From the Billions website:
Hard on the heels of the US release of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds’ electrifying fourteenth studio album, Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!, the band now reveals their intention to return to North America for their first live dates here in five and a half years. The new album, almost universally acclaimed as one of their very best, is off to the band’s strongest sales start in SoundScan history. The tour, featuring Mr. Cave’s first appearances at the famed Hollywood Bowl and New York’s WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden, is brief, eagerly awaited and expected to sell out quickly.
Look for most shows to go on sale this week. The full slate is as follows:
TUE 9/16/2008 - San Diego, CA - 4th & B WED 9/17/2008 - Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl SAT 9/20/2008 - San Francisco, CA - Warfield Theatre MON 9/22/2008 - Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom TUE 9/23/2008 - Seattle, WA - Showbox SoDo FRI 9/26/2008 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre MON 9/29/2008 - Chicago, IL - Riviera Theatre WED 10/1/2008 - Toronto, ON - Kool Haus THU 10/2/2008 - Montreal, QC - Metropolis SAT 10/4/2008- New York, NY- WaMu Theater at MSG SUN 10/5/2008 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
Never been to the WaMu Theater; it holds 5,600. I guess I was hoping for some place smaller. The new album is brilliant and I really need to see that stuff live so I guess I'll suck it up.
― kwhitehead, Monday, 28 April 2008 22:13 (fifteen years ago) link
Nick at the Hollywood Bowl, I can live with that...
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 28 April 2008 22:14 (fifteen years ago) link
with spiritualized, no?
― akm, Monday, 28 April 2008 22:19 (fifteen years ago) link
Ah, even better.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 28 April 2008 22:21 (fifteen years ago) link
Nick Cave had a long interview with Terri Gross on NPR today. She asked questions about his heroin use and his dad's death and some other stuff that kind of surprised me. But he answered totally openly and honestly. And they played this song from his newest album that fucking kicked ass. And not in that way where an older artist who used to rock puts out an album that's okay meaning "interesting" or "now they're bluesy for some reason" or "kind of like one of their older songs but not as memorable" I mean seriously if this artist just came out I would be fucking pumped about them.
― filthy dylan, Monday, 28 April 2008 23:15 (fifteen years ago) link
PLEASE MR. CAVE, COME TO AUSTIN TEXAS, K THX BAI
― stephen, Monday, 28 April 2008 23:39 (fifteen years ago) link
one thing about Nick Cave is that for as long as I can remember he has always put so much passion into his new stuff that even if you showed up skeptical about it you will leave convinced that it's hit best work.
― J0hn D., Monday, 28 April 2008 23:40 (fifteen years ago) link
his, even
showbox sodo be crazy
― Mackro Mackro, Monday, 28 April 2008 23:42 (fifteen years ago) link
Looking closer, that 9:30 ahow may be the one to see, at least for us East Coasters.
― kwhitehead, Monday, 28 April 2008 23:57 (fifteen years ago) link
hell yeah Portland here I come
― sleeve, Monday, 28 April 2008 23:58 (fifteen years ago) link
DENVER! HELL YES.
― tylerw, Tuesday, 29 April 2008 00:05 (fifteen years ago) link
John is right, I saw him tour behind "no more shall we part" and I loved all those songs when he did them live. Never listen to the album though; the guy can pretty much perform anything and it's going to be good.
― akm, Tuesday, 29 April 2008 00:28 (fifteen years ago) link
John is otm. I saw them in Brisbane on the last tour and he was fucking awesome. The rockier songs on Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus which I wasn't sold on sounded pretty brutal live.
― wilter, Tuesday, 29 April 2008 00:31 (fifteen years ago) link
the guy can pretty much perform anything and it's going to be good.
I'd like to see him perform "Mambo No. 5"
― stephen, Tuesday, 29 April 2008 00:34 (fifteen years ago) link
Warfield! Hurrah! Finally, finally, finally! I am still beating myself for missing Grinderman last year. GAAGH.
Bring on September!
― VegemiteGrrrl, Tuesday, 29 April 2008 01:43 (fifteen years ago) link
anyway i made myself relisten to the new album and it's better than I first thought; the first three tracks aren't that hot though
― akm, Tuesday, 29 April 2008 13:34 (fifteen years ago) link
the 9:30 club show will likely sell out quick.
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 29 April 2008 14:50 (fifteen years ago) link
there's a rumor that nick is playing this saturday at a small bar in brooklyn, with some new band.
anyone got the details?
― ian, Tuesday, 29 April 2008 21:24 (fifteen years ago) link
going to the chicago show, already getting pumped
"dig lazarus dig" is so so good. probably my favorite album of the year not made by personal friends
― n/a, Thursday, 7 August 2008 11:57 (fifteen years ago) link
Just saw him last night. Awesome!
http://mog.com/fastnbulbous/blog/204812
― Fastnbulbous, Tuesday, 30 September 2008 18:22 (fifteen years ago) link
shit was off the hook in Denver last Friday
― tylerw, Tuesday, 30 September 2008 18:29 (fifteen years ago) link
he's curating ATP australia, mates!
― jigglepanda.gif (Whiney G. Weingarten), Tuesday, 30 September 2008 18:50 (fifteen years ago) link
saw him last night too, it was awesome except for the shitty sound at the riviera
― metametadata (n/a), Tuesday, 30 September 2008 19:03 (fifteen years ago) link
Saw him Sunday. It was great, but boring at times (just like his albums)
― Ivan, Tuesday, 30 September 2008 19:04 (fifteen years ago) link
fastnbulbous, i think you switched the set order around a little maybe ... i left during papa won't leave you henry and they had already played get ready for love. i assumed i was leaving pretty far in advance but i guess i only missed like one or two songs?
― metametadata (n/a), Tuesday, 30 September 2008 19:05 (fifteen years ago) link
also why were the girl shirts (hot pink with cartoony awesome nick cave and bad seeds logo) and kid shirts (black with BAD SEED in big caps) so much cooler than the dude shirts (typical tour t-shirt with album cover on front and tour dates on back)?
― metametadata (n/a), Tuesday, 30 September 2008 19:06 (fifteen years ago) link
here's what i said on chicago thread:
Nick Cave was great but the sound at the Riviera is really inexcusable for a venue getting acts of that level. we stood in front of the speaker on the lowest level, and while the quieter songs sounded ok, the loud songs were just like a blare of indistinct midlevel noise. it sounded like they were trying to push their sound system way harder than they should have. as we were leaving (early), we stood back at the bar for one song and back there it was just bass and little else.
― metametadata (n/a), Tuesday, September 30, 2008 9:14 AM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
my favorite song was actually the quietest one, the randy newman-esque "god is in the house":
― metametadata (n/a), Tuesday, September 30, 2008 9:15 AM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
the band has a great look though, all super-dapper middle-aged dudes except for warren ellis, who looks like some freaked out hippie demon. i wish we were standing closer to ellis, it was hard to tell what he was doing most of the time, jumping between electric violin, something that was either an electric mandolin or a child-scale electric guitar, percussion, and mysterious electronics.
― metametadata (n/a), Tuesday, September 30, 2008 9:20 AM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
― metametadata (n/a), Tuesday, 30 September 2008 19:07 (fifteen years ago) link
actually you've got some other weird things on your set list: he played "god is in the house" and did not play "into my arms," at least not that early in the set (ie while i was there)
― metametadata (n/a), Tuesday, 30 September 2008 19:09 (fifteen years ago) link
man "god is in the house" is one of the worst songs nick has ever recorded IMHO.
― ian, Tuesday, 30 September 2008 19:13 (fifteen years ago) link
Yeah, I hate that song too, I guess I was trying to block it out of my memory of an otherwise perfect show. I remember asking out loud, "why did he ever record this song and why does he choose to torture us with it?"
My memory is imperfect when it comes to setlists, so I double checked it on a Cave forum:
1. Hold On To Yourself2. Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!3. Tupelo4. The Weeping Song5. Red Right Hand6. Midnight Man7. God Is In the House8. Nobody’s Baby Now9. The Mercy Seat10. Deanna11. Moonland12. Get Ready For Love13. We Call Upon the Author14. Papa Won’t Leave You, Henry15. More News From Nowhere16. Jesus of the Moon17. Hard On For Love18. Stagger Lee
I'd have substituted "She Fell Away" for "Hard On Love" but it was awesome just the same.
― Fastnbulbous, Wednesday, 1 October 2008 04:38 (fifteen years ago) link
Carrie Brownstein sees Nick Cave, loses mind - http://www.npr.org/blogs/monitormix/2008/09/the_fall.html
You know, his skullet/mustache combo really does work.
― Fastnbulbous, Thursday, 2 October 2008 15:09 (fifteen years ago) link
Sunday night in Chicago he played "Into My Arms" but did not play "God Is in the House".
Great concert. I'm floored by how he can deliver such intricate lyrics over such noise. And he has the Leonard Cohen thing (at least before Cohen became deified) of treating everything as sacred and everything as ridiculous.
― Eazy, Thursday, 2 October 2008 15:33 (fifteen years ago) link
I was surprised how the set list, except for the Dig Lazarus Dig songs and "Get Ready for Love", was just about idential to when I saw him in Chicago in 2002 or 2003.
― Eazy, Thursday, 2 October 2008 15:36 (fifteen years ago) link