dread

What a piquant moment for Nine Inch Nails to be back on the road playing their version of David Bowie’s “I’m Afraid of Americans.”

At the Forum on Thursday, for the first show of a final two-night stand of the electronic-rock band’s Peel It Back arena tour, singer Trent Reznor didn’t elaborate on the freshly resonant subtext in Bowie’s song (one that Reznor remixed for the late Brit and, in its music video, played a Travis Bickle-esque creep).

But you could feel the sold-out Forum roil with new unease at that squelching industrial song, as Reznor muttered Bowie’s scabrous lyrics about “No one needs anyone … Johnny wants p— and cars … God is an American.”

At this point, who isn’t a little afraid of Americans? Nine Inch Nails thrive in the murk of base human instinct and tech-driven dread. Who better to help us limn out these feelings of disgust, rage and desolation right now?

Now in their fourth decade as a group, Nine Inch Nails — the duo of Reznor and producer/keyboardist Atticus Ross along with a closely held touring band — does two difficult things extraordinarily well.

For 15 years, Reznor and Ross have served as Hollywood’s eminent techno-intellectuals, with a pair of Oscar wins for their film scores including the brooding lashes of David Fincher’s “The Social Network” and the yearning ambiance of Pixar’s “Soul.” They have an upcoming film-music festival, Future Ruins, that will be the first of its kind and caliber in Los Angeles.

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1. Robin Finck of Nine Inch Nails. 2. Trent Reznor. 3. Fans react as Nine Inch Nails perform at Kia Forum. (Hon Wing Chiu / For The Times)

But Thursday’s Forum show was a decadent reminder of just how nasty and violent this band can be as well.

Opening on the smaller, in-the-round B-stage, Reznor took a solo-piano run through “Right Where It Belongs,” gradually adding Ross, bassist-keyboardist Alessandro Cortini and guitarist Robin Finck into a squalling “Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now),” before finally introducing drummer Josh Freese on the calisthenic drum workout of “Wish.”

Freese was a last-minute addition to the touring band, after the group unexpectedly swapped percussionists with Foo Fighters days before Peel It Back kicked off. But Freese — an NIN veteran of the mid-2000s — has become a fan-favorite returning hero, bolstering this lineup with pure rocker muscle.

Back on the main stage, they redlined through “March of the Pigs” and seethed with fuzzbox rot on “Reptile.” They veiled the stage in gauze on “Copy of A,” casting dozens of Reznor shadows while he strutted and howled about a despondent, depersonalized modernity.

A second pass through the rave-ready B-stage gave a hint at what the band’s cryptically billed upcoming Coachella set might look like. “Nine Inch Noize” — implying an ongoing collaboration with their opener and collaborator, the German club music producer Boys Noize — took form here under a monolithic, blood-colored lightbox. Reznor, Ross and Boys Noize revved up a new single, “As Alive As You Need Me To Be” from the film “Tron: Ares,” but also revamped the eternal hit “Closer” and “Came Back Haunted” with an after-hours sizzle.

It’s impossible to imagine a single as desperately sexual, as sacrilegiously sacred as “Closer” ever making it to the Hot 100 today. For the Gen Z fans fascinated by Nails’ gothic-erotic aesthetic, it felt more transgressive than ever.

After slashed-up takes on “The Perfect Drug” and “The Hand That Feeds,” the band closed out the set with an opposing pair of songs that covered the full range of what its audience is likely going through today. How viscerally satisfying to scream “Head like a hole, black as your soul / I’d rather die than give you control” as American life seems to unravel with each passing hour.

But of course, the band closed on “Hurt.” Johnny Cash recorded his canonical version at 70, a cover now synonymous with a lion in winter starting down the grave. Just 10 years younger at 60, Reznor performed it Thursday with all the tightly coiled emotion and intimate grandeur of the kid who wrote it. American life is pain; Nine Inch Nails endures.

Welsh football had known hope before. Now there was expectation.

Wales had not played at a major tournament since the 1958 World Cup but, with world-class players such as Bale and Aaron Ramsey in their prime, there was growing belief that the wait could soon be over.

And after years of hype and hypotheticals about this golden generation, Wales started their qualifying campaign for Euro 2016 in a manner that suggested, this time, this was real.

Unbeaten in their opening five matches, in June 2015 Wales hosted a Belgian side ranked second in the world – and featuring the likes of Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku and De Bruyne – having already held them to a goalless draw in Brussels.

“We were going into that game not expected to win, but we worked so hard,” says Ledley. “You want to play against the best players in the world and, for me, Belgium was that team.

“Fitness levels were all over the place. A few of our players in the Championship and League One were finished three weeks before. You could see the ones who’d been away on a lads’ holiday!”

If preparations were not ideal, Wales hid it well with a ferociously energetic and disciplined display.

Manager Chris Coleman had sprung a surprise with his team selection as he started fringe Swansea City defender Jazz Richards at right-wing-back. Chris Gunter, who usually played there, shifted to the right of a back three for the first time in his international career.

It proved to be an inspired move as together they stifled the threat of that year’s Premier League player of the season, Hazard, on Belgium’s left.

“The whole defensive unit and team, all our roles and responsibilities were really clear. We had trust in whoever was playing in each position,” Gunter recalls.

“The aim before any campaign was to qualify and we always said we needed to start one well and get some momentum, so we had done that. Then it was ‘right, if we’re serious about this, we have to take points off the best team in the group’.

“It had all the ingredients of a really special football night in Wales. It was a Friday night, there was rain, but it was warm and the atmosphere was incredible.”

Wales delivered a performance to match the occasion, as Bale fired past Thibaut Courtois in the first half to send a heaving Cardiff City Stadium into raptures.

Belgium pressed for an equaliser but, inspired by the home crowd’s spellbinding, impromptu rendition of the Welsh national anthem, Wales clung on for a heroic victory.

“The belief after that result, you could feel it, not just with us players, but with the fans as well, and you could sense we were on the verge of qualifying,” says Ledley.

“Fans play a massive part. I think at Cardiff City Stadium that night they carried us over that finish line.”

More than possible, this result made qualification probable.

Even with their team three points clear at the top of the qualifying group, some Wales fans still needed some convincing.

After all, it had been 57 years since Wales had been to a major tournament and that barren period was littered with agonising tales of near misses.

But this time was different.

“There was a real belief inside the changing room and the squad, and maybe for the fans it was more hope and desperation for us to do it,” says Gunter.

“I think definitely after that win, everybody really believed.”

Victory in Cyprus the following September put Wales in touching distance, only for a goalless draw at home to Israel to delay the celebrations.

Once you have waited 57 years, though, a month does not seem so long. Wales finally sealed qualification in Bosnia-Herzegovina when they suffered their only defeat of the campaign, but had their place in France confirmed by Cyprus’ win in Israel.

As the rain poured down in Zenica, Wales had their moment of catharsis, released from the shackles of their history, dreaming of the golden summer to come.