2013–2014 Tour Cycle Review
The best recordings from the HTDA and NIN touring cycle
Trent Reznor, Lollapalooza 2013
HTDA Mini-Tour
After the NIN/Soundgarden tour wrapped, I’d planned to take a breather — but I owe a huge thanks to every taper who reached out and sent recordings my way anyway. The first How to Destroy Angels show was at the Fox Theater in Pomona, California. A friend of mine who goes by Mixter had his recording up in less than twenty-four hours. Hearing those songs live hit even harder than I expected; "Parasite" especially stood out with Trent on guitar. For a band that only had a handful of EPs and one album out at the time, an eighty-minute set felt like a serious statement.
HTDA Pomona Marquee
Coachella
Pomona felt like a dress rehearsal for Coachella — their biggest show yet, and in a lot of ways their first truly massive gig since the hiatus, not unlike NIN at Coachella in 2005. The set was live streamed on YouTube, and this is also the recording Trent linked from ninlive during his Reddit AMA in December 2013.
HTDA 2013
Tension 2013 Tour
In late July 2013, NIN announced they were heading back out with a new album, Hesitation Marks. The Tension 2013 tour brought a cutting-edge stage design, and both the festival run and the arena dates spawned some incredible tapes. Standouts include the Lollapalooza pro-shot and a range of strong audience recordings from the road.
Japan and Australia / South America 2014
In early 2014, NIN hit Japan and then Australia with Queens of the Stone Age, where the two bands would literally flip a coin to decide who opened. Matt G. taped several of those shows. The South America leg had a few worthwhile live streams as well.
Europe 2014
Europe brought "Eraser" back into the set for the first time since 2009, along with a new intro mashup pairing "The Downward Spiral" with "The New Flesh." The headlining sets stretched past a hundred minutes. Particularly strong tapes came from Ian Macdonald in Amsterdam, Stefler in Berlin, Alysha in Zurich, and Mr. Ruin in Vienna.
NIN / Soundgarden North America 2014
Both bands were celebrating twenty years since landmark albums — The Downward Spiral and Superunknown. NIN brought back the Festival 2013 stage setup, ran two different setlists nicknamed "Fuji" and "Assault," and broke out the rare "The Frail" into "The Wretched." The Woodlands date was filmed by the NIN crew.
