Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds 04/24/84 London

NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS
Electric Ballroom, London, United Kingdom
April 12th, 1984

DISC #1/#1 (23:51)
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01) I Put a Spell On You
02) Well Of Misery
03) Mutiny In Heaven
04) In the Ghetto

SOURCE (PRO)
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soundboard > unknown (Betacam)

GENERATION
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TV > VHS(1) > DVD-R(1) [8mps MPEG-2/48kHz, 256kbps AC3] >

TRANSFER
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unknown > MPEG Stream Clip > DVD Studio PRO

NOTES
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* This band played under the name, "Nick Cave and the Cavemen"
* Originally posted on DIME as part of the "Stolen Files" series.

MD5 FINGERPRINTS
---------------
6d67c1ba84967c843c31f80ab2dfd8b6  VIDEO_TS/VIDEO_TS.BUP
6d67c1ba84967c843c31f80ab2dfd8b6  VIDEO_TS/VIDEO_TS.IFO
e2ec3aacf713b46cfa90244e59918f48  VIDEO_TS/VIDEO_TS.VOB
d7de129725336f0b00d00787f2aff860  VIDEO_TS/VTS_01_0.BUP
d7de129725336f0b00d00787f2aff860  VIDEO_TS/VTS_01_0.IFO
ab205e87952759eb1b8105a9ca361f89  VIDEO_TS/VTS_01_0.VOB
cf01840e227c377c72da5b657ec7e69f  VIDEO_TS/VTS_01_1.VOB


Transferred by kigonjiro on DIME.
Please do not encode to lossy formats and/or sell.

I haven't paused to think about Cave in what seems like decades. A friend of mine had the Grinderman vinyl and I remember thinking I should give it some more attention...Continuing with just what comes to mind watching this...I also remember picking up a Cave disc at the public library where there was a lyric about a "Frappuccino"! - at some point in 50 years, you got to expect some filler, but cmon, buddy!!!! some people actually paid for that disc...

Coincidentally, at the library yesterday, I was browsing a Heylin book about punk that discussed Cave...Now Heylin's Bootleg is required reading by anyone- and I mean anyone- remotely interested in understanding Rock and Roll...His other efforts seem to evoke the same diligence, but there is not as much primary research in them. In Bootleg, there are labels and recordings being discussed that you simply aren't going to find out more about in hardcover--- find out more about without doing the legwork yourself- if you even can, because the stories have disappeared with the industry.  Just as important, the guy is reaching for conclusions that display an intelligence comparable to perhaps, say- Marcus, Reynolds, Bangs or Kent- trying to find a deeper relevance to rock music than mindless, kneejerk conformity fandom.


What was I talking about? Oh, yeah. The Heylin punk book...In it, you read quotes from Cave talking about how Birthday Party gigs were fight with the audience style confrontations...Until the audience came expecting it, so it wasn't really a confrontation anymore. He also is quoted talking about his first trip to London where his expectations of being in a real Rock and Roll country were disappointed to find a bunch of raincoat bands staring at their feet. (echo bunnyman etc.) Well, Nick...looking at the iconic wings of desire footage I'd conclude that sometimes, as a performer, you have to give the audience what it wants...eventually, the goth scene forced its reflection upon Cave as well.  Of course, he adopted a lot of earlier influences, abandoned the confessional persona for storytelling theater and avoided a lot of the cliches.

For this particular show... FROMTHEARCHIVES.COM says: " Shambolic affair in which Nick often forgets the lyrics." Which just goes to`say that a lot of the birthday party style chaos is in effect here.

I was in a college radio station a few years later than this and had to absorb all of the Bad Seed LPs. From what I remember the mercy seat was the best of them...the title track and "up jumped the devil" are particularly inspired.

As for this particular footage, it is a performance that was broadcast on the Spanish Edad De Oro program..   The "Stolen Files" are discs devoted to performances on the Edad t.v show- not files documenting Cave's career...Here is some information about what remains of this program floating about on the internets...

LA EDAD DE ORO 1:"The Golden Age" Live music television from Madrid 1983 - 1985. Includes excellent live performances and interviews. On this disc in order of appearance: Lords Of The New Church, Killing Joke, Alan Vega, Johnny Thunders, Nick Cave & The Cavemen, Psychedelic Furs, John Cale & Lou Reed. Great quality. Runs 87 minutes.

LA EDAD DE ORO 2: "The Golden Age" Live music television from Madrid 1983 - 1985. Includes excellent live performances and interviews. On this disc in order of appearance: Residents, SPK, Lords Of The New Church, Aztec Camera, Tom Verlaine, The Sound, Psychic TV, Echo & The Bunnymen, Violent Femes, The Smiths & Spear Of Destiny. Great quality. Runs 98 minutes.