Wave Goodbye Tour

Tour logo from nin.com

Logo from bottom of tour page

The Wave Goodbye Tour took place between February and September 2009 in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia as a series of farewell shows, though NIN would be revived for touring again in 2013. Opening acts for this tour were Alec Empire, HEALTH, The Horrors, io echo, Jaguar Love, Mew, The Naked And Famous, Queen Kwong, and Street Sweeper Social Club. After this tour wrapped, various NIN live gear was sold on eBay, including the custom guitars used during the Fragility tour.

Announcements

During the Las Vegas, Nevada show on December 13, 2008, Trent Reznor announced Alessandro Cortini, like Josh Freese, would be leaving the line-up at the end of the tour, making the show the last for Freese and the last for Cortini until 2013. It was also announced that after the Australian leg of 2009 dates there would be a selection of US Amphitheater dates and some European shows later in the year in the same format as Australia, following festivals.

Reznor also stated that 2009 would see Nine Inch Nails performing as a four-piece act, opting to not replace Cortini, suggesting the shows would not be of the same aesthetic visually or musically during the 2009 dates. This was confirmed a matter of days later via an entry on the nin.com homepage, confirming that the Lights In The Sky Tour ended with the departure of Josh and Alessandro, possibly indicating an entire new theme and motif for 09 tour, much like the changeover from 2006's Live: With Teeth to Performance 2007:

The LIGHTS IN THE SKY era has come to a close, and I'd like to once again thank you for your support. I am very proud of what we pulled off - it was an immense amount of work and worth it all.

I'd like to thank Josh and Alessandro for being an integral part of this for the last few years and I wish them all the best.

No rest for the wicked here, though. We start rehearsing the new band/format first thing next year and as I mentioned, we'll be announcing some final waves of dates. North America, UK/Europe, Pacific Rim and elsewhere.

On February 16, 2009, Reznor announced that the 2009 tour would be NIN's last "for a while." On April 30, 2009, the tour had been renamed from "NIN 2009" to "Wave Goodbye." On May 5, 2009, Reznor disclosed in an interview that this would be the last NIN tour for at least several years.

Backstage Passes

A series of backstage passes, with a meal with the band, were announced to coincide with a charity case for Eric De La Cruz, where NIN fans could pledge $1200/$1000 for the cause, with the larger amount for those who did not already have a ticket. This would give them a meal with the band, watch the soundcheck and talk to the band. There was also a $300 option, for a meet and greet prior to the show, or a general $10+ donation, simply to support the man. After the North America tickets sold out due to high demand, Reznor announced that signed copies of Still, Ghosts I-IV DE, The Slip (each with the message "X of 100 for EDLC. Thank you, Trent Reznor") and signed skateboards by Tony Hawk would be sold for $1000, in a limited quantity of 100 sets.[1]

On 2nd June 2009, Trent posted that over $850,000 had been raised, and that Jane's Addiction had come on board for the donation process, and were offering their own package of $1,000 per head for up to ten people to go backstage and see them rehearse in their dressing room[2].

The initial letter from Trent read:

This is for something important. Eric De La Cruz is dying and needs a heart transplant. He keeps getting turned down for a transplant list because he’s on Nevada Medicaid, and there are no transplant centers in Nevada. We want to get involved and hopefully so do you, so we’re extending a hand. His sister Veronica (former Anchor and Internet Correspondent for CNN) has started a campaign to save his life.

Eric’s situation shines a bright light on a broken health care system, and his particular set of problems are being addressed on the political front, aiming for reform in addition to the need for immediate financial help to keep him alive TODAY. I think we can help with the latter.

Here’s what we’re offering – three options:

If you have a ticket to a NIN/JA show: if you donate $1,000 to this cause, we’ll invite you to come hang out with us before the NIN/JA show of your choice. You and a guest can watch soundcheck, eat dinner backstage with us, take pics / get autographs and watch the show from the side of the stage if you’d like.

If you donate $300, you and a friend can join us for soundcheck and a handshaking / hug session before doors open at the NIN/JA show of your choice.

If you do NOT have a ticket to a NIN/JA show: if you donate $1,200 to this cause, we’ll invite you to come hang out with us before the NIN/JA show of your choice and provide 2 tickets (best available). You and a guest can watch soundcheck, eat dinner backstage with us, take pics / get autographs and watch the show from the side of the stage if you’d like.

100% of the money collected from this will go directly to Eric’s fund.

I hope you’ll consider helping out with this.

Sincerely, Trent Reznor

On 27th May, Reznor posted this:

Thank you so much for you help with this cause. Due to your generosity, we've raised OVER $800,000 FOR ERIC IN JUST SIX DAYS!

This response has been overwhelming - so much so we sadly have to stop accepting any more VIP package donations for the North American NIN/JA shows. We simply can't accommodate any more people! We are still accepting multiples of $10 donations and all VIP packages for the headlining shows in the rest of the world. Starting hopefully tomorrow, we'll be offering a limited package of 1,000 collectable / signed complete skateboards generously donated from my friend Tony Hawk. For a donation of $1,000, you will receive one of these and a signed-by-me copy of NIN's rarest CD release, STILL.

Please consider helping if you haven't already - we're showing the WORLD the power of a strong and committed community, and we're quite possibly saving a life in the process. We still have a ways to go financially. Thank you all.

Trent

On July 6th, nin.com was updated with a final post about Eric, reading:

Sadly, Eric De La Cruz has passed away.

CLICK HERE[3] for to read a letter from his sister Veronica. Thank you all for your help and compassion with this.

Trent

Line-Up

• Robin Finck: Guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
• Justin Meldal-Johnsen: Bass, guitar, keyboards, vocals
• Trent Reznor: Vocals, guitar, keyboards
• Ilan Rubin: Drums, percussion, keyboards, vocals

Australia

Show in Brisbane on February 21, 2009.

On December 1, 2008, Nine Inch Nails announced the first leg of the 2009 tour, beginning in New Zealand and Australia. These dates included the first show in Auckland since 2000, and several dates headlining the Soundwave Festival across Australia.
Losing the elaborate visuals from the Lights In The Sky Tour, Nine Inch Nails was able to incorporate different songs into their set, including some songs that hadn't been performed in some time, including "The Fragile," "Non-Entity," "The Downward Spiral" (which hadn't been performed in over a decade).

Tour Dates

Date/Location	Venue
2009/02/17 Auckland, New Zealand	Vector Arena
2009/02/21 Brisbane, Australia	RNA Showgrounds (Soundwave Festival)
2009/02/22 Sydney, Australia	Eastern Creek Raceway (Soundwave Festival)
2009/02/24 Sydney, Australia	Hordern Pavillion
2009/02/25 Melbourne, Australia	Festival Hall
2009/02/27 Melbourne, Australia	Melbourne Showgrounds (Soundwave Festival)
2009/02/28 Adelaide, Australia	Bonython Park (Soundwave Festival)
2009/03/02 Perth, Australia	Steel Blue Oval (Soundwave Festival)

NIN/JA 2009

In 2009, Trent Reznor announced on NIN.com that they would be touring with Jane's Addiction in 2009. On March 3, 2009, the first dates of the tour—known as the "NIN/JA 2009 Tour" (pronounced as "ninja")—were announced. On March 5, 2009, Reznor announced via Twitter that Street Sweeper Social Club (featuring Tom Morello and Boots Riley) would be the opening act on the tour. This information was soon posted to the official site.

NIN played without Jane's Addiction at the Chicago and Bonnaroo shows.

Free Passes

On Twitter, Trent Reznor unexpectedly announced that there would be occasional ticket giveaways for all NIN/JA shows, including a backstage pass. Those interested were directed to go to a specific site (a randomised link from ninja2009.com), and 5 tickets were awarded at a time to whoever entered at the right moment.

Setlists

Show in Las Vegas on May 18, 2009.

Due in part to the stripped-down production, the NIN/JA 2009 tour featured a wide array of Nine Inch Nails songs, with only "March Of The Pigs" and "Head Like A Hole" being performed at every show. The first show featured the debut of the songs "Metal", "I'm Afraid of Americans", and "Gone, Still", while the second night had the debut of "Lights In The Sky", as well as the return of the intro "Now I'm Nothing", which hadn't been performed since 1991 when Nine Inch Nails was featured on the first Lollapalooza Tour. The third show featured the debut of Saul Williams' "Banged And Blown Through," with Saul making a special appearance to duet the song with the band.

Songs that were reintroduced back into the set following years of absence included "Right Where It Belongs," "Not So Pretty Now," "I Do Not Want This," "Home," "The Way Out Is Through," and "Piggy" (Nothing Can Stop Me Now).

Tour Dates

Date/Location	Venue
2009/05/08 West Palm Beach, FL	Cruzan Amphitheatre
2009/05/09 Tampa, FL	Ford Amphitheatre
2009/05/10 Atlanta, GA	Lakewood Amphitheatre
2009/05/12 Austin, TX	Frank Erwin Center
2009/05/14 Albuquerque, NM	Journal Pavilion
2009/05/15 Phoenix, AZ	Cricket Wireless Pavilion
2009/05/16 Chula Vista, CA	Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre
2009/05/18 Las Vegas, NV	The Pearl
2009/05/20 Irvine, CA	Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Irvine Meadows
2009/05/21 Santa Barbara, CA	Santa Barbara Bowl
2009/05/22 Mountain View, CA	Shoreline Amphitheatre
2009/05/24 George, WA	The Gorge
2009/05/26 Englewood, CO	Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre
2009/05/27 Kansas City, MO	Starlight Theatre
2009/05/29 Chicago, IL	Charter One Pavilion
2009/05/30 Noblesville, IN	Verizon Wireless Music Center
2009/05/31 Clarkston, MI	DTE Energy Music Theatre
2009/06/02 Toronto, ON	Molson Amphitheatre
2009/06/03 Mansfield, MA	Comcast Center
2009/06/05 Camden, NJ	Susquehanna Bank Center
2009/06/06 Holmdel, NJ	PNC Bank Arts Center
2009/06/07 Wantagh, NY	Nikon at Jones Beach Music Theater
2009/06/09 Columbia, MD	Merriweather Post Pavilion
2009/06/10 Burgettstown, PA	Post-Gazette Pavilion
2009/06/12 Charlotte, NC	Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
2009/06/13 Manchester, TN	Bonnaroo Festival

Europe

In March and April of 2009, Trent Reznor announced a series of tour dates at European festivals and venues outside of North America that would run through the summer of 2009. On May 5th Trent Reznor announced via Twitter and NIN.com that Danish band Mew would be supporting Nine Inch Nails and Jane's Addiction across several European dates, filling Street Sweeper Social Club's role in the American dates.

Setlists

This leg of the tour featured shorter sets at the various festivals that were played, but generally featured most of the songs that were performed on the NIN/JA 2009 tour, with a few notable exceptions, such as how at the show on July 15 in London, England, Gary Numan joined the band onstage and they performed covers of "Metal" and "Cars," with Numan on vocals, as well as an intentional "quieter set", that was played at the Sonisphere Festival on August 2nd, which also featured the only non-US performance of "Lights In The Sky". The song "The Collector" was performed twice, on July 25th and on July 30th.

Tour Dates

Date/Location	Venue
2009/06/19 Nickelsdorf, Austria	Nova Rock Festival
2009/06/20 Neuhausen, Germany	Southside Festival
2009/06/21 Scheessel, Germany	Hurricane Festival
2009/06/23 Poznan, Poland	Malta International Theatre Festival
2009/06/24 Prague, Czech Republic	O2 Arena
2009/06/26 Milan, Italy	Idroscalo
2009/06/27 St. Gallen, Switzerland	Saint Gallen Festival
2009/06/29 Düsseldorf, Germany	Philipshalle
2009/06/30 Berlin, Germany	Arena Berlin
2009/07/02 Arvika, Sweden	Arvika Festival
2009/07/03 Roskilde, Denmark	Roskilde Festival
2009/07/05 Werchter, Belgium	Rock Werchter Festival
2009/07/07 Paris, France	Zenith de Paris
2009/07/08 Amsterdam, Netherlands	Heineken Music Hall
2009/07/09 Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg	Rockhal
2009/07/11 Kinross, Scotland	T in the Park Festival
2009/07/12 Naas, Ireland	Oxegen Festival
2009/07/14 Manchester, England	M.E.N Arena
2009/07/15 London, England	O2 Arena
2009/07/18 Istanbul, Turkey	Rock'n Coke Festival
2009/07/20 Athens, Greece	Vrahon Theater
2009/07/22 Rome, Italy	RockInRome Festival
2009/07/24 Budapest, Hungary	Syma Sport and Event Centre
2009/07/25 Târgu Mureş, Romania	Peninsula Festival
2009/07/28 Nimes, France	Festival de Nimes
2009/07/30 Madrid, Spain	La Riviera
2009/07/31 Paredes de Coura, Portugal	Paredes de Coura Festival
2009/08/02 Knebworth, England	Sonisphere Festival

Asia

Setlists

This leg of the tour saw the reintroduction of "Closer" back into the set, despite Trent Reznor previously saying in a fan interview that the song was not going to be performed in 2009. This was the typical setlist on this leg:

1. "Somewhat Damaged"
2. "Terrible Lie"
3. "Heresy"
4. "March Of The Pigs"
5. "Piggy"
6. "Closer"
7. "Reptile"
8. "The Becoming"
9. "I'm Afraid of Americans"
10. "Burn"
11. "Gave Up"
12. "La Mer"
13. "The Fragile"
14. "The Frail"
15. "The Wretched"
16. "Non-Entity"
17. "Gone, Still"
18. "The Downward Spiral"
19. "The Big Come Down"
20. "Wish"
21. "Survivalism"
22. "Echoplex"
23. "The Day The World Went Away"
24. "Dead Souls"
25. "The Hand That Feeds"
26. "Head Like A Hole"
27. "Hurt"

Tour Dates

Date/Location	Venue
2009/08/05 Manila, Philippines	Araneta Coliseum
2009/08/07 Tokyo, Japan	Summer Sonic
2009/08/08 Osaka, Japan	Summer Sonic
2009/08/10 Singapore, Republic Of Singapore	Fort Canning Park
2009/08/12 Taipei, Taiwan	Nan-Kang 101 (CANCELLED because of typhoon)
2009/08/15 Seoul, South Korea	ETP Festival

North America

On July 7th, 2009, Trent Reznor posted this on nin.com:

Getting right to the point, we're going to play a handful of shows in NYC, Chicago and LA starting August 22nd. They will be informal affairs in medium to small venues with longer set-lists, possible special guests, cool openers and other surprises. Upon reflection, the NIN/JA tour felt like we had to rush through sets due to a limited allotted set length and many shows were in daylight - it just didn't feel right to end NIN that way. An offer to headline a festival (being announced soon) set the idea in motion to play some FUN shows to end this up with. If we can get it together we'll film these shows, too.

Tour poster for the final dates

Tour Dates

Date/Location	Venue
2009/08/22 New York, NY	Bowery Ballroom
2009/08/23 New York, NY	Webster Hall
2009/08/25 New York, NY	Terminal 5
2009/08/26 New York, NY	Terminal 5
2009/08/28 Chicago, IL	Aragon Ballroom
2009/08/29 Chicago, IL	Aragon Ballroom
2009/08/30 Toronto, ON	Molson Amphitheatre (Virgin Fest Canada)
2009/09/02 Los Angeles, CA	Hollywood Palladium
2009/09/06 Los Angeles, CA	Echoplex
2009/09/08 Los Angeles, CA	Henry Fonda Theater - RESCHEDULED from September 3, 2009
2009/09/10 Los Angeles, CA	Wiltern Theater - RESCHEDULED from September 5, 2009

Pre-show music

Posted to Spotify by Trent Reznor in 2011[4]

2009 Set Change 1 (labeled as NIN/JA)

Bob Marley – "Sun Is Shining" (Extended Club Mix)
Peter Bjorn And John – "Nothing To Worry About"
Art Brut – "Alcoholics Unanimous"
The Horrors – "Scarlet Fields"
Franz Ferdinand – "Ulysses"
Hercules And Love Affair – "Blind"
Digital Underground – "The Humpty Dance"
Department Of Eagles – "No One Does It Like You"
Deerhunter – "Saved by Old Times"
TV On the Radio – "Golden Age"
West Indian Girl – "What Are You Afraid Of"
The Horrors – "I Only Think Of You"
Hot Chip – "We're Looking For A Lot Of Love"
Tinariwen – "Matadjem Yinmixan"
Grizzly Bear – "Two Weeks"
Amanda Palmer – "Leeds United"
Interactive – "Dildo 2008" (Acapella)
Queens Of The Stone Age – "Turnin On The Screw"
Kid606 – "Mr. Wobble's Nightmare"
Fever Ray – "If I Had A Heart"

2009 Set Change 2 (labeled as Wave Goodbye/Farewell)

The Jesus and Mary Chain – "Nine Million Rainy Days"
David Bowie – "Battle For Britain (The Letter)"
Von Südenfed – "Fledermaus Can't Get It"
Gossip – "Dimestore Diamond"
Ladyhawke – "Paris Is Burning"
Neu! – "Lila Engel (Lilac Angel)"
The Magnetic Fields – "Strange Powers"
Von Südenfed – "Speech Contamination / German Fear of Österreich"
Peaches – "Take You On"
Hula – "Poison" (Club Mix)
Peaches – "Mommy Complex"
Neu! – "Hallogallo"
Bat For Lashes – "I'm On Fire"
Erykah Badu – "Soldier"
Cymbals Eat Guitars – "What Dogs See"
Black Moth Super Rainbow – "Untitled Hidden Track"
M83 – "Skin Of The Night"
Prefuse 73 – "Natures Uplifting Revenge"
The Psychedelic Furs – "India"

External Links

• Wave Goodbye photos by Rob Sheridan