The Nick Cave q&a tour from like, two years ago, kind of ruined him for me. If you’re not familiar, on that tour he had an open mic for people to ask whatever question they desired- no pre-screening- and he’d give an honest answer. In between, he played mostly the hits on piano without accompaniment IIRC.

The concert was at kind of a fancy, large-ish venue downtown. I don’t know what I was expecting but the first thing I noticed while standing in line was that 1. the average age was like 40 and 2. everyone was wearing black and dressed goth. There’s of course nothing wrong with 1. but, coupled with 2., the presentation of things felt sort of cringy and on the nose. Like, that would be a child’s idea of how Nick Cave fans look.

Now, when it came to the q&a, the lack of pre-screening was supposed to make the event feel like a candid conversation, but people asked the absolute dumbest fucking questions. And what really diminished Nick in my head, who I think of as a serious guy, a straight-talker, was that he didn’t call the fans out on their bullshit.

The q&a I remember:
Q, Very Drunk Lady in Expensive Seats: Last year, I had the worst boss and I absolutely hated my job. But your music inspired me to follow my dreams, so I told my boss fuck you and I quit and now, I own my own business and I have $150,000 in the bank, and I live in the 482925 (random zip code that I as a local did not recognize), which if you didn’t know is one of the most expensive zip codes in [city]. But my boyfriend has a boss that he hates and he doesn’t like his job, so would you tell my boyfriend that he should keep working in his job that he hates or should he follow his dreams and quit his job?
A: Uh, if you’re asking me whether your boyfriend should follow his dreams, uh, I guess I would say yes? What does he do by the way?
(response) he’s a photographer
(collective groan from the crowd)

Q: something something what are your political views? [yelling] You have nothing to lose but your chains!
A: Whoa now, I think what’s really bad is political extremism. I think when you go too far to one side or the other, that’s when things get crazy. I think the guys who are sort of in the middle have it figured out.
[editor’s note: enlightened centrism does not jive with my idea of Nick Cave or counter-culture]

Q: A really long non-question by a mid 20’s girl about how her ex turned her onto Nick’s music and she’s really thankful that he did but now whenever she listens to it she thinks of him, but yeah, now that you’re listening Nick, I just want to say you are the coolest guy and your music is like, really great, (…eventually someone took the mic from her I think)
A: Um thanks, it’s great to hear that you engaged with my music.

I still like his music a lot but yikes, what a fanbase haha