Live Review: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Mark Lanegan

While the threat of rain is imminent, it doesn't stop a sizable crowd assembling for Mark Lanegan. It's a great-sounding set, with the gravel-throated rocker and his band hitting highs on No Easy Action, Creeping Coastline Of Lights and The Gravedigger's Song, yet it doesn't quite get the masses moving. That said, Lanegan has never pretended to be an energetic frontman, his stand-and-deliver, take-it-or-leave-it delivery par for the course, yet he barely registers the audience, thus leaving his enigmatic status intact.

The stage is overflowing as the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and a children's choir from Annerley emerge – there are no screens or other pyrotechnics of any kind – but there is more than enough room for the hedonistic Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. The first few songs, all off new album Push The Sky Away, are standard Bad Seeds fare (We No Who U R, Wide Lovely Eyes), with the added “flavour” doing little to accentuate things. The atmospheric Jubilee Street changes the momentum, however, with the strings and choir coming to the fore, and a typically possessed Cave whipping his band into a tumultuous crescendo with his demonic flails and thrusts, an overtly melodramatic Mephistopheles. We Real Cool holds up well, but is instantly dwarfed by the excellent rant Higgs Boson Blues, the children's choir in particular coming to the fore and casting Cave's evocative howls with an ominous edge of innocence among the chaos. Warren Ellis's ever-growing presence is really noticed, as his turns on flute, guitar, violin and piano are often driving forces throughout. He even gets up to maniacally “conduct” the orchestra as the Bad Seeds slip into the back catalogue with a brilliant rendition of From Her To Eternity. Red Right Hand is played sparsely, offering a form of muzak version except for the sudden spikes of operatic noise; O Children is ominous and perfectly augmented by the young choir. The Ship Song follows, after which the choir “are off to bed” as Cave admonishes. But it just serves to fire him up, as they immediately launch into a typically raucous Deanna. It's sad not seeing Mick Harvey among the rabble, but “new” addition Ed Kuepper is the best possible replacement as he proves on Papa Won't Leave You, Henry. Cave takes to the piano for an arresting Love Letter with the orchestra chiming in. Your Funeral My Trial, a Mark Lanegan duet on The Weeping Song and a typically damaging The Mercy Seat round out the set, before The Bad Seeds return to tear a hole in the sky with the devilish Stagger Lee. Brilliant.