Upon Grinderman's second trek to New York since their inception, Nick Cave and company outdo their 2007 stadium tour, with a powerful intimate performance at the Best Buy Theater in Times Square Sunday night. The grinder-men come off as a tight unit despite the looming shadow cast by main attraction, Nick Cave, who fronts the band. However the biblically bearded Warren Ellis, again proves to be a good colleague to feed off of live on stage with his interchanging use of guitar, violin, maracas, etc. The set juggled a good mixture of selections between their two albums. Mr. Cave himself gainfully displays his newly acquired role as backing guitarist and other instruments of old in his repitoir. Some of the strongest excerpts from the performance are perhaps the more obvious standout compositions found on either Grinderman albums. 'Heathen Child,' 'Honey Bee' and 'No Pussy Blues' certainly carry more thunderous authority in their live renderings. All of which make the more grating moments in the set ('Man in the Moon,' 'Grinderman') perceivably more balanced out and bearable in the sliding scale of intensity.
When the dust settled and the collective equiblerium in the room was regained, something had changed. It hadn't occurred to me until our cab slid south into the belly of the city, that Times Square got the breath of hades it hardly ever sees anymore. Especially with its disney-shaded eyewear it chooses to observe itself with. It's good to know that even Nick Cave can have a show on Broadway even if only for a night.
Words by Jon Prusik Photos by Kevin Serra
Grinderman opener . . . the amazing theremin player Armen Ra!
1 comment:
great pics - what a night! I'd say it was a legendary show!! I'm still recovering!
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