State Theatre, Sydney
29 April 2024
Photographer: Kevin Bull
Quite simply, Nick Cave is a National living treasure. His deep baritone, his lyrical musings grabs you deep inside and will break you. It is near impossible to not be emotionally touched. I felt this tonight, as did all those who joined me for his first of six Sydney shows.
This solo tour is a stripped as you will see Cave. Finely attired in suit and tie, grand piano with wonderful bass accompaniment by Radiohead’s Colin Greenwood, Cave is unable to hide behind the brute force of the Bad Seeds, with the light being shone firmly on his vocal delivery and the strength of the songs.
The 20+ song setlist covered Cave’s long and varied career, reaching as far back as 1979’s, Roland S. Howard dedicated, The Boys Next Door classic, ‘Shivers’, to the most recent, Warren Ellis collaboration, Carnage, with ‘Balcony Man’ getting a similar treatment as it did during the Cave/Ellis tour where those in the balcony seats were encouraged to yell out every time the word ‘balcony’ was sung. This crowd interaction continued to the following song, where Cave brought the focus to those seated in the stalls encouraging them to “shut the fuck up.” It was a rowdy crowd at times.
Quite chatty and humorous through out the night, Cave introduced most songs with a factual or witty story that drew the crowd into what was upcoming. ‘Papa Won’t Leave You, Henry’ was preceded with how the song was written as a lullaby for his newborn son, Luke, back in 1991. He concluded by informing us that two days prior, his son has had his own son, to which we all applauded. To open us up to a truly personal moment in his life only added to the song that followed, and was one of many highlights of the night.
We also had the privilege of witnessing Cave duet with Beth Orton on the 1990 ‘The Ship Song’, the opening song of the encore. Having performed her own show two days prior in Sydney, and before her Brisbane show tomorrow night, this meeting of Cave and Orton on stage was a one-off that enraptured those of us in attendance. THE highlight for myself was the hushed delivery of ‘Into My Arms’, where the audience quietly singing along with the chorus, “Into My Arms, Oh Lord, Into My Arms, Oh Lord.” It is one of the most beautiful love songs to be written, and exactly why this night was so special.
Personally I have witnessed Nice Cave live in a number of guises, a few Bad Seeds shows, Grinderman at the 2011 Big Day Out, alongside Warren Ellis, and now solo and stripped. Each time I have come away in amazement. If you get the opportunity to see Cave during this solo tour, please do it.
