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Painted effect of Trent Reznor photo
Peel It Back

Peel It Back

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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.

Framed poster for Nine Inch Nails at Moda Center in Portland August 8, 2025

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

Pretty Hate Machine Header
Desert Island Stitch: Pretty Hate Machine

Desert Island Stitch: Pretty Hate Machine

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Nine Inch Nails is one of the few bands that has followed me through life. As a band, they continue to evolve and change [there is even a second full time member now]. There are quite a few album options that speak so clearly to parts of my life. Whether it’s the “Broken” EP that helped me get through the struggle of coming out, or the concept album “Year Zero” which was so pointedly critical of the Bush administration [I’m waiting for a redux called “Sub-Zero” as a commentary on our current administration].

Pretty Hate Machine Cross Stitch

I finally settled on “Pretty Hate Machine” for the fourth in the Desert Island Stitch series. It was one of those albums that dug itself into my soul the very first listen. Of course I went with the original CD cover design rather than the 2010 remaster. I think Rob Sheridan did a great job rebuilding the image, as Gary Talpas’ original design files were lost, but I love that hot pink in the original.

Pretty Hate Machine Cross Stitch

The cover image appears to have been run through some heavy processing, and the color saturation adds a strange effect similar to low-end video equipment capturing a hot light. The challenge here was how to interpret that digital feel on something so completely analog… aka: thread.

Nine Inch Nails Pretty Hate Machine

I’m super pleased with the final result, even if Trent wanted to get rid of the pink. Let me know what you think in the comments below!