Nine Inch Nails as a live band is generally understood to be a separate entity from its recording studio-based component. Archived at WELL. Archived at Canadian Online Explorer. Since its inception in 1988, Nine Inch Nails has toured throughout the world, including concerts in North America, South America, Europe, Australia, Japan, and China. Nine Inch Nails live performances have typically been accompanied by visual elements such as stage lighting, projection, video displays, and specially designed lighting fixtures. These visual elements have been designed by Trent Reznor and Rob Sheridan, among others.
The live band lineup has tended to change drastically between major tours and releases, though band members have occasionally participated in the process of recording new material. Aside from Reznor remaining the lead vocalist and occasional guitarist, no member of the live band has remained constant since its inception. Reznor cites the long gestation period between studio albums as part of the reason for these frequent personnel changes. After the 2007 tour, Reznor reported that he would disband the "rock band configuration" of his touring lineup after their concert in Honolulu, Hawaii on September 18, 2007, and would explore alternative means to perform Nine Inch Nails material on subsequent tours.
The Nine Inch Nails discography includes three live releases: Closure (1997), And All That Could Have Been (2002), and Beside You in Time (2007), all of which feature the live band in various incarnations and in the midst of various tours.
