Inside The Unique World Of Nick Cave, Rock God

I have seen probably around 4,000 shows. I have seen almost everything, from Prince and Stevie Wonder jamming together in a living room for 150 people to Led Zeppelin. In all of those live experiences I have never seen anything like Nick Cave's solo show and Q&A at Disney Hall this week.

There has never been anything quite like it because there has never been anyone in rock and roll quite like Nick Cave. If David Bowie had chosen to share more of himself publicly or maybe if Jim Morrison had lived one of them would have turned into someone like Nick Cave — part rock god, part therapist, part poet, part spokesperson for rock.

Nick Cave in 2019 is what happens when you beat rock and roll instead of the other way around. A one-time junkie for almost 20 years, as he told the enraptured audience, which included Brad Pitt and Chris Martin, among others, Cave is now a sober family man, who referred to his wife as "his blankie," then joking, "She would kill me for saying that."

How can someone who is such an other worldly deity on stage, someone who can channel the fury of hell in a song like his version of "Stagger Lee" or incite a riot with "Jubilee Street," be so relatable too? That is part of the magic of Cave and why this incredibly daring and unprecedented format worked. And certainly he is not alone in the annals of rock in getting sober, but no one else has been willing to share their story to the shockingly candid extent Cave is.

Then there is the tragedy of his son Arthur passing in 2015, which as Cave also explained in sometimes agonizing, often beautiful details, changed his whole perspective on life.

"Before my son died, I defined myself as an artist," Cave said. "Now I define myself as a father and husband first."

Describing the profound effect the life-changing loss had on him, he added, "I just changed and I needed a way to survive. I didn't know what else to do."

Seeking solace in an immeasurable loss, Cave began a website called The Red Hand Files, where he would answer questions on everything from his art to his beliefs on life and death. And again the depth and profoundness of his answers were astonishing.

Take for instance when someone wrote in, "Why do you write?"

Cave wrote, in part: "One of the reasons I write is because it allows me the freedom to move beyond the declared world into the uncanny and unfamiliar world. As a songwriter I have made a commitment to uncertainty and to embrace that which I do not know, because I feel this is where true meaning exists."

Emboldened by the candor of Cave, the sold-out crowd Tuesday night were given mikes and the freedom to ask anything. And to make sure they felt they were in a safe environment, Cave told everyone to put their phones away and take no videos, so as not to destroy anyone's life, "Including mine," Cave quipped.

This probably is not a format that would have worked any other era, but here in 2019, where people are used to sharing everything, sometimes too much, on social media, fans went for it.

Some went deeply personal, telling their own stories of loss and how Cave's music helped them through this time. Then there was the fan who told a long touching story about having suffered a stroke, being in a wheelchair, but making his way to the front of the crowd at the L.A. Forum show because he wanted to experience the show the way others get to. He spoke movingly about how Cave took his hand from the stage and held it a long time, prompting Cave to joke, "I didn't hold it too long, did I? You're not going to 'Me Too' me, are you?" The joke was perfectly timed and when the fan finished his story, Cave hugged him in gratitude.

Cave is a brilliant showman, one of the best in music right now, so his timing on how to handle these questions, whether personal or, on some occasions, awkward, like one, where Cave joked, "This is going to be weird," was flawless.

Of course the more than two and a half hour performance was part Q&A and Cave doing 12 of his best known songs on piano. Among the standouts were the aforementioned "Jubilee Street" and "Stagger Lee" as well as the always gorgeous "Into My Arms," the opening "The Ship Song," "The Weeping Song," a stunning "15 Feet Of Pure White Snow" and "The Mercy Seat."

Despite the fact this was just Cave on piano, songs like "The Mercy Seat" and "Jubilee Street" lost none of their power and fury.

But as with every Nick Cave show that mix of power and fury and otherworldly beauty combine to create an event that is like none other. And when you combine that with the wisdom, mutual admiration between artist and audience, and his unbridled honesty, which Cave displayed again and again on Tuesday night, you have a night of intimacy, as he wanted, unrivaled in rock and roll.