BY BEN KRON// It was one of those cold, late-fall D.C. Sundays where you just can’t seem to get out of bed when I stumbled across Wim Wender’s masterpiece of a film, Wings of Desire. As thought provoking and mesmerizing as the film was, there was one scene that seemed to stick in my head, even weeks following the day I watched it. It was a smoked filled basement… or venue (an image, I’m sure many of us are familiar with) in West Berlin during the Cold War, where a tall man dressed in tight leather jeans, stood bellowing the lyrics to “Six Bells Chime” as a crowd of people lost themselves in the heavy drums, and ‘gothic rock’ guitar riffs.
From that day forward, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds have held a special place in my heart; one no other band has been able to fill. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and their music have been considered “one of the most original and celebrated bands of the post-punk and Alternative rock eras in the ‘80s and onward.” The band’s most well-known songs include “Into My Arms,” “O Children,” and my personal favorite “Red Right Hand.”
In the band’s latest album Skeleton Tree (2016), Cave transforms some of his personal tragedies into stunning, groaning terrors through the songs, “Jesus Alone,” and “Anthrocene,” which are evenly balanced with a pair of tender, somber folk ballads such as “I Need You,” and “Skeleton Tree.” Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds have not only matured their music through the years but have managed to retain their physically and emotionally relevant sounds and lyrics.
Fellow musicians, Greg Gonzalez, Randall Miller, and Jacob Tomsky of Cigarettes After Sex will be joining Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds at the Anthem on the 25th. Gonzalez’s spacious and dreamy songs will complement the vast, emotional intensity of Cave’s lyrics through a similar mysticism that will intrigue the audience. Some of Cigarettes After Sex most renowned songs include “Nothing’s Gonna Hurt You Baby,” and “Apocalypse” which as the band’s name would suggest, invokes a sweet sentiment of laying in bed all day, yet won’t prevent you from getting up and dancing. Their music is slow, beautiful and dreamy, with a touch of honest sadness that’s hard to come by.
Catch Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and Cigarettes After Sex next Thursday, October 25th at The Anthem!