Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Live Tour 04/05 > Reviews (1)

Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds – Wolverhampton Civic

Nick Cave has been gothing it up for three decades and shows little signs of giving up the (dark, chain-rattling, Old Testament thumping) ghost just yet, thank God!

Successive Bad Seeds albums had seen the emergence of a more subdued beast, as likely to get high from a piano ballad than guitar grind, since kicking his Heroin habit.

But as his latest double album Abattoir Blues/The Lyre Of Orpheus shows, his healthy love for the darker side of the soul, death and mysticism and bone-crushing arrangement are strong as ever.

The double album, testament to his Jekyll and Hyde nature, made up the meat of the ballsy set, delivered by the antipodean Baritone from the gut, with frequent velveteen punches.

Blinders included single Nature Boy, the ballistic Get Ready For Love and classic-in-waiting There She Goes My Beautiful World - with a chorus Franz Ferdinand would murder for.

Blues-tinged post-punk arrangements often punished songs within an inch of their lives, beating them leaner and meaner through waves of guitar, violin and barricades of percussion.

The latter part of the set brought together resurrections from back catalogue with The Weeping Song and high ham-murder ballad Stagger Lee at their cutting best.

There was a notable lack of gnashing of teeth for a decade before his recent release but pre-and post Good Son clamour was represented by Deanna and the fiery Red Right Hand.

When he launched into űber-ballad God Is In The House with backing singers in full-gospel mode, an angelic backdrop, it made you think, if he were, he would be proud to be here.

The Goth-father is back!