Cover Image: Nick Cave performing close to the crowd during his Fremantle Park concert. Photo by: De Williams.

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Fremantle Park, 17 January 2026

Biblical. 

It’s a word Oasis fans have been throwing around a lot lately, but they’ve got nothing on Nick Cave. From Nick the Stripper to the Prince of Darkness to the Wild God he’s evolved into most recently, the gospel according to Saint Nick has never been more pronounced than it was on Saturday night.

With the fervour of a preacher he worked the crowd up into a spiritual state, colourfully cloaked choir singers placed high at the back of the stage highlighting a stadium set up quite unlike any we’ve seen from the Bad Seeds before. Lyrics flashed across the screen encouraging audience participation, not that we needed to be asked. Hands were in the air I’m sure our voices were heard ringing out throughout Fremantle.

Cave never seems to play the same venue twice and promoters Billions must be scratching their heads coming up with new places for him to share his signature mix of love and darkness. Fremantle Park turned out to be an inspired choice and the bars and facilities mostly ran smoothly (give or take some long waits for those hitting up food trucks early on).

For the rest of us intent on catching support act Aldous Harding, it was a stripped back affair with just three performers seated on stage playing a minimal alt-folk set. Harding has come a long way since her first trip here solo supporting Perfume Genius at Perth Fest, and these days headlines her own Festival shows. But whether she didn’t read the stadium cues or the brief was to tone things down, it felt like a missed opportunity as even popular songs Horizon and Imagining My Man were lost on the greater audience.

Cave’s opening with Frogs immediately set a different tone, before Wild Goddropped triumphantly second track in. “Bring your spirit down” flashed brightly across the screen, repeated by the choir and crowd as one.

O Children took us back to 2004 and Jubilee Street to 2013 when it dropped early, and suddenly we were vibrating and transforming en masse. But nothing went back as far as From Her to Eternity six tracks in (Tupelo from 1985 came close) and Cave wasn’t afraid to revisit all corners of his nearly 50-year career; 13 albums represented in all.

Highlights included Bright Horses from the Ghosteen record, which segued beautifully into emotional centrepiece Joy. There was barely a dry eye to be found as Cave spoke directly to his grief: “Who is it, I cried, what wild ghost has come in agitation?” before the ghost reassured him, “We’ve all had too much sorrow, now is the time for joy”.

Anyone familiar with Cave’s recent albums will be aware of the grief the 68-year old has endured losing two sons since 2015, but something in Joy transcends tragedy and even dares us to look beyond the politics of hate perpetuated by so many corners of the media, with lyrics such as “All across the world they shout out their angry words/ About the end of love”.

Likewise the rousing main set finale White Elephant could easily be about the cold-blooded execution of US citizen Renee Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross: “I’ll shoot you in the f****** face if you think of coming around here/

I will shoot you all for free if you so much as look at me,” ranted Cave with the violence of a madman, before the monumental gospel finale saw the choir climb down from on high and sing front and centre with Cave, somehow delivering a promise of love that follows an endless (news) cycle of hatred.

The Mercy Seat; Red Right Hand; Papa Won’t Leave You, Henry; The Weeping Song: the highlights kept on coming deep into a 23-song setlist that also included eight Wild God tracks holding their own. But perhaps it was the finale of enduring 1997 ballad Into My Arms closing the night, Cave solo at his grand piano, that provided the ultimate intimacy at the end of concert that often felt like going to church (in the best possible way!)

“But I believe in Love
And I know that you do too.”

If there’s a better gig in 2026 it’ll be a good year.