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.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds @ Vogue Theatre -- 04/06/13

Twenty years. That's how long it's been since Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds have been to Vancouver for a show. And for ten of those years, I have been a fan. In fact, they are one of my all time favourite bands, so not having seen them live was a top of the proverbial must-see-list. Sure, Grinderman was here a couple years ago, but even though the side project featured Cave with Bad Seeds Warren Ellis, Martyn Casey, and Jim Sclavunos, it was just not quite the same.
But after years of waiting, they finally returned to Vancouver touring the new album, Push The Sky Away, for a show at the Vogue Theatre. And to say I was exited would be a vast understatement (if you follow me on the twitters, you know how obnoxiously eager I was for it).

I was also excited for the opening act, Toronto's Basia Bulat. On the surface, the folky singer/songwriter may have been an odd choice to open, but from what I saw of her, she rose to the occasion.
Sadly, I missed about half of her set -- the Vogue was doing a new thing where all the tickets were held at will call, which is a great idea to crack down on scalpers, but it caused a bit of a lineup getting in.
I caught the last three songs, and with just Basia & with her autoharp on stage, her powerful voice and rollicking songs like "Heart of My Own" winning over the crowd.
She teased a new album with her last song, swapping her autoharp for an acoustic guitar, and playing the title track to the album due out in the fall. Hopefully that means she'll be back before long, since her set (or what I caught of it) was much too short.

Then, after much anticipation, the lights went down at 9 sharp and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds came out one by one, Cave last, kicking off with a few songs from the new album. The melodic "We No Who U R" starting things off soft, and the tempo stayed the same for the beginning of "Jubilee Street", before it exploded with energy by the end.

Cave is possibly the most charismatic frontman I have ever seen perform. When he wasn't behind the piano -- which was most of the set -- he was stalking the front of the stage, back and forth like a sinister preacher. Frequently perched at the edge of the stage, he would lean in, grab people's hands, sing directly to them; he was even offered up a harmonica necklace by one fan right up front, which he not only took and wore, but played for the intro of a song.

But of course passion alone does not necessarily make a show great, and they definitely had the music -- and musicians -- to back it up. Jim Sclavunos was a monster on drums, and multi-instrumentalist Warren Ellis was brilliant as always. The setlist spanned the band's entire career, going all the way back to their first album from 1984 with the title track to From Her To Eternity and many song in-between. It was also as diverse as the band's repertoire, from the beautiful "Love Letter" to the sinister "Red Right Hand" to the all out rocker "Deanna".

The two songs that most highlighted the extremes were also two of the highlights of the set. While Cave was at the piano, he asked for requests and after a cacophony of song titles, he went with the absolutely gorgeous, beautiful, and heartbreaking "Into My Arms", and a few songs later, he ended the main set with the frantic "Stagger Lee", a murderous ballad with Cave graphically pantomiming the sex & violence in the song's narrative with wild abandon.

After thunderous applause, they were of course back out for an encore of a couple songs, another old song "Tupelo", and the title track from the new album Push The Sky Away, leaving us with the fitting line "Some people say it's just rock 'n' roll / Ah, but it gets you right down to your soul"

There is a reason Nick Cave is legendary, and he more than proved it at the Vogue. I have seen bands half the age of Cave with much, much less energy. He worked the crowd like no other, and even though the set was nearly two hours, I still didn't want it to be over.

This wasn't just the show of the year, it was the show of a lifetime.

setlist
We No Who U R; Jubilee Street; Wide Lovely Eyes; Higgs Boson Blues; From Her To Eternity; Red Right Hand; Stranger than Kindness; Deanna; Jack the Ripper; Papa Won't Leave You, Henry; Love Letter; Into My Arms; Weeping Song; The Mercy Seat; Stagger Lee.
(encore) Tupalo; Push the Sky Away.