Nick Cave & Colin Greenwood
13th May 2024
A dimly lit stage, a grand piano, a pile of sheet music.
The slight hint of smoke catching in the gentle spotlights, the bellowing, beautiful voice of Nick Cave. The wide expanse of the convention center.
No giant screens, no production - this solo tour encompassed everything Nick Cave is; a transcendent musical talent, vulnerable, at times cold, at all times tender. The flow of the piano weaves in and out of a diminuendo as each song begins and ends. The stillness from the audience, suspended in a cave-esque bubble. Time didn’t exist anywhere outside of this concert hall, it had stopped to watch on.
Cave introduced ‘Jesus of the Moon’ under the guise of; ‘the upbeat, optimistic freedom-loving feeling of leaving your girlfriend - the liminal space between freedom and knowing you’ve made a terrible mistake’…laughter erupts before it retreats inward, at the first piano chord. Nick Cave, the show where you laugh and cry, at the same time. For 2 hours nonstop.
The first third of the show held special moments with moving numbers; ‘Galleon ship’, ‘O Children’, ‘I need you’ & ‘Papa won’t leave you, Henry’, followed by more moving moments just with more entertaining lip. ‘Balcony Man’ was a highlight - the ability to coax the crowd into laughter moments before crushing them with existentialistic, heartsick verses is a rare tragicomedy where masochistic audiences bridge the gap between the bittersweet and the all-familiar rain.
Cave’s natural emotional ambivalence is akin to watching a golden orb weave its web, catching everything in its wake and cocooning into your soul - the poetry of each verse punching into your psyche and illuminating the dark corners in your head. It’s hard to not feel mystical and elegiac after the grace of Caves’ presence, which if you couldn’t tell - I am feeling this Tuesday morning.
‘Carnage’, ‘The Ship Song’, ‘Sad Waters’, and ‘Jubilee Street’ closed out the second half of the show, pre-encore, and brought with it, deeper cut emotions and more crescendoing chords.
‘(Are you) The One That I’ve Been Waiting For?’ My favourite Nick Cave track was everything my aching heart wanted. Cave dedicated this song to his wife who was tucked behind the side stage curtain, preluding it was a devastatingly adoring tribute to her which pierced through me viscerally. Following that gut-wrenching moment was ‘Into My Arms’ one of my other, all-time favourite tunes. It was a stunning audience participation number, where Cave instructed us to sing the choruses with him, gently as he played in C Major, his dark voice engulfing everything. It was so delicate, I removed my hearing protection to feel the choir of thoughtful singing.
After joking about the absurdness of Encores, Cave took to the piano seat, the pile of sheet music and lyrics almost glowing in the spotlight on the floor behind him, and began to play ‘Shivers’ an old Roland S Howard ‘boy’s next door’ song. He was taking requests and the keenest audience members tried their luck…In Brisbane we heard ‘Love Letter’ a special request from Liz, ‘Cosmic Dancer’ an unexpected T.REX cover that pleased me, and ‘Palaces of Montezuma’ requested by Madeline - in which he said the name ‘Madeline’ within the song as much as possible, illuminating the smiles of everyone in the room.
‘God Is In The House’ proved for a great laugh when Cave gave the floor to the audience to sing and only maybe 3 people knew the words - to which I think he tittered and said ‘this song does really well in America’. Ending on a Seekers cover of ‘The Carnival is Over’ Brisbane concluded Nick Caves Solo run and the endless standing applause under the warm house lights felt truly genuine and devoted.
Radiohead’s Colin Greenwood accompanied Nick Cave tonight, his bass lines weaving in and out delicately in conjunction with Cave’s piano - like a wave gently crashing on ocean rocks - Greenwood’s intuitive playing cast a bright light on caves musicianship and the pair performed delightfully together. It was a true joy to watch both of them enjoy their time on stage, like chiffon their melodies floated wispy in the air, following me home until my head hit the pillow.
Thank you supersonic for having me.
