Kevin Bronson on April 17th, 2013

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Who: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds on the main stage
In 3 or Fewer Words: Palm Springs perdition.
Memorable Because: With Sunday night’s windstorm at almost full throttle, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds brought a choir of child singers from the Silverlake Music Conservatory to lend a hand on a few songs, contrasting Cave’s hell-scorched gothic preacher persona against cherub faces in street clothes. The contradiction made Cave’s brooding insights all the more troubling in a set that was both musically impactful and visually stimulating. (Looking like Charles Manson with a busted violin, multi-instrumentalist Warren Ellis was as vital to the production as Cave.) Opening with “Jubilee Street” and “From Her to Eternity,” the Bad Seeds eerily complimented ominous dust clouds that choked a crowd shrouded in bandanas and sunglasses to protect against apocalyptic conditions. Nick Cave’s carefully curated set was a revelation, even if never better than those first two songs. Still, when the children’s choir came back out to help close with “Push the Sky,” there were tears in my eyes. Probably from the dust. Probably.
What I’d Tell My Friend Who Was At OMD: While the Bad Seeds were a festival highlight for me, I am still jealous. This was an agonizing conflict.
– Ben “Mouse” McShane (Photo by Scott Dudelson)