Nine Inch Nails Perform Live Covers Of David Bowie’s “I’m Afraid Of Americans” & “Fashion”

According to Consequence Sound, on April 28, the rock giants Nine Inch Nails finally returned to the stage, delivering the band’s first concert in roughly four years. At their returning show fans got to witness the band perform 21 song set-list including a 3 song encore of their tracks “Reptile,” “All That Could Have Been” and “Hurt.” Nine Inch Nails’ April 28 show kicked off the band’s Summer tour, which will feature a variety of acts including 100 gecs, Boy Harsher, Yves Tumor and others.

Perhaps most notable in the concert setlist were the two covers offered by the band of the late musician-extraordinaire David Bowie, who tragically passed away in 2016. In their show, Nine Inch Nails performed covers of Bowie’s classic tracks “Fashion” and “I’m Afraid of Americans.” While the band had covered “I’m Afraid of Americans” in the past, this performance shows the band’s first performance of Bowie’s “Fashion.” The full set, including both covers, have been published to YouTube from a fan recording.

When listening to the two covers, it becomes clear that for “I’m Afraid of Americans,” there was a great effort by the band to capture much of the energy and sound of the original track. In fact, it seems that many original synths and samples used by Bowie are used or closely replicated in their performance of the track. The band’s performance for “Fashion,” which they have less experience performing, seems to offer a more loose take on the original track, offering a much different listening experience than Bowie’s own rendition. Nine Inch Nails’ rendition of “Fashion” is noticeably faster than the original, and offered some changes to certain musical parts, such as the guitar solo.

It remains to be known whether the rock band may intends to deliver any more covers of Bowie, or if they intend to give any of their covers an official release. Watch the fan recordings of the two covers of Bowie’s work below.

In the midst of their Summer tour, Nine Inch Nails are scheduled to take part in the massive Primavera Sound Los Angeles music festival, taking place in early September.

Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat