It’s official…Josh Freese is leaving Nine Inch Nails sometime during their upcoming US tour. Front man, Trent Reznor, wrote a message to fans on the band’s web site:

Freese has explained that his reason for leaving is nothing personal with Reznor and they have mentioned that they will remain friends.

“Josh Freese [NIN's current drummer] fans, be sure to check out a show on the upcoming North American leg of the tour, as sadly they will be the last ones he’s playing with us. He informed me he’s leaving the tour at the end of this year. Yes, we are still dear friends. No, I’m not sure what we are going to do.”

Maybe he should ask his fans for advice… He has already recently asked fans to take an online survey saying,”As we’ve moved from the familiar world of record labels and BS into the unknown world of doing everything yourself, we’ve realized it would benefit us and our ability to interact with you if we knew more about what you want, what you like, what you look like naked, etc.”

Maybe he should follow in Radiohead’s steps, doing a video remix contest or Weezer by getting fans to come play at their shows.

This morning I came across a great article over at Wired.com about the current stage show on Nine Inch Nails latest tour. It is one of the most high-tech setups that has ever toured, features multiple moving “stealth screens” as well as interactive lights and video the band members can actually control on the fly.

“With the song “Only,” for instance, the front, convex screen starts out as solid static. On Reznor’s side of the display, a laser above him detects whenever he crosses a vertical plane paralleling the screen. On the floor, a piece of tape and two tiny LED lights let him know exactly where that plane is.

As Reznor intersects that plane with his hand or body, the laser tracks his X and Y coordinates. The “brain” box then tells the particles to spread out to a predetermined dispersal pattern. Reznor says: “Then it follows me around. If I leave the plane, it fills back in. If I push through, it comes back out.”

Proving that he is the ultimate professional once again, Josh Freese doesn’t just pound out beats on his DW drums, he is turning off and on a drum grid sequencer. “We recreated a grid drum sequencer,” he says. “[Drummer Josh Freese] is actually touching and turning them on and off. But he’s not really touching the screen. He’s crossing the same laser on the back screen, which gets calibrated at sound check.”

These are just a few aspects of the band’s current stage setup, the article is fairly long and well worth the read.

Source.

Nine Inch Nails will start hitting arenas and festivals today as they begin their “Lights In The Sky” tour. This tour is special because Trent Reznor has said to be incorporating some kind of “high-tech” stage setup and video displays.

This tour is also significant for drummers because Josh Freese is once again taking on drum duties. If you recall from the rehearsal footage I posted here a while ago, his drumming is better than ever and fun to watch.

Here are the NIN tour dates:

07-25 Pemberton, British Columbia - Pemberton Festival
07-26 Seattle, WA - Key Arena at Seattle Center *
07-28 Edmonton, Alberta - Rexall Place *
07-29 Calgary, Alberta - Pengrowth Saddledome *
07-31 Winnipeg, Manitoba - MTS Centre *
08-02 Minneapolis, MN - Target Center *
08-03 Chicago, IL - Grant Park (Lollapalooza)
08-05 Toronto, Ontario - Air Canada Centre %
08-07 Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Arena %
08-08 Worcester, MA - DCU Center %
08-09-10 Baltimore, MD - Pimlico Race Course (Virgin Mobile Festival)
08-12 Knoxville, TN - Knoxville Civic Coliseum %
08-13 Duluth, GA - Gwinnett Arena %
08-15 Oklahoma City, OK - Ford Center #
08-16 Houston, TX - Toyota Center #
08-18 Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center #
08-20 Saint Louis, MO - Scottrade Center #
08-22 Cleveland, OH - Quicken Loans Arena
08-23 Auburn Hills, MI - Palace of Auburn Hills #
08-25 Toledo, OH - Seagate Convention Center #
08-27 East Rutherford, NJ - Izod Center $
08-29 Philadelphia, PA - Wachovia Center $
08-31 Lexington, KY - Rupp Arena ^
09-02 Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheater %
09-03 Salt Lake, City UT - The E Center of West Valley %
09-05 Oakland, CA - Oracle Arena %
09-06 Inglewood, CA - The Forum %
10-04 Santiago, Chile - Arena Santiago
10-07 Sao Paulo, Brazil - Via Funchal
10-09 Porto Alegre, Brazil - Pepsi on Stage
10-12 Bogota, Colombia - Coliseo el Campin
10-15 Caracas, Venezuela - Poliedro de Caracas
10-18 Mexico City, Mexico - Foro Sol (Motrokr Festival)
10-19 Guadalajara, Mexico - VFG Arena (Motrokr Festival)
10-21 Monterrey, Mexico - Arena Monterrey
10-24-26 New Orleans, LA - Voodoo Music Experience

* with Crystal Castles
% with Deerhunter
# with A Place to Bury Strangers
$ with Does It Offend You, Yeah?
^ with White Williams

Source.

While I kind of disagree with Pitchfork Media’s opinions, oh, 98% of the time and their choice of bands to cover…they do some cool things. I guess the site has gotten so big now that they have a lot of priority and access to all kinds of stuff.

Courtesy of “Pitchfork TV” check out Josh Freese totally killing his DW drums, on this live-in-studio footage, of NIN playing their new song “1,000,000″ off of their new album “The Slip.” Really cool…

NIN: Live-In-Studio Rehearsal

This is the first of 3 parts, so make sure to check out the other 2 when they become available.

Nine Inch Nails released their new album “The Slip” (which features the famed Josh Freese), for free in May. Now Trent Reznor has decided to release a physical version to coincide with Nine Inch Nails upcoming US arena tour.

“Each of the 200,000 discs arrives with a DVD of the band rehearsing Slip tracks live, plus a 24- -page booklet and stickers. The set hits Canada and the States July 22, with a Japanese release date is still TBA. A virtually identical set– sans the limited/numbered business– is due in the UK and Europe July 21, and whenever the Australian edition is released, it, too, will be available in this manner.

In addition, an unnumbered/unlimited gatefold vinyl set, featuring a single 180 gram LP of the disc and a 24-page booklet, is due August 4 in the UK and Europe and August 5 in the States. Further info on the Japanese and Australian releases can be expected shortly.”

The 180-gram vinyl version sounds the most interesting to me, as I’ve already got the free version on my iPod. This should also sell well as vinyl is making a resurgence. Nonetheless, very cool way of doing things. Release your record for free to your fans as a sort-of thank you, and then if people still want to buy the physical copy, make it available. Nice work Trent.

Source.

Here are NIN’s current tour dates…

07-25 Pemberton, British Columbia - Pemberton Festival
07-26 Seattle, WA - Key Arena at Seattle Center *
07-28 Edmonton, Alberta - Rexall Place *
07-29 Calgary, Alberta - Pengrowth Saddledome *
07-31 Winnipeg, Manitoba - MTS Centre *
08-02 Minneapolis, MN - Target Center *
08-03 Chicago, IL - Grant Park (Lollapalooza)
08-05 Toronto, Ontario - Air Canada Centre %
08-07 Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Arena %
08-08 Worcester, MA - DCU Center %
08-09-10 Baltimore, MD - Pimlico Race Course (Virgin Mobile Festival)
08-12 Knoxville, TN - Knoxville Civic Coliseum %
08-13 Duluth, GA - Gwinnett Arena %
08-15 Oklahoma City, OK - Ford Center #
08-16 Houston, TX - Toyota Center #
08-18 Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center #
08-20 Saint Louis, MO - Scottrade Center #
08-22 Cleveland, OH - Quicken Loans Arena
08-23 Auburn Hills, MI - Palace of Auburn Hills #
08-25 Toledo, OH - Seagate Convention Center #
08-27 East Rutherford, NJ - Izod Center $
08-29 Philadelphia, PA - Wachovia Center $
08-31 Lexington, KY - Rupp Arena ^
09-02 Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheater %
09-03 Salt Lake, City UT - The E Center of West Valley %
09-05 Oakland, CA - Oracle Arena %
09-06 Inglewood, CA - The Forum %
10-24-26 New Orleans, LA - Voodoo Music Experience

* with Crystal Castles
% with Deerhunter
# with A Place to Bury Strangers
$ with Does It Offend You, Yeah?
^ with White Williams