Self Destruct Tour
Self-Destruct | ||||
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![]() Reznor performing during the Self-Destruct tour, circa 1994–1995. | ||||
Tour by Nine Inch Nails | ||||
Associated album | The Downward Spiral | |||
Start date | March 9, 1994 | |||
End date | September 8, 1996 | |||
Legs | 8 | |||
Nine Inch Nails tour chronology | ||||
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Self-Destruct Tour (a pun on the name of "Mr. Self Destruct") was a concert tour in support of industrial rock act Nine Inch Nails' The Downward Spiral album, which took place in early 1994, running until mid-1996, and was broken into 8 legs.
The tour was filmed for the Closure tour documentary, a double-VHS set that documented live performances of the tour as well as the band from 1989–1991, and an extra VHS tape featuring the band's music videos, which was released in late 1997. It was rumored to have been re-released in 2005, but Interscope Records refused to release it, which led the content's mysterious leak onto torrent websites in DVD format - supposedly at the hands of Reznor himself.
This was Nine Inch Nails' first tour since the early 1990s shows for Pretty Hate Machine. During this time, Nine Inch Nails' music became angrier and more aggressive with releases like Broken and The Downward Spiral, which led to the concerts being often very violent and personal, with band members often injuring themselves. The stage set-up consisted of grungy curtains which would pulled down and up for visuals which might be played during songs (such as 'Hurt'), or pulled up for live performances of more aggressive songs. The back of the stage was littered with darker and standing lights, with very little actual lights.
Trent Reznor overhauled the band line-up and image for the tour; guitarist Robin Finck joined to play guitar while Danny Lohner joined on to play bass guitar. However, Chris Vrenna and James Woolley were brought back from the Pretty Hate Machine Tour Series. Image-wise, instead of the sloppy, low-budget style for previous tours, the band often dressed in black leather smothered in cornstarch, with band members often changing their hairstyles to radical hair styles for every concert. Robin Finck used makeup to hide his eyebrows, and Reznor would often don his 'fishnet gloves' (as they would come to be known) for the show. The band's showy yet intense tour style gave the band comparisons to David Bowie, whom Reznor was a big fan of. Later in the tour, Bowie and Reznor's protégé, Marilyn Manson, would often join the frontman on stage to sing their songs—as evident in the Closure tour documentary.
Band line-up
- Trent Reznor - Lead vocals, guitar, keyboards
- Robin Finck - Guitar, keyboards, backup vocals
- Danny Lohner - Bass guitar, guitar, keyboards, backup vocals
- Chris Vrenna - Drums
- James Woolley - Keyboards, programming, backup vocals (March 9, 1994 - December 11, 1994)
- Charlie Clouser - Keyboards, programming, backup vocals (December 28, 1994 - September 8, 1996)
North American Leg
Reeling from the success of Pretty Hate Machine and Broken as well as the band's divorce from TVT Records, the nearly immediate success of The Downward Spiral led to Nine Inch Nails playing larger venues. This debuted the band's new grungy and messy image in which band members would often come out in ragged clothes slathered in corn starch. They would often destroy their instruments at the end of concerts, attack each other, and stage-dive into the crowd. This led to Nine Inch Nails's notoriety as a live act. The shows often consisted of songs from Pretty Hate Machine, Broken, The Downward Spiral, as well as songs such as "Get Down Make Love" and "Dead Souls", which were formerly staples of their live show.
Tour dates
Date | City | Country | Venue |
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April 19, 1994 | Seattle, Washington | United States | Moore Theater |
April 20, 1994 | |||
April 21, 1994 | Portland, Oregon | La Luna Club | |
April 23, 1994 | San Francisco, California | The Warfield | |
April 24, 1994 | |||
April 26, 1994 | Los Angeles, California | Hollywood Palace | |
April 27, 1994 | |||
April 30, 1994 | San Diego, California | San Diego State University | |
May 1, 1994 | Phoenix, Arizona | Mesa Centennial | |
May 3, 1994 | Dallas, Texas | The Bomb Factory | |
May 4, 1994 | Houston, Texas | International Ballroom | |
May 5, 1994 | New Orleans, Louisiana | State Palace Theatre | |
May 7, 1994 | Chicago, Illinois | Riviera Theatre | |
May 8, 1994 | Detroit, Michigan | State Theater | |
May 9, 1994 | Cleveland, Ohio | Agora Theater | |
May 11, 1994 | Boston, Massachusetts | Cyclorama Building | |
May 13, 1994 | New York City, New York | Webster Hall | |
May 14, 1994 | New York City, New York | Roseland Ballroom | |
May 15, 1994 | Upper Darby, Pennsylvania | Tower Theater | |
May 18, 1994 | Dublin | Ireland | SFX Center |
May 20, 1994 | Wolverhampton | United Kingdom | Wolverhampton Civic Hall |
May 21, 1994 | Glasgow | Barrowlands | |
May 22, 1994 | Manchester | Manchester Academy | |
May 24, 1994 | London | London Forum | |
May 28, 1994 | Ghent | Belgium | Vooruit |
May 30, 1994 | Paris | France | Le Bataclan |
May 31, 1994 | Amsterdam | Netherlands | Paradiso |
June 2, 1994 | Frankfurt | Germany | Live Music Hall |
June 3, 1994 | Berlin | Huxley's | |
June 7, 1994 | Hamburg | The Docks | |
June 8, 1994 | Düsseldorf | Tor 3 | |
June 9, 1994 | Munich | Charterhalle | |
June 11, 1994 | Vienna | Austria | Summer Arena |
June 12, 1994 | Prague | Czech Republic | Lucerna Hall |
June 15, 1994 | Katowice | Poland | Spodek |
June 16, 1994 | Warsaw | Stadion Dziesięciolecia | |
July 29, 1994 | Atlanta, Georgia | United States | Fox Theatre |
July 30, 1994 | |||
August 3, 1994 | Poughkeepsie, New York | Mid-Hudson Civic Center | |
August 6, 1994 | Barrie, Ontario | Canada | Molson Park |
August 11, 1994 | Fairfax, Virginia | United States | Patriot Center |
August 13, 1994 | Saugerties, New York | Woodstock '94 | |
September 2, 1994 | Clarkston, Michigan | DTE Energy Music Theatre | |
September 11, 1994 | St. Louis, MO | Fox Theater | |
October 30, 1994 | Dallas, Texas | Fair Park Coliseum | |
October 31, 1994 | Houston, Texas | The Summit |