It’s early on Friday night and I’m late for a very important date. I am queuing up to get my ticket scanned as Mark Lanegan is punching out his final few songs. The Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Riverstage show tonight is essentially a double-headliner, and I’m standing in the rain outside of the arena, like a sap.
Mark Lanegan performs his set accompanied simply by an acoustic guitarist. He’s wearing a baseball cap back-to-front, holding the microphone stand with one hand, looking down with his eyes closed, and barely moving. It’s the Mark Lanegan we’re all expecting. He’s so excellent. I’m so disappointed in myself.
I wait 45 minutes before Nick Cave and his entourage grace the stage. I’m not using the word entourage lightly, either. I’m seeing before me The Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Annerley Children’s Choir, a couple of back up singers and of course, his usual Bad Seeds — sans long time collaborator Mick Harvey, who’s been replaced by Ed Keupper of the Saints. What a spectacle. Nick Cave walks out to complete the scene, he greets the crowd and then away we go.
The first song performed, ‘We No Who U R’ is also the opening track on the latest Cave album, Push The Sky Away. The album was released last month. It’s the 15th studio album to date and is receiving mixed reviews. Opinions aside, it’s safe to say that the album is subtle, sprawling, soundtrack-y and most closely being compared to The Boatman’s Call, which they released six years ago. Plus it’s Nick Cave, he can do whatever the hell he wants.
The first half of the set is dedicated to songs from Push The Sky Away. The track ‘Jubilee Street’ is fantastic and hits the first really great moment of the show. Nick Cave is dancing and the entourage are all working hard and being heard equally; the sound is big and beautiful.
We’re halfway through the set when Cave puts aside Push The Sky Away and moves on to play a string of hits. The first one, ‘From Her To Eternity’, sees Warren Ellis jump up to conduct the Orchestra with a very unusual technique, however effective. ‘Red Right Hand’, ‘Oh Children’, ‘Deanna’, ‘Jack The Ripper’, and ‘Mercy Seat’ all take their turn. However, the absolute highlight occurs when Mark Lanegan is invited out to sing ‘The Weeping Song’, singing Blixa Bargeld’s part. I only wish his microphone was turned up just a little bit louder.
The rain came and went and came again, heavily, just as the two and a half hour set was ending. Those who had raincoats were blessed. The enormous breadth of texture in his body of works will always make for an excellent show, ranging from orchestral arrangements through to singular-chord moments, the avante-garde noise of ‘From Her To Eternity’ and then back again to the heartfelt ballads.
