mapfumo

I too was disappointed in Blixa leaving .To my mind he kept that edgey sound Rowland produced. Mick leaving is also a shame but anyone who has seen the bad seeds in the last couple of tours will have seen now marginalised he was. I too find Warren Ellis a bit O.T.T on stage but he is a fine musician , i.e dirty 3 and we can expect more stuff and more varied stuff

Nick Cave is a family man living in Brighton UK,not drinking or drugging and reading a lot -his life is so different to his early days and it seems Rowland's current days.

As for ''wanna be mapfumoneverdonenothing''- well none of you know me so how can you say that?

Rowland is a fine musician, a fine artist - my point was that his show wasn't great, compared to what he should be doing , given his talent. It's a tragedy of the first order. If you want to abuse me for saying this and that Cave still has talent then that is your problem.

Rowland's style is deadpan ,agreed ,but not to the same extent . I compared ''snuff''to what we got energised versus ennervated.

I understand he is unwell ,for a variety of reasons , but the reviews i read seemed to suggest rowland was BACK , and back in the game,. He is not .It is great to see him producing music on record and in a concert but this was no tour de force.It is more of a tragedy and ,very sadly, this show struck me as an act late in the play.

The reference to Cave and the bad seeds being a sinking ship is I think probably more in need of defnece than my comments.A double album , then grinderman, a number of excellent soundtrack albums, dig lazarus dig, recruiting ed kuepper to play ,another well reviewed book ( haven't read it). This all suggests he is highly productive and his star is not on the wane . Nick Cave sometimes refers to lyrics in performance. He has many more songs, many more words and he plays for twice the time .

The criticism of him appears to be a case of a tall poppy syndrome. Perhaps he needed to stay a junkie and produce 2 records in 10 years to have cred.

I saw this gig and my recollection differs greatly. I went to see a masterful singer, songwriter and guitarist. I saw a frail , unwell man barely make it through a 60 minute set who required a lyric sheet for all his songs old and new.

Rowland's vocal delivery was almost deadpan ,I assume due to a complete lack of energy.

He staggered off stage ,completely spent. I hope he gets the liver transplant that I read that he needs coz he sure looks like he needs it.

On the way home I listened to Teenage Snuff Film -what a contrast -energy ,animation.

Oh one last thing ...''Behind Rowland, Mick Harvey demonstrates why he was right to abandon the sinking ship that is The Bad Seeds, relishing the opportunity to display his unique skills on the drums and play with a friend who appreciates his musical contribution''.

Probably right about Mick needing to leave having been supplanted by Warren ellis -but ''bad seeds a sinking ship?''...you are dreaming.