01
The first live architecture
Pretty Hate Machine Live
October 27, 1988 – September 13, 1991
The Pretty Hate Machine live era follows Nine Inch Nails from early support appearances through the Hate and Sin headlining tours, Lollapalooza, and the final European dates of 1991. Small rooms, physical performances, and changing stage setups introduced ideas that later tours expanded.
- Status
- Historical
- Tour / era span
- 1988–1991
- Shows
- 8
- Photographs
- 1,343
Browse by date
Shows and Photographs
Photographs are available for shows from APRIL 11, 1990 – FEBRUARY 5, 1991. Select a show to view them.
Chronology
Touring Phases
Support and promotional dates
1988–1990
Early appearances with Skinny Puppy, The Jesus and Mary Chain, and Peter Murphy led into the first headlining run.
Hate
May 22 – August 4, 1990
The first major headlining tour used a minimal club-scale production built around fog, ropes, and recording-tape strands.
Sin
December 27, 1990 – February 6, 1991
A heavier industrial structure introduced gates, chains, embedded light, and a revised drum lineup.
Lollapalooza and Europe
July 12 – September 13, 1991
Festival pacing and a wider audience changed the scale and repertoire of the closing phases.
People, system, repertoire
The Live Profile
Touring lineup
- Hate: Trent Reznor, Richard Patrick, Lee Mars, Chris Vrenna
- Sin: Trent Reznor, Richard Patrick, Lee Mars, Jeff Ward
- Lineup note: Personnel varied across the earlier support dates and later 1991 phases.
Stage and lighting
- Hate used club-scale lighting, fog, suspended ropes, and strands of recording tape rather than a scenic production.
- Sin introduced an industrial cage and gate structure, a grated illuminated drum riser, chains, and a handheld spotlight used during Down in It.
Setlist patterns
- The named headlining tours commonly opened with an introduction into Terrible Lie and Sin.
- A quieter center often used Something I Can Never Have and Sanctified before the closing sequence moved through Ringfinger, Down in It, and Head Like a Hole.
- The 1991 festival and European phases require separate treatment because their pacing and repertoire differed from the Hate and Sin club format.
Support acts and co-bills
- Meat Beat Manifesto, Die Warzau, Chemlab, Grotus, Ethyl Meatplow, and regional acts appeared across the headlining dates.
- Skinny Puppy, The Jesus and Mary Chain, and Peter Murphy are represented as artists Nine Inch Nails supported, not as opening acts.
Documented points of reference
Landmarks & Recordings
Cleveland · August 4, 1990
Landmark performance
Professionally filmed by H-Gun for an unrealized concert video; surviving material circulates outside the official catalog.
Lollapalooza 1991
Landmark performance
The festival phase placed the Pretty Hate Machine repertoire before the largest audiences of the era.
H-Gun Cleveland footage
Professionally recorded, unreleased
The August 4, 1990 performance was filmed for an unrealized project.
Closure prototype excerpts
Unreleased prototype material
Excerpts from Washington, DC and Pittsburgh performances later appeared in the leaked Closure DVD appendage.
Related pages
Related Releases, People & Records
Sources & review notes
Sources reviewed September 12, 2026. Show listings are drawn from the concert catalog.