Last night, we went to the Nick Cave concert at China Teatern, an intimate and beautiful theater in central Stockholm. The Australian rocker has just released a novel titled The Death of Bunny Munro. So the night was set up in a unique combination of book reading, q&a with the audience and music. Nick played the piano and just had two musicians with him from his band the Bad Seeds – one on guitar, one on drums, percussion and sometimes the guitar and violin as well.
After a campy 1950s style movie about door to door salesmen, Nick launched the night with a reading from his novel. Bunny is a philandering salesman in search of a soul and the book is deliciously detailed with his debauchery. Readings from the book were interspersed with classic Cave songs. In between songs, the lights would go up and Nick answered both serious and irreverent questions from the audience ranging from how is your relationship with God to do you like cock to will you marry me. Nick was in fine form and his responses were: 1) Not good. 2) Why do you ask? Sometimes. 3) Well I am already married but maybe we can work something out. One lucky Swede even asked for a hug and got one.
The format of the evening was just as intimate as the setting and it felt like I was in a 1920s salon in Paris. The casual mood made it seem as if you were just hanging out with Nick in your living room. Someone even asked him if he wanted to go back to his place for beers.
It was such a great twist on a conventional concert or book reading. What a great night.
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