Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: This Show Is Not For Us

I’m standing, aghast, watching the flame and fury pour out of the Apollo stage. Nick Cave and his Bad Seeds treat the audience like an exorcism as they try to pump the devil out of us. “Get ready to shield yourselves” screams the terrifying presence that is Mr. Cave. It’s no surprise that I mistake this as “get ready to shit yourselves”.

The year has been a disappointing one for live shows. So to say that the Bad Seeds were impressive beyond believe is a sheer understatement. Cave shifts effortlessly from preacher to comedian to showman, his talents showing far more skill than the average rock n roll front-man. But this is unfair. I am a fan, and even though the May 9^th show is clearly an exhibition of the new album, “Dig Lazarus, Dig!!!”, classic Bad Seeds songs such as “Red Right Hand” and “Tupelo” make an appearance within the first ten minutes. He then turns to the audience and storms through the majority of the new album and where they seem lifeless and limp on record, they are punchy and God-fearing on stage.

Within the fresh songs, I search aimlessly for a more familiar song to latch onto. Then he throws us “Let Love In” and I settle back in with a smile on my face. Cave treats every song as if it could end in disaster, launching himself into every note as angrily as the last. He loves what he does and by the time he says “goodnight” for the first of four times, he looks tired before changing out of his shirt and throwing himself back into the fray. By the time “Stagger Lee” chooses to end their second encore, the audience are suffering a shock to the system. The show they had just witnessed, it seems, had not been played to them, but to the heavens Cave was singing about.