On February 14th, 1895, the city of New Orleans experienced a record snow fall of 8 inches. That record held until January 21th, 2025 when a storm covered the city with 8-10 inches of snow.
It was pretty wild to actually experience such a unique moment. The entire city was quieted as it was slowly blanketed. Most homes are not really built for cold environments, and there were definitely concerns about whether an electrical grid that seems to be held together by duct tape and prayers would hold as everyone cranked up the heat.
When the clouds eventually parted, and the brightness of the blue skies bounced off the snow on the neutral ground, it felt like we had been transported overnight. The city was beautiful in a way that is not often seen.
And after a week, it was all gone. Which was fine with me, because all of our coats and jackets were not really designed for that kind of cold.
I’ve been lucky enough to have seen Nine Inch Nails live a few times over the years, with each subsequent show being better than the previous. The last time I saw them live was at The Voodoo Music + Arts Experience in 2008. So it’s been a minute. When they announced the shows for the “Peel It Back” tour this year, I jumped on the tickets.
Picture it. August 8th. Portland Oregon
The show was nothing short of amazing, taking place between a main stage and a smaller “B” stage. We had positioned ourselves in front of the smaller stage, which treated us to great performances of smaller intimate numbers of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross at a piano then wickedly fun reinterpretations of songs with the addition of Boys Noize [Alexander Ridha]. Not to mention the insane drumming of Josh Freese on “The Perfect Drug.
To celebrate such an awesome show, I remixed a couple of photos I took to design my own concert poster. I captured two images between a flash of white and the moodier red/pink stage lights and loved the juxtaposition of the two as a struggle between light and dark.
I felt it was too easy to exemplify the graphic style of the merch designs, and wanted to create something that was my own. I loved the idea that the image could be flipped either way, with the “NIN” logo dead center.
Here is the complete set list for August 8, 2025 at Moda Center: B-Stage A Minute to Breathe [Before The Flood Soundtrack] Ruiner [partially acoustic version] Piggy
Main Stage Wish March of the Pigs Reptile Heres Copy of A Gave Up
B-Stage [with Boys Noize] She’s Gone Away [remix with “Girl Crush” by Boys Noize and “Vessel” intro] As Alive as You Need Me to Be Sin [remix with “Cerebral” by Boys Noize] Came Back Haunted
Main Stage 1,000,000 Less Than Closer (with sample of “The Only Time”) I’m Afraid of Americans (David Bowie cover) The Perfect Drug Head Like a Hole Hurt
