By DJ Astrocreep
The usual short hop over to Manchester sees me take in the gothfather himself, Nick Cave, along with his Bad Seed companions. Cave is always an experience much more than just a live show, so there is a real anticipation for just what the evening will entail.
Unfortunately, on arrival, there’s an issue with my tickets, which leads to me missing almost the entirety of the support act as I’m sent from pillar to post to even collect the tickets, before more of the same inside when the tickets would see my take my wheelchair down several flights of stairs and across a row to the assigned seats – not the easiest of jobs! I eventually get inside to a suitable spot and settle to wait for our headliner. From the couple of minutes I was able to catch of support Black Country, New Road they sounded great with some melodic alternative rock and a lot of harmonies which make me slightly wistful for having missed them.
What I wasn’t prepared for was two and a half hours of pure, unadulterated musical bliss. Cave is a master performer, coming across like a preacher of the finest introverted, darkened blues. With Warren Ellis, his long time collaborator and fellow musical genius – or, as Cave himself puts it, “Warren Ellis… a deeply flawed, beautiful, broken genius”, a phrase delivered with his usual sardonic sense of humour and love and one which barely touches just how deep their connection seems to be.
Ellis is an ever willing and able companion, stood at times on his chair, back arched like some kind of possessed wizard, flinging about his violin and kicking over stands as he cast his spell over us all. The entirety of the band are superb in their own right, from backing singers to drums, guitars et al, each adding their own voice and ability to create such a beautiful yet sombre performance. Despite the subject matter in a lot of his songs, there are such harmonics and such delicate poise that it’s impossible to keep your eyes dry, my own moment being during personal favourite, ‘Jubilee Street’.
While we start with some newer tracks, it’s not long before ‘Jubilee Street’ rings out, just after ‘O, Children’, a song his younger fans may be more familiar with. With the likes of ‘Tupelo’, ‘Red Right Hand’ and another personal favourite, ‘The Mercy Seat’ included later in the set, it is a spellbinding performance, evidenced by the almost deafening silence whenever there’s a very short gap.
A phenomenal performance from someone rightfully regarded as the foremost among his peers.
- The tour continues:
