There was no lack of choice for things to do in Glasgow this Halloween but just short of 2000 people made the decision to spend it in the presence of the legendary Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds. The band return to Glasgow in support of their critically acclaimed 2013 album Push The Sky Away, with a career spanning fifteen albums the group easily fill their two hour set.
Considering the date there were surprisingly few people in costume, but as Cave said “Every day is Halloween” for him, and having taken in the spectacle of what could well be show of the year for most of us I imagine most punters will be happy to catch up on this years best costumes on Facebook and Instagram.
The former Birthday Party frontman takes to the stage accompanied by the famous Bad Seeds led by Cave’s long time musical partner the legendary violin and mandolin wielding Warren Ellis. The group open their set with the opening track from their latest album “We No Who U R” before firing into a surprisingly high energy rendition of the album’s single “Jubilee Street”. Cave flies around the stage jumping in and out from behind the piano and demonstrating his outlandish dance moves accompanied by the Bad Seeds playing with the sort of ferocity most bands reserve for special occasions. A career spanning setlist treated us a large number of new songs as well as much loved classics such as “Do You Love Me”, “Red Right Hand”, “From Her To Eternity” and the fan favorite “Stagger Lee”. With the epic set building to a climax of the title track of the 2013 album, The band leave the crowd demanding more, the four song encore started by revisiting the latest album with the relatively laid back “We real cool” before working through more fan favorites including 1988 hit “Deanna”. Always the class act Cave takes a moment to give a mention to music’s latest tragic loss and closes the set by dedicating the unreleased song “Give Us a Kiss” to the late Lou Reed.
Thursdays show marked a long awaited return to the venue that Cave generously describes as “The best venue in…Glasgow”, despite not bringing out the much loved side project Grinderman along this time no one was left wishing they went trick or treating.
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