The problem with a festival like Rock en Seine undoubtedly lies in combining a sprawling lineup and the sheer vastness of the site. It is impossible to chain together all the concerts without running a marathon after each show, or to resign oneself to arriving just in time for the start of the performances at the risk of ending up relegated to the very back. Not to mention the agonizing choices between two bands and the four stages! The author of these lines therefore preferred Sparks to Kurt Vile, Wilco to Franz Ferdinand and La Flemme to the Black Keys, the latter choice being entirely involuntary, largely due to the slowness of a strategically placed food truck.
Let us admit it right away, following Wet Leg, Sparks, La Flemme and Wilco already made for a perfect combo, so much so that the four performances lived up to expectations, albeit far too short. That’s festivals for you! Let us also thank the almost military organization: each concert starts right on time. On that subject, the Australian preacher with the baritone voice who was to close the evening even arrived two minutes early. Fortunately, we had just had time to get into position.
A lion in Cave
10:13 p.m.: the Bad Seeds therefore take over the arena, followed by Nick Cave who kicks at the air and harangues the crowd with a thunderous “Fucking Paris!”. This mantra, repeated at will throughout the evening, ignites an already boiling audience at the sight of the dozen musicians who arrived a few seconds earlier. Straight on, up to the front of the stage! He will practically never leave it for the whole show, except to unleash the keys of his piano or caress them for a few notes throughout the songs.
Get Ready for Love (the opening song) looms large and, indeed, there was love to be had. Seeing Nick Cave on stage is an experience that absolutely must be lived from the front rows. The man, dressed all in black, is a true caged lion who unleashes himself as soon as the Bad Seeds strike the first notes at full volume. The artist is more than generous: he loves being there and adores his audience, who returns the favor a hundredfold. This evening, the sound was perfect (the same cannot be said for the giant screens) and Nick Cave’s distinctive voice enveloped Saint-Cloud park and every spectator present.
The man is a showman, messianic to the fingertips, and we adore him for it. He knows how to tame crowds that ask for no less. Nick Cave will spend a large part of the show perched atop the spectators who carry him at arm’s length, the singer’s true trademark for some time now. Early in the concert, he even addresses one of the fans in the front row directly: “Éric, I always see you in the front row!”. Everyone feels as though they are attending an intimate concert, so much does Nick Cave give of himself to create a bond. Despite the gathered crowd (the 40,000-capacity venue is sold out), he manages it with every song.
Many fans also came with personal words to hand him, which he unfortunately cannot slip into his jacket pocket. “The suit is new, the pockets are still sewn shut!”, he apologizes with a smile. The energy he unleashes on stage and physically transmits to the audience is incredible. At over 68 years old, the man is much more than a mere stage beast: he becomes one with the crowd.
Nick Cave announces a last one in Saint-Cloud
The songs follow one another, sung along in chorus by a white-hot audience. There is no real staging; the show is carried by the singer, who often sends his microphone flying, and by Warren Ellis, unrestrained with his violin and a bow that he will also hurl into the air more than once. Not a single high point falls flat. The setlist is unfortunately quite classic and partly repeats (in a shortened version, festival rules) that of the Wild God tour. For the final date of his journey, the singer did not reserve any particular surprise for us. The classics alternate with more introspective songs. Strangely, before launching into a sublime version of Train Long Suffering, the singer admits to a touch of nostalgia: this is the last time, he promises, that he will sing this song.
Ironically, it is on the lyrics of his most famous song (Red Right Hand, taken from the Peaky Blinders soundtrack) that he slips up and has to start over. The crowd erupts and gets an extra gong! After almost two hours, the Bad Seeds leave the stage, introduced one by one by the frontman. If they handled the musical side brilliantly, they remained a little in the background throughout the show. Only the backing singers, thanks to a sound monitor problem, gathered around him for one song.
To close the concert and his tour, Nick Cave sits alone at the piano and begins Into my Arms, whose chorus will be sung back in chorus by the audience long after the end of the show, on the way home… “Thank you, it was a very beautiful place to end a tour!”.