BReviews of Australian singer Nick Cave’s concerts have long sounded like describing the performance of a cult leader. There is talk of “collective liturgy”, of the aura of the “divine community” between the musician and “his flock”. Others see Cave as a “high priest” or a “saint whom many hands want to touch.”
And anyone who has experienced Cave and his band, the Bad Seeds, live will immediately understand the religious tone. This year Cave celebrated his 65th birthday. As soon as he appears in front of the audience, in his trademark dark suit and slicked-back raven hair, he gives himself passionately to his songs: whether it’s old hits like “Red Right Hand” and “Are You The One That I ‘ve Been Waiting For?’ or newer ones like the frenetic gospel anthem ‘Get Ready For Love’. Cave actually sings about sexual bondage, murder cases and again and again about love. His songs mix profanity, Bible verses and references to obscure poetry. On stage he sometimes looks up, stretches out his arms, somehow tormented, and calls out with his imposing baritone: “Oh Lord, oh my Lord!”
