Stadium shows are touch and go. The right performers are able to make an enormous venue feel…well, maybe not intimate, but at least personal. Thankfully, Nine Inch Nails were able to use the space in the 20,000 capacity Honda Center in Anaheim incredibly well.

The show began with German-Iraqi DJ Boys Noize (the stage name for Alexander Ridha) spinning hard electronic beats, sometimes with snippets of 80s synth tunes from the likes of Depeche Mode and early Nine Inch Nails, other times incorporating voice samples (in what sounded like English, German, and Arabic). His DJ station was raised high, came with a spectacular light show, and was positioned in the very back of the arena. So the farthest seats became the best seats in the arena. Very cool.

At the end of his set, with no fanfare or switchout time, Trent Reznor, alone on solo piano, began the show from a small, intimate second stage placed in the middle of the arena, playing Right Where It Belongs. Again, giving people who didn’t necessarily have the best seats the best view.

After numerous melodic solo takes on older NIN songs, he was joined by his writing partner, Atticus Ross, touring bassist Stuart Brooks, and longtime NIN guitarist Robin Fink for some more synth-rock songs with immersive, creative lights.

After a few songs, they made their way to the main stage at the front, where their drummer, the incomparable Josh Freese, was winding up the crowd with explosive percussion until the whole band arrived for a blistering rock performance of Wish.

The band then played many of their more popular, rockier numbers, with shapes and colors and lights being projected onto light curtains surrounding the band onstage. A cameraman constantly ran around the band members, so that the side curtains always had a close up view of the members performing. Sometimes this was used not to simply show the band members, but creatively, such as for the song Copy of A for which the screen showed dozens of “copies” of Trent Reznor.

About half-way through the show, Trent and Atticus again made their way to the center stage, this time joined by Boys Noize for an electronic-infused mini-set of Tron: Ares and more synth-oriented NIN music (such as Closer and Vessel).

They ended the show back on the main stage with powerhouse rockers, ending their set with perennial closer Head Like A Hole. They came back for an encore on the main stage, a full-band but very subdued performance of Hurt.

Overall, Nine Inch Nails proved once again, they knew how to create an exciting, visual, and yet emotional experience in an enormous venue. I’ve seen NIN six times now, starting with the inaugural Lollapallooza festival in 1990, and this was, if not the best show, certainly the best staging of any of their shows I’ve seen. Even after all these years, and all these tours, Trent threw everything into his performance, and was genuinely grateful to still have the opportunity to play to large crowds.