Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds: A Collective Sigh of Relief at The Domain

A collective breath is held whenever Nick Cave arrives on Australian shores. In this breath lives an excitement. A thrill. And now – with this year marking the first time his iconic band The Bad Seeds have joined him since 2017 – a persistent nagging doubt.

As Nick Cave ages and The Bad Seeds lineup shifts, it feels impossible for them to maintain the extraordinary standards they have built over decades.

Yet, on 23 and 24 January, beneath an indigo sky spotted with flying fruit bats, the band put such doubt to rest.

No founding members of The Bad Seeds strode onto the enormous stage at The Domain.

Instead, six musicians who have fallen into Nick Cave’s orbit at various points through the band’s four-decade career took their places before the ocean of fans.

Jim Sclavunos, who joined in 1994, was the oldest member present. Within a jungle of sample pads, chimes, bells, and an array of other percussive instruments, the accomplished multi-instrumentalist has orchestrated some of the band’s most recognisable tones. Opposite him, surrounded by a cove of drums, was Larry Mullins – an ex-collaborator of Iggy Pop – who has toured with the Bad Seeds since 2015.

Warren Ellis, the legendary fiddle player, and close collaborator of Cave since joining The Bad Seeds for A Boatman’s Call in 1997, took a seat in a well-worn leather chair at the fore of the stage. Meanwhile, opposite him, George Vjestica – a recording member since 2013’s Push the Sky Away – slung a guitar over his shoulder.

Touring bassist Colin Greenwood (of Radiohead fame) took his place centre stage, while touring keys player and award-winning composer Carly Paradis readied herself behind her keyboards. As a four-person gospel choir mounted podiums at the rear, Mullins, with his sticks over his head, slowly counted the band in.

With an explosion of cymbals, Sclavunos’ bells began to sing. Vjestica’s reverbed guitar pushed its way into the evening air and the choir’s voices rose angelic. Beneath this music – to sensational applause – Nick Cave joined his band.

In a testament to the consistent quality of The Bad Seeds’ music, after two-and-a-half hours, there were still people who left the performance discussing songs they wished they had heard.

Opening with tracks from their 2024 release, Wild God, the band wove their way through their diverse catalogue of blistering rock and heartbreaking ballads.

At 68, Cave was almost childlike in his chaos beneath the spotlight. Clambering with outstretched hands into awestruck disciples, he would often take his microphone away from his mouth and project his shouted lyrics to those only metres before him – forgetting the thousands spilling into the field beyond.

As a song would rise to its peak, he would catapult from the front of the stage, leap over amps, fling his microphone to the floor, and sink his fingers deep into the keys of his grand piano.

We cheered for O’Children, and we wept for Bright Horses.

Finally, as his band left the stage, Cave sat down at his piano for the final time. “Okay, we’ll finish with this,” he said before stretching Into My Arms across the summer evening. “If you can sing along, it would be very beautiful… It really would.”

There was a sincerity in the way he said this. And as he performed, it became clear that regardless of how many times he might play this song, its core theme of love will forever move him.

As a ten-thousand-person choir recited his famous words back to him, he stopped singing and looked out at us.

A tear touched his eye. And together, we breathed.