Trent Reznor shines some light on what's next for Nine Inch Nails

As Trent Reznor stepped up to the mike during the fourth encore Thursday night at the Wiltern, he reinforced the plans that crushed fans and fueled skeptics -- that Nine Inch Nails is done taking their act on the road.

"To be clear, we're just not going to tour anymore as Nine Inch Nails," Reznor said to an emotionally drained crowd.

"I'm going to miss them," he said, turning to his band members. "It's been great to play with you and know you as friends and hang out with you and be cramped in a bus and smell each other's farts all day."

It certainly felt like the end. But Reznor etched a bit of a silver lining before launching into a powerful performance of "Hurt."

"We will be making music," Reznor said, inciting a roar of applause. "I'll be making music with these guys. These guys will be making music on their own."

And like a good entrepreneur, he plugged the band's website, which he says will be updated with relevant info about the group's future projects.

One of those projects, some speculated after they closed their final show with "In This Twilight" from the "Year Zero" record, could be a TV series. Last year, Reznor was in talks with HBO about creating a show based on the futuristic, dystopian story line that drove his 2007 concept album and its accompanying alternate reality game.

Another project might be a rumored DVD that will document Nine Inch Nails' Wave Goodbye tour that spanned New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. The band's crew filmed many of those shows.

And who knows? Maybe we'll get a musical collaboration between Reznor and fiancée Mariqueen Maandig, who recently split from her band, West Indian Girl.

"I'm not stopping making music," Reznor said. "I've got lots of stuff I want to work on. I just don't want to be touring, and I'm going to die if I keep it up."

-- Mark Milian

Photo credit: Mark Milian / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[dj shelter]

Don't hold your breath.

[Dennis]

The last show was mind-blowing and will be talked about for years. I really hope Trent will include his current lineup in whatever he does. The raw energy the quartet displayed from Australia to the Wiltern rivaled that which we heard during the mid-nineties. I wish every member success with their own project and especially can't wait to see what Ilan Rubin and his New Regime have to offer now that NiN have stopped touring.

[Albert Beltran]

The most memorable show I've ever been to. Too bad nothing about the show was printed in my L.A Times. I guess the Palladium show was good enough.