Photo Gallery: Nick Cave at Auditorium Theatre • Chicago

Brassneck | October 1, 2023

Nick Cave

Auditorium Theatre

Chicago, IL

September 29th, 2023

Recap and photos by Curt Baran

Perhaps it was the influence of the harvest moon that hung like low-hanging fruit above the surface of Lake Michigan or some other unseen, celestial force. Whatever was lurking about, its presence seemingly helped to provide some additional voodoo when Nick Cave took the stage at Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre.
Cave is certainly no stranger to heaviness or sorrow. Unfortunately, the man has seen plenty of both. Which makes it all the more remarkable that he can somehow make lite of those emotions without ever diminishing their intensity.

His stage was a study in minimalism, adorned with only a baby grand piano and an electric bass amplifier (commandeered by Radiohead’s Collin Greenwood whose along for the ride on these tour dates). “Let’s get the core of things,” proclaimed Cave, going on to explain that it would be an evening of stripped-down interpretations of selections from his ample catalog. Which meant that the songs would have nowhere to hide. Considering some of his compositions can feel like partially healed wounds, some scabs would get picked until bleeding.

This tour serves as a sort of companion piece to Cave’s recent book Faith, Hope and Carnage, which seems all too apropos given that the man’s songs are so rich in detail that they often feel like a four-minute magnum opus. So, over the course of a two hour performance, Cave used life’s darkest moments and chose to turn them into entertainment, pulling off the rare feat of shining light onto the shadows.