LIVE: Conversations with Nick Cave – Perth, 23 Jan, 2019

Shane | 29 January 2019 | Reply

LIVE: Conversations with Nick Cave – Perth, 23 Jan, 2019
Perth Concert Hall, Wednesday, 23 January, 2019
Reviewed by Brian Dunne

Before I get into the meat and two veg of this review, so to speak, I feel I should give you, dear reader, a trigger warning. You may not have realised one or two things about Nick Cave. First of all, he is human. Secondly, he is actually a pretty funny bastard.

The format for Conversations With Nick Cave is that of a Q&A. Essentially, audience members are given an opportunity to ask Nick Cave anything they like while he promises to do his best to give an honest answer. This point he certainly seems to do.

In between a barrage of questions from the audience Nick tickles the ivories of a grand piano placed centre stage and sings a nicely rounded selection of songs, many of which benefit from this solo approach. This show is far more intimate than the 2000+ Perth Concert Hall might have otherwise imposed on an artist of lesser stature.

He kicked off the show with a perfect poetic oration in the dark, which very much set the scene for when the lights came up and he was behind the keys for a heart melting rendition of The Ship Song. Already most punters would feel they’d got their money’s worth.

Sadly, the questions which punters, chosen at random by light-sabre wielding staff located at handy spots throughout the venue, didn’t seem to be as well thought out as the answers given off-the-cuff by the ever-suave Mr Cave.

Never dismissive of the audience, no matter how twee or increasingly repetitive the questions became, Nick Cave revealed instead a personality that made me wish I was a friend of his. Often he seemed to be riding a boundary between intensely personal, almost tear-welling responses, and that which any show-pony stunt rider could pull off with a chuckle to himself while inducing belly laughs in the audience.

Conversations With Nick – and after more than two hours in his presence I feel I am now so familiar as to use only his first name – was an event which warmed the souls of all those who were fortunate to attend. It made us all his friends. And that’s a thought I never would have dared assume previous to meeting him this night.