Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, concert review

[curgoth]

Opening band: Black Mountain?
At least 40 years too late to be interesting. Slow, and with more funk than I am
able to properly appreciate. A. Described as "Concrete Blond hearkening back to Led
Zeppelin. Too much wah-wah. "

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Energy! My socks were rocked. We got Red Right Hand,
The Weeping Song, Stagger Lee and a charged Deanna. We didn't get Time Jesum
Transeuntum, which did not surprise me.

Toronto crowds still suck. We are, as a city, afraid that someone cooler than us is
watching, and waiting to laugh at us. We don't dance, barely move, and don't make
much noise.

Comments

[tickly-girl.livejournal.com]

I noticed that lack-of-dance when we saw The Tragically Hip in 2007. (I danced anyway of course, even if I was alone in that.)

Seeing Melissa recently at Massey Hall however, people were dancing there, or at least some folk were. Perhaps the near-all-female audience dynamic changes the group behavior though?

Glad you enjoyed the show. :)

[neeuqdrazil.livejournal.com]

I think the mostly-female dynamic does change things - I know that there were lots of folks up and dancing at both of the Ani shows that I saw.

[delerium69.livejournal.com]

"We are, as a city, afraid that someone cooler than us is
watching, and waiting to laugh at us.'

A whole city just like me? I'm so *not* a proper role model.

[eldan.livejournal.com]

The Seattle show was very similar. The support there was Earth, who I quite liked for one song, but then the following 5 were excactly the same and it all left me longing for dynamics and energy, which Nick Cave and his crew were certainly not short of.

Seattle crowds don't dance much, but we do at least voice our appreciation.

[misslynx.livejournal.com]

Yes, the repressed nature of Toronto audiences is as annoying now as it was when I first started going to clubs around 25 years ago. Some things rarely change... :-/

But thankfully there are at least occasional exceptions, and they're that much more enjoyable because they're exceptions. I have very fond memories of the Within Temptation show at the Mod Club last year, because they really did manage to break through the veneer of Toronto cool and get people moving and singing along and otherwise (gasp!) enjoying themselves.

[carpe_noir.livejournal.com]

Yeah! San Diego was the first stop on their tour and it was still an amazing set. What I was most impressed by is just how fresh and inventive the band and music were after so many years (the Birthday Party going back to 1980ish) and the new songs were the best part of the show -- and even better than the versions on Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!

[funos.livejournal.com]

I went to a Motorhead concert in TO, and except for a small moshpit, it was as you described. Very attentive and appreciative crowd, but not very lively, even for this band.

[50-ft-queenie.livejournal.com]

*weeps*

I so wanted to see that show. Nick Cave is God.

As for crowd suckage, I've seen lots of it in my Toronto concert travels, but I've also seen some very energetic and enthusiastic crowds, like the 100+ people invading the stage at the Stooges show a couple of months ago, the mosh pits at every Ministry show I've been to, the crowd that jumped the barriers at Neil Young and invaded the general admission area, for example. We do cut loose sometimes. :) We just need to do more of it.