Live Gigs: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds @ Perth Arena

Tonight was the very last show of the Aussie Bad Seeds tour and in short tonight was fuckin’ unbelievable! It’s the first since 2013 if you don’t count the so called solo one which I dubbed more his first nostalgia tour ever from 2015 which was just OK really.

Cave in Adelaide NOT Perth because I never taken photos at gigs! Pic by Rodney Magazinovic

Well, they were not joking about an early start maybe old Nick, he’s turning 60 later this year you know? Doesn’t like late nights anymore. No support band at all, The Bad Seeds hit the stage what must have been a little after eight o’clock give or take and then ending around 10:10. Warren Ellis taking to the grand piano I was thinking was for Cave himself and the other guys fill around him, starting a very piano heavy and maybe even more stripped back version of Anthrocene as the opening song of the night. Cave enter after a little while and sit down in something best describe as a high chair, quite a way to start a show. In his dark blue suit tonight and some the shiniest shoes I ever seen him wearing he was looking very dapper. Jesus Alone could have even more feedback heavy and Warren back at the big piano for Magneto again, it just kept building and building louder until the drums was pumping by the end. These three song are most likely my favourites from the new album and performed a little different here.

The first of three of my favs from the pervious album was next up and changing the last line of Higgs Boson Blues to “Mylie Cyrus is the best girl I ever had.” We skip back to mid-80’s classic for the next two songs with terrifying great versions both From Her To Eternity and Tupelo. Then making a sandwich by going to Jubilee Street next, making great use of now having steps going down to the fence and holding hands, telling the crowd to “fuck off with your phones” including sung it into the words of one of these tracks.

It was now time for the main man to sit down at that piano now and do two of his greatest ballads from the 90’s, the double team of The Ship Song and Into My Arms. Following those is couple more newies, the big screen light up with the scene from last years’ One More Time With Feeling doco with Suzie walking on the beach which the husband on stage watches her walking away with his back to the crowd until he needs the sing Girl In Amber and then I Need You. 

Everything then turns brutally red and everyone scream as the bell starts Red Right Hand and the mayhem continues with The Mercy Seat. Running up and down like a crazy man and not really crowd surfing but just falling into crowd in the real screaming moments. Things mellowed out next with the closing two tracks in the right order from the new album Distant Sky with the big screen singing Else Torp which was a bit odd at the time but sitting now listen again to the album while writing this I’m thinking like it a little more now after seeing it, Ellis played one amazing violin solo ending the song too. The closing and title track Skeleton Tree finished the main set.

The Weeping Song does seem a little different to heard it after what happened with Cave’s own son. He’s singing both father and sons lines now, musically it’s way more violin than ever before. The extra long Stagger Lee kills the devil remix is back by popular demand after being drop for awhile. After all that the beautiful Push The Sky Away close this show. Also at some point after coming back on even before starting the encore songs he thanks all the members of The Bad Seeds by their name, saying it’s honour to sing in front of them and calling the greatest band on the planet, after tonight’s gig there’s no doubt that!

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds 31st Jan. 2017 Setlist:

Anthrocene

Jesus Alone

Magneto

Higgs Boson Blues

From Her To Eternity

Tupelo

Jubilee Street

The Ship Song

Into My Arms

Girl In Amber

I Need You

Red Right Hand

The Mercy Seat

Distant Sky

Skeleton Tree

Encore:

The Weeping Song

Stagger Lee

Push The Sky Away

Now bonus Nick Cave stuff which I’m writing this yesterday but I could do a couple more posts but I might as well tack it on the end of this post, OK? Nick now can put the letters AO after his name because other day he was given medal called order of Australia for his service to the music industry by the government here.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds look like they’re going to the Mid-East, popping up on a couple news site there saying their going for at least one summer show in Jerusalem, Israel. The first since the late 90’s there. So just guessing but more dates be sooner or later be added. If him and his band come anywhere near where you live, you just have to go and see him!

Cave gave his first press conference in a very long time at the very start of the tour and for me, the most interesting thing was about up his coming releases. Him and Warren Ellis have a total of six! Yes, that’s six soundtracks of some kind coming out this year sometime? Now some don’t really like them compered to the band’s albums but really dig them a lot, maybe too much sometime. The first is from the writer of last year’s Hell Or High Water who’s now the director Taylor Sheridan and his first film called Wind River starring Jeremy Renner.

  My physical copy the Mars soundtrack turn up a couple of weeks ago and I’ve been meaning to write something about but it already seems a bit like old news, the very short review is it’s fuckin’ great. But here’s something everyone seems to have forget to have reported on Nick Cave first Classical Opera has finally came out sometime late last year or over the new year on double CD or download/streaming. It’s called Shell Shock and was first done back in 2014 but only now released.

OK, signing off now!