Concert review: Nick Cave + Warren Ellis at Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
As advertised, a Nick Cave & Warren Ellis show is not a Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds show, but witnessing the overlaps and divergences between the two configurations only grows one’s appreciation for the pair’s inspired collaborations.
At Thomas Wolfe Auditorium on March 1 for the start of their monthlong North American tour, the Australian-born artists brought a more subdued and consistent energy than their band’s most recent stop on that very stage in June 2017 — something more in line with Cave’s Idiot Prayer solo piano album, augmented by Ellis’ layered soundscapes, a trio of backing vocalists, and a gifted multi-instrumentalist.
But for the first few songs, it seemed like operatic, atmospheric numbers in the vein of their 2021 album Carnage were all the rapt audience would get. It wasn’t until that record’s energetic standout “White Elephant” propelled Cave into his savage, stage-stalking mode with Ellis controlling the electronic symphony from a small synth on his lap that the evening began to feel like a Bad Seeds performance, though that feeling came and went throughout the 26-song experience.
Moving between the piano and standing mic, Cave made room for a few hilarious anecdotes, noting that the woman in the front row who “touched [his] dick” was welcome to do so, but not during “Ghosteen,” which required too much focus from him for such “sexual harassment in the workplace.” In addition to, er, reaching out, Cave’s Appalachian fans were quick to shout their support and requests, prompting him to profess his love for the sound of Southern accents — the man’s initials do line up with the state’s postal abbreviation, after all — despite being unable to “understand a fucking word.”
Amusing as the jokes were, the focus naturally remained on the music, which received welcome depth courtesy of Luis Almau seamlessly hopping between bass, drums, and synths, and singers Wendi Rose, Janet Ramus, and T Jae Cole turning the night into a rich choral extravaganza.
A dulcet cover of T. Rex’s “Cosmic Dancer,” complete with Cave’s lovely compliments for Marc Bolan (“He was the one”), continued the laid back vibe, then reached the other end of the spectrum two songs later with “Hand of God,” which found Ellis flat-out thrashing in his chair like a man possessed.
Yielding to an influx of shouted requests as the clock ticked towards 10 p.m., and clearly mindful of the announcement earlier that day of the Bad Seeds canceling shows in Moscow and Kyiv this summer, Cave launched into a quasi-Impromptu rendition of “Jubilee Street,” which he dedicated to “the brave people of Ukraine.” The early line, “When they shut her down, the Russians moved in,” took on a haunting new meaning, with “shut” eerily sounding like (and possibly being altered to) “shot.”
The crowd favorite in the books, albeit without the usual rollicking crescendo finale, the atmosphere felt more than ever like a family gathering, and the unity continued through “merely” two encores — hey, the guys’ gotta pace themselves over the next few weeks — with Cave memorably swapping verses with Ramus on “Henry Lee” and making more dreams come true with “Into My Arms.”
Unlike many other local shows, the audience held firm throughout, savoring every moment with their men, and the appreciation was clearly mutual. Looking over the rest of Cave’s and Ellis’ tour itinerary of U.S. metropolises, Asheville is the clear outlier, and yet here we are, once more a priority stop on the artists’ rare stateside visits with no signs of the relationship ceasing. Well done, all.
(Photo by Palma Sabina)
