a light show tightly matched to the remixed rhythms of the collaboration with Boys Noize.
The only performers on stage were Reznor, Ross, Boys Noize (Alexander Ridha), and Mariqueen Maandig — Reznor’s wife and collaborator in How to Destroy Angels. Her addition brought extra layering to the vocals across the set, giving some of the tracks a different feel to their original versions.
Compared to their usual guitar and drum-heavy live shows, this leaned much more into a cinematic EDM experience — closer in style to acts like The Chemical Brothers or Daft Punk — and it genuinely holds up alongside some of the best electronic live shows out there.
To top it off, it looks like these two weekends at Coachella may be the only time this exact lineup and stage show will exist. That alone makes me feel immense envy for those there to witness live.
(And yes, as usual, the crowd looked bored half the time — but that’s Coachella.)
Check out the performance now streaming on the Coachella channel.
Full Setlist
Vessel (with Mariqueen Maandig) (Remix)
She’s Gone Away (with Mariqueen Maandig) (Remix)
Heresy (with Mariqueen Maandig) (Live debut of new remix)
Parasite (How to Destroy Angels cover) (with Mariqueen Maandig) (Remix)
Copy of A (Live debut of new remix)
Me, I’m Not (Remix)
Closer (Remix)
The Warning (Remix)
Memorabilia (Soft Cell cover) (Live debut of new remix)
Came Back Haunted (with Mariqueen Maandig) (Remix)
As Alive as You Need Me to Be
For more check out our full NMM Festival Guide!