Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds Bring An Emotional Uplift To Brooklyn

On the weekend of Oct. 7-8, 2023, Nick Cave performed a pair of solo shows at New York City’s Beacon Theatre minus his band, the Bad Seeds. Amid the tragic events that unfolded in the world that particular weekend, Cave’s somber and yet powerful music — in which he performed on piano with accompaniment by bassist Colin Greenwood — provided a much-needed balm and moment of reflection, especially for those who experienced grief.

More than a year after the solo performances at the Beacon, Cave’s perspective has shifted toward optimism and joy when he and the Bad Seeds’ returned to the Big Apple for a show at Brooklyn Barclays Center this past week. The subject of joy is a main theme of his most recent and excellent album, the cathartic Wild God. In a Newsweek interview from 2024, Cave said around the time of that album’s release: “I think joy on some level is a form of suffering, you could say. It’s a sort of upward explosion with the knowledge of what we are as human beings. This record’s like that. It keeps bursting forth.”

A considerable portion of Wild God dominated the setlist at Thursday’s show, and the dramatic and expansive cinematic-like songs from that record — including the title song, “Long Dark Night,” ”Frogs” and “Joy” — were perfectly suited to the much larger setting of the Barclays. They nestled perfectly with the old favorites such as “The Mercy Seat,” “Red Right Hand,” “Papa Won’t Leave You, Henry” and “The Weeping Song.”

Similar to the 2023 Beacon solo shows, the two-and-a-half-hour concert at the Barclays was like a religious revival gathering with Cave in the guise of a passionate evangelist while alternating between playing piano and reaching out to the front section of the audience with his hands. Like his previous live performances, he conveyed dual personalities at his recent show: that of an intimidating, almost menacing, figure full of fire and brimstone during the intense numbers (“From Her to Eternity,” “Tupelo”), and the other as a poetic and elegant soul on the reflective tunes (“O Children,” “I Need You”).

For an artist whose musical persona can be intimidating, Cave was in good, even humorous, spirits and gave shoutouts to Brooklyn and the city at large; his distinctive baritone singing and presence remained mesmerizing. Accompanied by a four-person choir, the Bad Seeds members were in top-notch form—among them Warren Ellis, Cave’s longtime collaborator and right-hand man, on violin and other instruments..

The poignant moment of the evening among many came at the very end when Cav performed solo on piano for the ballad “Into My Arms” (from the 1997 album The Boatman’s Call) — a fitting and touching way to conclude a show that left one moved spiritually.

The tone for the Bad Seeds’ electric performance was set by guitarist/singer Annie Clark, best known under the moniker of St Vincent, who opened the show. On her previous album, 2021’s Daddy’s Home, St. Vincent took a bit of a stylistic detour by exploring 70s-styled funk and soul. But on her most recent release, the Grammy-winning All Born Screaming, she returned to the hard-edged alternative rock of 2017’s Masseduction, and that was the sound that dominated her set at the Barclays. The intensity of All Born Screaming’s music (whose songs “Reckless,” “Flea” and “Broken Man” were part of the set list) translated well on stage via a ferocious performance by Clark and her band. They complemented the tone of the songs from Masseduction (“Los Ageless,” “Fear the Future,” “Sugarboy”), which were also played onstage. Appropriately, St. Vincent performed “New York” in front of the Big Apple crowd before she concluded with the haunting epic title track from All Born Screaming. Even though it was only an hour, the set was both turbulent and satisfying. St. Vincent continued to be a charismatic live performer whose sense of theatricality evoked Bowie and others from her vocal stylings to playing guitar while lying on the floor.

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

Setlist:

Frogs

Wild God

Song of the Lake

O Children

Jubilee Street

From Her to Eternity

Long Dark Night

Cinnamon Horses

Tupelo

Conversion

Bright Horses

Joy

I Need You

Carnage

Final Rescue Attempt

Red Right Hand

The Mercy Seat

White Elephant

Encore:

Papa Won’t Leave You, Henry

The Weeping Song

Skeleton Tree

Into My Arms

St. Vincent

Setlist:

Reckless

Broken Man

Fear the Future

Los Ageless

Flea

Cheerleader

Pay Your Way in Pain

New York

Sugarboy

All Born Screaming