A hushed Agganis Arena shrieked with glee as the lights came up and Nick Cave emerged to the stage in Boston, MA. It had been seven years since Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds played to the city. With a new album, Wild God, released in the late summer of last year, the band got right down to business. St. Vincent was set to open one of two nights here, but had to pull out minutes before stage time due to illness. Cave acknowledged that with disappointment, saying, “I guess you’re stuck with us now.” This evening was the starting point of their 2025 tour, and they had 22 songs they were ready to perform.
Spanning the band’s catalog, but leaning into the new material, Cave sauntered and swayed to each minute of the roughly two-and-a-half-hour set. With a custom stage that jutted a catwalk into the audience with a large “T” shape, Cave was able to strut the full diameter of the floor, which he did frequently. Fans were treated to many personable moments with the notoriously lanky musician as he leaned into the front rows. From holding the mic for him while he danced and clapped, or being sung directly to emphatically. Cave frequently pointed at individuals to yell, “You’re Beautiful!” and added plenty of “yeah, yeah, yeah” shouts, like his own percussive instrument.
His interactions were very of-the-moment and endearing. Walking from his piano to the front row platform, he stopped mid-story for an exuberant fan who was waving a setlist and marker. He muttered playfully as he monologued his actions as he signed. When the fan received the autographed item and raised a hand to high five, Cave drew the line shouting, “No! No!” and shaking his hand at the fan in a very paternal manner. “This is a story. Pay attention!”
As they reached “Bright Horses” from Cave’s 2022 album Blonde, he noted, “When I wrote these words, I took the rest of the day off because they’re fucking beautiful.” Playing the serene song from his piano, longtime collaborator Warren Ellis added his graceful soprano howls. After the charismatic chaos of previous tracks, the solemn vibe added depth to the already dramatic evening. The whole performance was akin to a play, with multiple acts and a range of emotion. As the evening wrapped up with Cave once again at the piano solo, he warmly thanked everyone for spending their evening with him, and in an uncertain voice said, “See you … some other time.”
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
