Poster for “Idiot Prayer: Nick Cave alone at Alexandra Palace”
Live a direct from Nick Cave it is something transcendental. One feels that he has reached the ceiling when it comes to going to concerts. I am aware that speaking from the point of view of a compulsive listener of his work (because Nick Cave is heard, not heard in the background as if he were an anesthetic companion), makes me totally biased in this statement. : watching him perform on stage is a metaphysical experience . And in times of pandemic, with the dates of his world tour with the Bad Seeds postponed until 2021 (for now), he reappeared like a redeeming ray to interpret a nude concert . Concert that we can now see from November 5 in cinemas throughout Spain.
NICK CAVE'S PALACE
Last July, Cave announced that he was returning to the stage and streaming to everyone . There he was, in a sober, bare-chested appearance: his voice and his piano, nothing and no one else (well yes, us on the other side) playing in an empty room, immaculate.
Its about West Hall of the nineteenth-century palace Alexandra Palace, London , better known to Londoners as "Ally Pally" . Located on an incredible 79-hectare site, ice rinks and exhibitions are set up between the building and the gardens, and it is a regular destination for locals to fall in love with the city. And these days, in the face of the health crisis, he asks for help to survive COVID-19.
Cave comments on his own website that he performed each song surrounded by "covid measures", by "security agents with tape measures and thermometers, with illuminists and masked camera operators, among the nervous looks of the technicians ... and a lot of hydroalcoholic gel". And despite everything: "Together we created something very strange and very beautiful that speaks of this uncertain moment (moment that in no way engulfed the performance)".
Is not the same. It is impossible to reproduce through a screen the magic that is generated between Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and the public ; but what does reach us is an iota of the energy, the solemnity, the feeling and the pain of Cave. And also redemption . And for that alone, it's worth giving it a try on the big screen: Idiot Prayer: Nick Cave alone at Alexandra Palace It is a concert, an album - on sale on November 20 - and a movie perfectly orchestrated to move people. Directed by Robert Ryan (La Favorita, Marriage Story, American Honey) and with editing by Nick Emerson (Emma, Greta, Lady Macbeth) is now showing in Yelmo cinemas and tickets are on sale now.
'Idiot Prayer: Nick Cave Alone at Alexandra Palace'
Idiot Prayer: Nick Cave alone at Alexandra Palace is the end of the creative trilogy preceded by 20,000 Days on Earth Y One More Time with Feeling, "It is the luminous and heartfelt climax ", in the words of the artist himself.
This foolish prayer, this 'idiotic prayer' that Cave presents in the nothingness of this palace, is also a review of his career. We will listen from 'Girl in Amber' to 'Jubilee Street' . We will vibrate with 'The Mercy Seat' and we will reach ecstasy in interpretations like the one he makes of 'Higgs Boson Blues' either 'Into My Arms' . But there are surprises (with Nick there always are). And since this film is for those who are fans of the Australian, they will appreciate sitting in the armchair and receiving four sound gifts, four songs never performed before, as if (close your eyes) Nick and his Bad Seeds came out on stage again after making us sweat and maybe cry to offer us a few more encores , a little more time in the company of him.
Cave said in one of his last Red Hand Files (he, oracle): "Of course there are many things in our world that need to change, and of course Humanity is complex, conflictive and full of errors ; but at this point in our time, when our very existence hangs in the balance, we need to come together not just in good faith and comfort, but as one inventive and creative spirit.” And he has done it again: has brought us all back together, wherever we are.