Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds began their British tour last night with an occasionally scrappy, but ultimately triumphant 19-song set at the Brighton Centre in Cave’s adopted hometown – a fact he addressed with repeated thanks to “the beautiful people of Brighton”.
Another day, another disc from the Miles Davis "On The Corner" box set, and someone (John McLaughlin?) appears to have turned up with a sitar. Most bracing. Before we embarked on this, though, we played the new Nick Cave & Warren Ellis soundtrack, a musical sequel of sorts to their score for "The Proposition" from a couple of years ago.
Never mind the bats, release the DVD! A fair-value set of 20 promos from the durable out-of-tune gothsters, many directed by longtime cohort John Hillcoat. Anton Corbijn helms "Straight To You", and renaissance man Mick Harvey bosses the excellent "Deanna" and "Wanted Man".There's an undeniable sense that Cave's talents withered long ago, and the duets with Kylie, PJ Harvey and Shane MacGowan are distraction tactics, but this is a comprehensive, cool-enough collection.
A booted and suited Cave looks disarmingly like a door-to-door evangelist in this live French show from 2001. The intensity of his earlier work has of late been tempered by a more pensive, hymn-like calm and it's the latter which is to the fore in a set that concentrates on the No More Shall We Part album. Yet it's older material such as "The Mercy Seat" and "Saint Huck" which provide most of the highlights.
