Rare David Bowie and Nine Inch Nails Footage Surfaces

Back in 1995, David Bowie hit the road in support of his recently released concept album, Outside, bringing along a band whose The Downward Spiral was spinning in virtually every modern rock fan’s CD player at the time to co-headline dates on the U.S. leg: Nine Inch Nails. As proof that Trent Reznor and Co. weren’t there to simply open for Bowie (or perhaps help showcase his new experimental songs for a younger audience), the beginning of Bowie’s set and end of NIN’s involved a seamless — and stunning — collaboration between the two acts. (Their stop in Hartford, CT that year is among my most regretted missed concert opportunities.)

Over the weekend, the NIN Hotline (via Slicing Up Eyeballs) made an amazing discovery: film editor David Williams uploaded 4 pro-shot videos of the Bowie-NIN collaboration to Vimeo earlier this summer, complete with stereo soundboard audio. Note the brilliantly reimagined guitar part by Reeves Gabrels as you watch Reznor, Bowie, and friends perform “Hurt” below (3 more videos are over at SUE as part of their excellent “Vintage Video” series):