Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds are one of a kind. For two and a half hours, Manchester is treated to a show of a standard only Nick Cave can achieve. He’s a demented maestro, a possessed conductor – he’s Nick Cave.
Black Country, New Road open the night and play a set full of new material. Now I admit I’m late to the party with this band but was pleasantly surprised. They’re the ideal opening with a blend of folky acoustics that often explode into a a chorus of noise. Although they’re probably more suited to a smaller venue, the band didn’t feel out of place in an arena delivering a huge set. Closer ‘For The Cold Country’ was the standout track starting slowly before firing into a giant closing, it’s definitely a song to look out for.
Then it’s onto the man himself. Hitting the stage at half past eight exactly, the Bad Seeds receive huge applause before the star of the show arrives. Waltzing onto the stage, Nick Cave soaks up every bit of admiration from the crowd before going straight into ‘Frogs’ from the new album Wild God. Now it is the Wild God Tour and there is a lot of new tracks scattered across the night, but this is a classic Bad Seeds show.
Three new tracks kick things off before a crowd favourite in ‘O Children’ appears. Then it’s the first big hitter. Now if you’ve ever saw Nick Cave live, you’ll know about ‘Jubilee Street’. Going from a good song on the album to a great song live, Cave and the band really turn things up for the first time tonight. Screams of “I’m transforming, I’m vibrating,” must be ringing out across Manchester because inside the arena it’s deafening in the best possible way.
‘Tupelo’ and its rumbling bass is enough to send shivers down your spine with Cave prowling the front of stage, screaming into the faces of fans and grasping hundreds of stray hands. The mix of heavier tracks and ballads is perfect with you constantly being kept on your toes. Soon following on from ‘Tupelo’ is Skeleton Tree’s ‘I Need You’, which is sure to make even the biggest punk in the crowd emotional.
A stacked end to the main set sees ‘Red Right Hand’ followed by ‘The Mercy Seat’. A surprise of the night was ‘White Elephant’, a song off Nick Cave and Bad Seed Warren Ellis’ album Carnage. Closing the main set it has a ‘Jubilee Street’ feel with it going from a good song to something from another planet live, it’s a truly special moment.
Coming back on stage for an encore, there’s two more huge hits in ‘Papa Won’t Leave You, Henry’ and ‘The Weeping Song’ which have the whole arena singing in full voice. As the Bad Seeds leave the stage for the final time, Nick Cave takes his seat behind the piano for one final track, ‘Into My Arms’.
Now if you’ve never seen Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds you have to – it’s not just a concert it’s an experience. Like an eccentric suit clad preacher, Cave has you in the palm of his hand and what he gives you is nothing short of amazing. As he said himself on stage “Manchester, that was fucking beautiful.”
