I am sooo very excited...
Tonight I am off to see Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds in concert at some dodgy place in the CBD.
Yes I am off to see the master of dark rock and biblical apocalyptic lyrics, the prince of porn star moustaches and comb-overs and the greatest purveyor of the swamp music and purloined southern gothic aesthetics.
The last big concert I went to was to see The Pixies at the V Festival in Sydney a couple of years ago, which was huge and corporate and I had a ball, just me and Sherriff Luke and his gal bouncing around and singing the words along with Frank Black and about 30-40,000 other people...
I am sure that this won't be on that same scale. Back in the days of student politics and all that stuff I actually put on a Nick Cave concert in the old main refec at UQ, I don't remember that much of it because I spent most of the night helping out at the bar and never got a chance to meet him - which was pretty stupid of me - but hey I was young and stupid then.
After that I saw him at a couple of Livid Festivals and remember after a great concert at the old Festival Hall in Brisbane my friend Julianne and her then partner Grant McLennan brought him along to Ricks Bar in the valley to have a drink with us. Once again I didn't have much to say to him then apart from the usual 'great concert' statements, which were pretty redundent.
Anyway it has been a few years since I have seen him play, it was always abit harder to make it to gigs from regional Queensland and I have kept up with his albums. However Sweet Thang is also a bit of a fan and just before Christmas I was reading an article about him playing here in Melbourne and I just went and ordered the tickets straight away on an impulse. We went to see the Nick Cave exhibition a couple of times last year (which I understand will be heading to Brisbane sometime soonish) and we have enjoyed his latest album way too much.
He is in Oz as the 'curator' of the All Tomorrow's Parties Festival which of course is not happening in Melbourne, instead the Victorian gig is miles away at Mount Buller - although why they would have a music festival at a ski resort in the middle of summer is not readily apparent. It is like a dream festival where someone gets the chance to put together their own best lineup of acts (the 'curator') and then it just happens. I have to admit to some confusion because I thought that it would only be happening at Mt Buller but there is also one happening in Sydney and even in Brisbane - so if you can get along to it you really, really should. Because it will just be amazing.
I am not sure whether it a definite connection but the title All Tomorrow's Parties is also a book by one of my favorite authors William Gibson and a song by Nico and the Velvet Underground...
Anyway I am missing out on the big gig, but pretty happy to get along and see Mr Cave and his band play tonight. As for actually meeting him again - if I am not starstruck again - I doubt that it will happen in the near future.
But you never know - apparently he has a new book coming out and that opens up all sorts of possibilities in my line of work.
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