There probably aren’t many superlatives left with which to praise Nick Cave. The Australian is in Cardiff tonight, with a Bad Seeds lineup including Radiohead’s Colin Greenwood on bass alongside more regular features such as longtime Cave collaborator Warren Ellis.
The lights go down, and Frogs – from newest Bad Seeds album Wild God – begins, with the band, backed by several gospel singers, appearing on stage ahead of Nick Cave himself. His swagger pointed and determined, almost immediately he’s as close as physically possible to the crowd, standing practically on the stage barrier – a position he takes up for a good part of the night, conducting the room to his whims.
Most of Wild God gets aired tonight, with the title track and Song Of The Lake coming early on, but there’s also a good amount of time for the ‘classics’. A run of From Her To Eternity, Long Dark Night, and Cinnamon Horses runs the emotions in the room through the gambit, as does the powerful Tupelo (written about the day Elvis was born) but it’s Conversion where things start to become even more frantic and beautiful, with Cave practically screaming the song’s crescendo into the void of the crowd.
Joy is spellbindingly beautiful and chill-inducing this evening – an incredible moment for all in the room – and barring a slight hiccup on Red Right Hand (“I got the wrong verse here… shit!”), Cave is impeccable. It feels as if he’s engaging every possible feeling in this show, and as the main set ends with White Elephant, a cut from his and Ellis’ 2021 album Carnage, there doesn’t necessarily feel a need for more.
Yet, there quite rightly is. The encore opens with O Wow O Wow How Wonderful She Is, – a tribute to original Bad Seed Anita Lane, who died in 2021 – before Papa Won’t Leave You Henry and The Weeping Song play out, and the Bad Seeds leave the stage just leaving Cave with his piano. Naturally, tonight’s final song is Into My Arms, and it speaks power to Cave’s aura as a performer that he holds thousands of people in silence in the palm of his hand before gently encouraging the room to sing the chorus.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Utilita Arena Cardiff, Wed 6 Nov
words JOSHUA WILLIAMS photos TIM ALBAN
