Here’s what went down when Nine Inch Nails brought their huge ‘Peel It Back’ tour to London

Nine Inch Nails brought their ‘Peel It Back’ tour to London last night (June 18), and delivered a stacked setlist of huge hits and rarities. Check out footage and the setlist below.

• READ MORE: Nine Inch Nails – ‘Ghosts: V-VI’ review: a timely two-part dip into daydreams and nightmares

The gig was held at The O2, and marked the third and final of the UK and Ireland dates lined up for their massive ‘Peel It Back’ tour – their first since 2022. Following on from shows in Dublin and Manchester over the past few days, the London show saw frontman Trent Reznor and co. perform the 20-song set across two stages.

This started at the smaller ‘B-stage’, which was located in the middle of the crowd, and began with a sombre rendition of 2005 song ‘Right Where It Belongs’ – which the frontman performed solo, sat by the piano and only illuminated by a soft, yellow light. From there, the band joined him as he progressed into ‘Ruiner’, and things amped up as they completed the first of the four-act show with classic track ‘Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)’.

The second act saw them head to the main stage, and break out ‘Wish’, ‘March Of The Pigs’ and ‘Reptile’ – although the latter was mainly sung by Robin Finck due to problems with Reznor’s microphone. Other highlights included the tour debut of ‘The Lovers’, as well as blistering renditions of ‘Copy Of A’ and ‘Gave Up’.

As seen with previous shows in Dublin and Manchester, act three saw them head back to the B-stage and put a electronic spin on three of their songs alongside opening act and longtime collaborator Boys Noize. ‘Came Back Haunted’ made the setlist again, while new additions for London included the first performance of ‘The Warning’ since 2014, and the tour debut of ‘With Teeth’ song ‘Only’.

Back on the main stage for the final act, NIN dropped intense, visually immersive performances of ‘Mr. Self Destruct’, ‘Heresy’, ‘Less Than’, and introduced their massive hit ‘Closer’ back into the setlist, before technical issues interrupted their cover of David Bowie’s ‘I’m Afraid Of Americans’.

These issues would lead to the band taking short breaks, with Reznor joking that he wasn’t responsible for the microphone issues, and that he only had the ability to “stall” for about “30 seconds”. The performance of ‘The Perfect Drug’ went ahead without issues, although they arose again in penultimate track ‘Head Like A Hole’ – leading to the frontman throwing his guitar into the air and letting it smash on the floor.

The band introduced a more emotive feel to close out the set, returning to the same soft lighting they had at the beginning of the gig and delivering a stirring rendition of their classic track ‘Hurt’.

Check out the full setlist below, along with more footage from the night.

Nine Inch Nails at the O2, well worth the wait. Great to get to hear them play Wish too. pic.twitter.com/pqsprSRaZB

— IanSuffolk (@theisuffolk) June 19, 2025

Nine Inch Nails at the 02. Incredible -astonishing vocals and visuals pic.twitter.com/hdW0NVMhyx

— Naomi (@khaleesi_101) June 18, 2025

wow, nine inch nails were off the scale tonight, despite a few tech issues, during which pause Trent introduced the band, “well that filled 30 seconds”. thank you so much to Atticus, Robin, Alessandro and Ilan and especially to Mr Trent Reznor, you blew me away again guys pic.twitter.com/POzSsqO6Jc

— Jude obscura (@crowsunflower) June 19, 2025

Nine Inch Nails’ London setlist was:

Act One (B-Stage)
‘Right Where It Belongs’
‘Ruiner’
‘Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)’

Act Two (Unpeeled Main Stage)
‘Wish’
‘March of the Pigs’
‘Reptile’
‘The Lovers’ (tour debut)
‘Copy of A’
‘Gave Up’

Act Three (B-Stage with Boys Noize)
‘The Warning’  (first performance since 2014)
‘Only’ (tour debut)
‘Came Back Haunted’ 

Act Four (Peeled Main Stage)
‘Mr. Self Destruct’
‘Heresy’
‘Less Than’
‘Closer’ 
‘I’m Afraid of Americans’ (David Bowie cover)
‘The Perfect Drug’
‘Head Like a Hole’ 
‘Hurt’

The ‘Peel It Back’ tour has now completed its UK run of shows and will be heading to Europe for the remainder of this month and the entire of July. Slots across Europe commence tomorrow (June 20) in Germany, and will also include festival appearances at Portugal’s NOS Alive, Madrid’s Mad Cool and Poland’s Open’er festival.

Afterwards, the metal icons will head over to the US for the final leg of the tour. These headline shows will all see NIN joined again by Boys Noize – who has previously worked with Reznor and Atticus Ross on the score for the Zendaya-starring Luca Guadagnino film Challengers, and for their work on Oliver Stone’s Snowdon.

Visit here for tickets to upcoming shows, and find a list of dates below.

Nine Inch Nails’ remaining 2025 ‘Peel It Back’ tour dates are: 

JUNE
20 – Cologne, Germany – Lanxess Arena
21 – Dessel, Belgium – Graspop Metal Meeting^
24 – Milan, Italy – Parco della Musica Novegro
26 – Zurich, Switzerland – Hallenstadion
27 – Vienna, Austria – Wiener Stadthalle
29 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Ziggo Dome

JULY
1 – Berlin, Germany – Uber Arena
3 – Gdynia, Poland – Open’er
7 – Paris, France – Accor Arena
10 – Madrid, Spain – Mad Cool
12 – Oeiras, Portugal – NOS Alive

AUGUST
6 – Oakland, CA – Oakland Arena
8 – Portland, OR – Moda Center
10 – Vancouver, BC – Rogers Arena
12 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena
14 – West Valley City, UT – Maverik Center
15 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena
17 – Saint Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center
19 – Chicago, IL – United Center
22 – Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena
23 – Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena
26 – Baltimore, MD – CFG Bank Arena
27 – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center
29 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
31 – Cleveland, OH – Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse

SEPTEMBER
2 – Brooklyn, NY – Barclays Center
5 – Raleigh, NC – Lenovo Center
6 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena
9 – Duluth, GA – Gas South Arena
10 – Tampa, FL – Amalie Arena
12 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center
13 – Fort Worth, TX – Dickies Arena
16 – Phoenix, AZ – Footprint Center
18 – Los Angeles, CA – Kia Forum

While the band are well underway with their first tour since 2022, the members have been recently suggesting that new music is on the way too. At the end of last year, for instance, Reznor said that the band were underway with writing new material. If this turns out to be a full album, it’ll be NIN’s first since 2018’s ‘Bad Witch’, and the surprise 2020 ambient double album ‘Ghosts V-VI’.

Outside of the band, Reznor and Ross have also announced details of Future Ruins, a festival designed to celebrate film and television composers. Those on the line-up include Danny Elfman, John Carpenter, Hildur Guðnadóttir, Cristobal Tapia de Veer, Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein, as well as both Reznor and Ross – who have composed music for the likes of Gone Girl, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Social Network, Soul, Challengers and more.

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