“And God is never far away” This not only applies to the death-row protagonist in the electric chair in Nick Cave’s classic “The Mercy Seat”, but also to the artist himself less concerts in the proper sense than masses, than musical devotions. On Friday evening, the 64-year-old transformed the Meierhofwiese in the shadow of Burg Clam into his temple for almost two and a half hours.
From the beginning of “Get Ready For Love”, Cave sketched a dark world between love, desire and hate in front of 7500 fans, in which God and Beelzebub fight violently for the souls of the people. That’s not new. Since time immemorial, since the days of Birthday Party, the Australian has drawn the expressive imagery for his blues and rock ‘n’ roll songs, fueled by pain and obsessions, from wills. A thorn bush is always burning somewhere, a bird appears as an omen or it is important to quickly get to safety from the clouds that are gathering. What is new, however, is the affection and heartfelt joy with which Cave now accepts the role of the preacher who brings the good news of the end of the world to his followers.
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Tinged up and down like maniacally
For the current tour, Cave – dressed as always in a smart three-piece suit, even in the greatest heat – had a small but fine catwalk set up. There he paced in clam maniacally, constantly shaking and unctuously laying hands on his enraptured admirers’ hands, giving hugs for comfort, and even occasionally dropping into the crowd. Any Southern priest would have been proud.
Musically, Cave and the Bad Seeds, led by multi-instrumentalist Warren Ellis, presented themselves wonderfully attuned to one another. The band literally vibrated with energy, but without blindly raging about it. “Jubilee Street” was a furious, even solemn revelation, as were “There She Goes, My Beautiful World”, “From Her To Eternity”, “Tupelo” and “Red Right Hand”. The two new pieces from the lockdown record “Carnage” recorded with Ellis – in addition to the title track, “White Elephant” made it onto the setlist comprising a total of 22 songs – also fit in seamlessly. And if Cave’s tear-jerkers “Waiting For You”, “The Ship Song” and the encore “Into My Arms” performed solo on the piano didn’t shake with emotion, then he has no heart anyway. What a happy and soulful concert evening!
Conclusion: A majestic rock fair that also inspired atheists.
This is how it goes on in Clam
- August 12 + 13: Pizzera & Jaus, support: Gert Steinbäcker, Wolfgang Ambros, Lemo
- August 19th: Hubert von Goisern
- 20th of August: Seiler and Speer, Support: LaBrassBanda, Monti Beton & Johann K., Minisex, Christina Kosik & Die Gangband
All information about tickets etc. is available at clamlive.at
Source: Nachrichten
