More about: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

Everything about a Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds gig screams “big deal!”. Everyone is dressed their best, from their finest vintage tour shirts to floor length The Vampire's Wife dresses, and the music matches the high standards set. In all the other acts on the eclectic All Points East Sunday bill, you can feel an unspoken pressure; Nick here, better do our best.

And the best is way above good enough. By 2pm, Victoria Park is already packed out with a crowd ranging from families with kids to London young professionals. More than any other day of the festival, Nick Cave’s crowd is varied and dedicated, feeling the air with that focussed feeling of a concert rather than a festival. Diving into the lineup with Attawalpa on the BMW Play Next Stage, each one of the acts plays to a corner of Nick’s varied sound. From the old school punky, grunge days of The Birthday Party, artists like Starcrawler and Jenny Beth bring the unbridled rage and power. For his poetic side, you have Kae Tempest and Aldous Harding. 90s icons like Spiritualised and The Smile (aka basically radiohead) contextualise the day, while start-ups like The Dinner Party draw a significant crowd of fans longing for something new. 

By the 4pm mark, Anna Calvi takes to the stage. In a sharp suit and signature red lip, her figure is domineering over the gathering crowd, and her skill even more so. Watching someone so capable in their skill is awe-inspiring, and even though the music is dark and moody, the afternoon light doesn’t kill the vibe at all. Cruising through her punching discography, the technical guitar licks are done with such ease you can almost hear the crowd gasping at it. When she reaches the catchy intro of ‘Don’t Beat The Girl Out Of My Boy’, the once silently-appreciative crowd bursts into a singalong. Luckily no one braves that big bridge note, letting Anna wail away in all her glory. 

After a burger, a beer or two, a couple Sleaford Mods songs and a strong elbowed shove into the crowd - Nick Cave took to the stage. With his backing singers clad in custom The Vampires Wife, fully sequined gospel robes and Nick in his signature immaculate suit, the whole thing is a spectacle of gothic glamour and cinema. In a stark contrast to the Nick Cave and Warren Ellis specific Ghosteen and Carnage tour, he bursts onto stage with high energy. Bounding it’s ‘Ready For Love’ and chasing it with the equally up-beat, ‘There She Goes, My Beautiful World’, Nick runs around the stage with a spark that would shock any more recent fans. As someone whos only seen the Ghosteen tour with its serene and sombre feeling, it was amazing getting the insight into Nick with his Bad Seeds, seeing his perform in the way he did way back at the start of his career. 

And in so many moves, you can see flashes of that early grunge energy. His persona on stage is sharp-witty and sarcky, taking affectionate jabs at his crowd in between holding their hands like a misah. Sharing the journey with Warren Ellis, known to the band as Woz, the musical duo have undeniably chemistry. As Warren throws his violin about, it’s total madness, merging strong skill with punk performance in that distinctive balance that have made The Bad Seeds so huge. 

But obviously, they’ve come a long way from the rock and chaos. Performing a career-spanning set list, they don’t shy away from the sadder stuff. A quarter of the way in, Nick settles a full grand piano to settle the tone. Playing choice cuts from Ghosteen and Skeleton Tree, the crowd hushes and says hushed throughout ‘Bright Horses’, ‘I Need You’ and ‘Waiting For You’. Respectful and awestruck, the energy in the crowd is something more than that. From the complete fan-frenzy riled up during big tracks like ‘O Children’, the softer songs foster a feeling of awareness and knowing. The tragedy in Nick’s life is sadly very public knowledge, splashes all across the news and shared in his own way through documentaries detailing grief and the creative process. So when the stage lights dim down and the band come together for tight performances of emotionally heavy later tracks, it’s like we all lean in to envelop the singer in a hug. The silence says we’re here for him, we love him and admire him whether he’s in his rock phase or needs a period of ballads.

Afterward though, no time is wasted in reminding us that this is a Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds show. Not lingering on the heartache, the energy builds instantly again’. Moving into a Murder Ballads, violent section, rolling the thuderous ‘Tupelo’ into iconic tracks ‘Red Right Hand’ and ‘The Mercy Seat’. As the whole band throws their whole bodies into it, I wonder if the residents around Victoria Park are enjoying the show. Booming through the ground, making the scorched grass shake, Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds make a lot of noise with their intricately layered live sound. With Nick conducting, sauntering up and down the stage, routinely leaning his whole weight onto his waiting audience eager to hold him up, it’s a show that seems ageless. Despite the band approaching their 40s anniversary, unlike their peers, nothing about the songs or the show suggests staleness. Remaining vibrant and fresh and hypnotically exciting, the best before date is way off. 

Playing for over two hours, even by the encore with its tender renditions of ‘Ghosteen Speaks’ and ‘Into My Arms’, I could've stood there for hours more. As the only artist I've ever seen get extra time and have to add another song onto the end of their set, my hands felt red raw as we applauded for what felt like ages after a bonus track of ‘The Weeping Song’. Turning the final day of the festival into his own concert, packed out with cross-generational fans scrambling to see a show 40 years in the making; i hope he continues it for a long time to come.

See all the photos from James Baker below:

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More about: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds