Conversations with Nick Cave: An Evening of Talk and Music @ Massey Theatre -- 10/10/19

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A little over a year ago, prolific singer-songwriter Nick Cave started a project called the Red Hand Files, where fans could write in with questions, and he would answer them on the website. Recently, this has turned into a new type of show he’s started touring with, called Conversations with Nick Cave: An Evening of Talk and Music.

After the spoken-word piece "Steve McQueen" played over the speakers, Cave walked out and took a seat behind a grand piano on stage, starting off with "The Ship Song" before introducing the concept of the evening. He would be fielding questions from the audience (helpers going to seats signalling the stage with flashing light sticks) and weave in some music throughout the night.

Without going too far into the details, the questions Cave tackled ranged from his music to grief to mental health, and everywhere in between. With open and honest sincerity -- and occasional interjections of a wry sense of humour -- he talked about his writing process and collaborations, his novels and film scores, and the concept of "separating art from the artist". But also opened up about addiction, about faith and dealing with the death of a son. And many of the questioners themselves were just as candid, sharing their own stories and heartache, a couple even likening it to a sort of group therapy session. A fact that Cave pointed out was interesting, because he never specifically intended for that; not having a plan for the shows, he lets the audience dictate the tone and mood -- but embraces it with open arms and compassion.
Which can be risky for unplanned Q&As, but the questions were all very good, with only a couple people being... let's say "overly enthusiastic" or asking something that he just flat-out couldn't answer.

But it was a night of Talk and Music, and every few questions Cave would segue into a song, either fielding requests or finding a natural transition. He admitted his "fucking jealousy" for Leonard Cohen before going into a cover of "Avalanche" and after a question on his old band The Boys Next Door, played "Shivers".
Songs spanned his career and projects with “Palaces of Montezuma” from Grinderman, and fan favourites like "The Weeping Song" and one of my personal all-time faves, the heart-wrenchingly gorgeous "Into My Arms". Other songs were given a bit of a makeover, as Cave was alone at the piano. The fractiousness of "The Mercy Seat" was only slightly tempered, and the raucous "Papa Won't Leave You, Henry" kept its sinister tone.

After three hours(!) of taking questions, he was given the sign to wrap it up. Having previously talked about the the ultra violent and over-the-top murder ballad "Stagger Lee", he played that, once again the translation on piano losing none of the vitriol or hatred as Cave spat out the narrative. And then he finished off the night by doing a complete 180, like only Cave can, with an absolutely beautiful rendition of "Breathless".

It felt like Nick Cave could have gone on for far longer, if he wasn’t cut off. And honestly, I could have, too. There are few musicians that I’d want to see play for three hours, let alone talk at length, but Nick Cave’s captivating presence, both performing and preaching, made for an incredibly memorable night.

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setlist
The Ship Song
The Weeping Song
Avalanche [Leonard Cohen cover]
The Mercy Seat
Into My Arms
Jubilee Street
Shivers [The Boys Next Door]
Papa Won't Leave You, Henry
Palaces of Montezuma [Grinderman]
Stagger Lee
Breathless

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds @ Orpheum -- 06/30/14

After twenty years of missing Vancouver, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds were back for the second time in only 15 months. While the last one was at the Vogue Theatre, this time they doubled in size at the Orpheum for not one, but two shows. And as much as I loved the relatively intimate nature of the Vogue, I couldn't think of a better setting than the beautiful (in both looks and sound) Orpheum.

Opening the night was Mark Lanegan, former frontman of Screaming Trees. With a Waits-ian rasp, he sang accompanied only by a guy on electric guitar, his voice definitely the defining quality of the set. But he wasn't very talkative, not even addressing the crowd once, and barely moved from his "singing position"; one hand on the mic, one hand on the mic stand.

His set  mixed his own solo material with covers like  Bobby Darrin's "Mack The Knife", and while it was by no means bad, a lot of the songs bled into each other, and I have a feeling it would have come across a lot more engaging were it at a smaller, club venue as opposed to a giant theatre venue. Or if I been more familiar with him, or with the lyrics.

Not long after, at 9 sharp, the six members of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds took the stage to wild cheers. They immediately launched into "We No Who U R", the lead track to the latest album Push The Sky Away before "Jubilee Street" from the same album, a song which built to an ending to intense, culminating in broken guitar strings. From there the two hour set spanned the band's entire 30 year career, from the latest album all the way back to their earliest work with songs like "Tupelo" from the '85 album The Firstborn Is Dead, which grabbed the crowd as Cave urged everyone not already packed at the stage to come forward.

As one of the most charismatic and intense frontmen I have seen, the only time Nick Cave was close to being still was when he was behind the piano for gorgeous songs like "Into My Arms". The rest of the set he was stalking the front of the stage with more energy and passion than anyone I have seen perform. Orchestrating both the band and the crowd, Cave posed and thrust at the edge of the stage, and even had boxes set up so he could wade into the crowd, which he did frequently, reaching for outstretched hands. During the raucous "From Her To Eternity" he even pulled up one lucky girl to dance with him. It was the exact opposite of Lanegan's stage presence, which was made apparent when Cave invited him out to duet on "The Weeping Song".

And that's to say nothing of the rest of the band. Incredibly tight and flawless, especially multi-instrumentalist Warren Ellis, who tore it up on everything from bass to electric ukulele to microkorg, and especially on violin.

As well as spanning the band's three decade career, the songs ranged from beautiful to manic, two of the most extreme examples coming at the very end of the set; the Murder Ballad "Stagger Lee" in which Cave graphically acted out the wanton sexual and violent acts in the song's narrative, followed by the amazingly beautiful title track to Push The Sky Away, Cave softly crooning
"Some people say it's just rock & roll / ah but it gets you right down in your soul"
before saying goodnight.

But of course they were not done there (the mystery of the encore quashed a little by techs doing a quick bass check and drum tightening) as they were back for another handful of songs.

Starting off with another haunting piano number, the subversive "God Is In The House" was followed by requests shouted out from the crowd; older songs like "Papa Won't Leave You, Henry" and "Do You Love Me?" had Cave as full of passion as he was at the start of the set. And finally, the band wrapped it up fittingly with a twist on an old tale, "The Lyre of Orpheus" as they ended the first of two nights at the Orpheum.

For ten years now, Cave has been one of my favourite artists, and while I have only seen him live thrice (twice with The Bad Seeds, once as Grinderman) I can undoubtedly say he is one of the single best frontmen I have witnessed. I have seen people half his age with a quarter of the raw passion and visceral energy he pours out, and no one knows how to work the crowd quite like him.

There is a reason the band's live shows have been heralded as legendary, and I can't imagine anyone seeing them live, and not leaving breathless.

setlist

We No Who U R; Jubilee Street; Tupelo; Red Right Hand; Mermaids; From Her To Eternity; West Country Girl; Into My Arms; People Ain't No Good; The Weeping Song; Higgs Boson Blues; The Mercy Seat; Stagger Lee; Push the Sky Away.

(encore) God Is In The House; The Ship Song; Papa Won't Leave You, Henry; Do You Love Me?; The Lyre of Orpheus.