Nick Cave Night on BBC Four

On Friday 4th July, BBC Four dedicated a night of music programmes to Nick Cave and his band The Bad Seeds. They performed a lively set as LSO St. Lukes in London to a small audience in the intimate setting.

The show is here plus an interview and some exclusive videos.

The set list:

• Dig!!!, Lazarus, Dig!!!
• Red Right Hand
• Midnight Man
• Deanna
• God Is In The House
• Today's Lesson
• Get Ready For Love
• The Lyre Of Orpheus
• The Ship Song
• The Mercy Seat
• We Call Upon The Author
• Stagger Lee

Cave said before the show in a very brief interview that before a gig he is nervous and cannot understand how he gets the energy and excitement for a set. He then pays the Bad Seeds a wonderful compliment by saying that they are a 'defibrillator for the soul'.

And it is a very energetic set. Predictably many of the songs were from current album Dig!!!, Lazarus, Dig!!! and with such a well stocked back catalogue every fan was never going to be happy. But...the only song from the brilliant No More Shall We Part was God Is In The House, there was nothing from The Boatman's Call and two strange choices from The Lyre Of Orpheus/Abattoir Blues. But this is was designed to be a noisy, and at times, dirty set kicking off with a very messy version of Dig!!!, Lazarus, Dig!!! The three early songs: Deanna, The Ship Song and The Mercy Seat were ok but the reworking of Red Right Hand (despite the mess up at the end when he comes back with the wrong verse but recovers for a spine-tingling end), We Call Upon The Author (complete with electronics and Warren Ellis singing backing vocals from the floor while trying to play a bizarre pedal contraption) and the finale torrent of expletives Stagger Lee stole the show.

At many points, Cave engages the audience as only he can - sometimes getting up close and personal with the front tables and over-excited punters dancing embarrassingly. They call out requests and he checks the set list. "No it's not on the list", he says to one and "That's on the list" and then complains: "so many songs". Another request gets the response: "we can't play that. I hate to admit it but it's too hard". His serious demeanour reveals playful banter. The great version of The Lyre Of Orpheus has Cave getting "Oh Mama" back from the crowd who miss their timing but it is a great interactive experience.

A great show. I wish I had been there.