CONVERSATIONS WITH NICK CAVE | LIVE REVIEW
Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay, Sat 15 June
Nick Cave arrived to a packed Wales Millennium Centre, beginning the UK leg of the Conversations With… global tour – following on from The Red Hand Files, where fans ask him questions online and Cave personally responds.
The event started promptly with a recorded spoken word intro, Steve McQueen, followed by the lights turning on to Cave, alone at a piano, opening with God Is In The House from 2001’s No More Shall We Part. The concept is simple: Nick Cave takes questions from the audience and plays a few numbers now and then. He also asked that nobody record or film the questions, as some would be incredibly personal – social media and its ills too great a risk.
And many of the questions proved to be deeply personal: from partners passing away to cancer diagnosis, via questions about belief in God and how to help a daughter addicted to heroin. Cave always answers with incredible sympathy, depth and interest, which isn’t easy seeing as both he and the person asking are thrust into the spotlight in front of 2,000 others. It’s surprising, indeed, how emphatically he manages to respond. When asked if he suffers from stage fright, he openly explained that while he had in the past, he now imagines his son – Arthur, who tragically died in 2015 – standing next to him as he walks on stage; reminding him that that whatever could go wrong has already happened and nothing could top that.
There are plentiful discussions on his writing practices, including the note he’d love to create a horror movie soundtrack with Warren Ellis. He also came prepared with pre-printed lists for questions on books and music inspiration, to be collected from the stage, clearly popular past questions. Some of the questions didn’t really get anywhere – participants rambling on too long to a confused Cave, though I suppose that’s part of the risk with these events.
Often the questions were followed with song requests. Some were met with a flat ‘no’ but the approved ones would see him walk over to his piano and dedicate it to that person, his voice clear and dark as the night, the lone piano ringing out. Personal favourites were Grinderman’s Palaces Of Mantezuma which he admitted to never playing solo before and being incredibly impressed with himself for pulling it off. There were some other deep cuts that don’t get much of an airing these days, such as Papa Won’t Leave You Henry from 1992 album Henry’s Dream, and a cover of Leonard Cohen’s Avalanche, amidst some stunning renditions of Jubilee Street, The Weeping Song and the evening’s final number, The Ship Song.
This was a unique and immersive experience that took a lot of nerve to pull off, which Nick Cave did with a natural ease. It might not be of interest if you’re not already a fan, but if you are, it’s a glorious evening.
words DANIEL JONES