Watch Nine Inch Nails Cover David Bowie And Play Their New Single At Vegas Tour Opener

Rich Fury/Getty Images

Watch Nine Inch Nails Cover David Bowie And Play Their New Single At Vegas Tour Opener

Rich Fury/Getty Images

Nine Inch Nails are putting out their new album Bad Witch, the EP-length but not an EP conclusion to their trilogy of recent EPs, next week. Their Cold And Black And Infinite tour in support of the release officially kicks off in the fall, but the band played their first show of the year at The Joint in Las Vegas on Wednesday. And they took the opportunity to trot out some songs that they hadn’t played in quite a while.

Among them was a cover of David Bowie’s “I’m Afraid Of Americans.” Trent Rezor was friends with Bowie and starred in the “I’m Afraid Of Americans” video, and after Bowie died, Reznor penned a moving eulogy, anonymously released a remix of the Blackstar track “I Can’t Give Everything Away,” and then performed it at his first live show in three years in homage. But he hadn’t performed “I’m Afraid Of Americans” live in concert since 2013.

During the 19-song song set, Nine Inch Nails also covered Gary Numan’s “Metal” for the first time in nine years and performed The Downward Spiral track “I Do Not Want This” for the first time since 2009. And, of course, they performed Bad Witch’s lead single “God Break Down The Door,” which also sounds a bit like a Bowie tribute with its Blackstar-esque sonics and Bowie-esque croon, live for the first time ever. Watch some fan-shot footage from the show below.

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