Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - God Is in the House (2003)

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - God Is in the House

God Is In The House
There is a misterious feeling that apears when I "see/hear" Nick Cave. Something familiar, a feeling that make me thought "I Known what it means" or " It already happened to me". It's just because what He sings is what he feels. He is honest with his feelings and it is very rare and marvelous. August 10, 2008

So Glad I Bought This

This is a great DVD. The primary feature is the concert, which alone, would be worth the price, but in addition it also includes three promo videos (Love Letter, AS I Sat Sadly By Her Side, and Fifteen Feet Of Pure White Snow), and a documentary on the recording sessions for And No More Shall We Part, which most cave fans that I've met agree is their best record.
I had never seen Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds live. Wasn't sure what I was in for.
Nick Cave is a rock star. He is so alive and animated on stage. He stomps and swaggers with the charisma of a mad man.

If you're into Nick Cave, there's no question: you need this DVD. April 9, 2005

Someday he'll come out ... God Is In the House

Perhaps the greatest example of a true showman. Nick Cave stomps around stage pointing and screaming at the audience one minute, then gently caressing the mic the next. He's a charismatic cross between an early 1950's crooner and a mid-1970's minister - somehow he makes it all accessible and brilliant. For those into masochistic entertainment, please apply here. It's lyrically brutal music, but transforms into an artform once Cave delivers in his Jim Morrison/Elvis/Johnny Cash baritone while proclaiming to the audience, "All of God's children will have to die."

This is, of course, a DVD of a show Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds performed in Lyons, France around 2001 (just after the recording of the album, `No More Shall We Part' - my favorite Cave release by the way). It showcases the mad, frantic, masterful way Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds can direct emotions and coax the audience into applauding even though he's bringing to light all their flaws (well not just them, but humans in general).

But I've gotten caught up in describing only one half of his musical persona. The other half consists of the brooding crooner (think David Bowie, Tom Waits, or Lou Reed) singing lines such as, "We've bred all our kittens white so that we can see them in the night ... God is in the house." - any songwriter who can compare forced Christian individualism and seclusion with cats, has my vote as one of the greatest lyricists of the 20th century.

It is rather terrifying, because if it wasn't for the documentary (more on that later), you'd think that Cave actually meant every lyric he pronounced - he's that good of a performer. Pure emotion and visceral honesty. After you hear him shouting, "Do you love me?" after describing his lover's bleeding thighs with complete conviction, you wonder, Is he talking from experience?

Now the crowning achievement (both of Cave and whoever produced this DVD), is the documentary which shows Cave and his cohorts recording the `No More Shall We Part' album. It shows Cave in a different light than what most people are used to. You think you'd see a brooding madman, berating and ranting (like his live shows), but here in his natural persona (I've used that word again), he is surprisingly normal. Quiet, encouraging, and sarcastically funny, he seems like someone worth knowing in real life. I was worried `cause, as entertaining as it is, his live personality is something I'd rather watch from a distance.

While Cave and his band (the Bad Seeds) aren't at their absolute best on this particular show (performing wise), they still have the energy they had back in the `80s (impressive, considering that there's not a person in the band younger than 40). Hopefully there will be another live performance released on DVD, but for those who need more, check out the album `Live Seeds' - a flawless performance - perhaps one of the greatest live albums of all time. September 1, 2004

God Is In The House...and Nick is as well...

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds would have to rate as one of the all-time great line-ups of musicians ever to grace the stages and stereos of the world, and thus its fitting that their first DVD be suitably impressive.

The main extravagance of "God Is In The House" is a concert recorded in Lyon, France on the 2001 "No More Shall We Part" tour. Featuring a Bad Seeds line up of Mick Harvey (guitars), Blixia Bargeld (guitars), Conway Savage (piano), Jim Sclavonous (percussion), Warren Ellis (violin/organ), Tomas Wylder (drums) and Martyn Casey (bass). This is a truly spectacular line up and they deliver a very good concert. The curtain raiser, "Do You Love Me?", is very good, but the pace doesn't let up - nearly every song is a highlight, except (oddly) the title track, which personally doesn't do anything for me. Maybe other people get something out of it that I don't.

The extras are very impressive as well. All three "No More..." videos are included - the very abstract "As I Sat Sadly By Her Side", the incredibly hilarious "Fifteen Feet of Pure White Snow" and the beautifully emotional "Love Letter", which brought tears to my eyes. A forty-minute film of the band recording "No More Shall We Part" provides a great insight into the recording of an album (and the bit in the middle featuring the recording of "The Sorrowful Wife" is brilliant).

Ultimately, if you're a Nick Cave fan, there's simply no excuse not to own this (unless you don't have the money). It's not perfect, but damn it comes close. "The Videos" should be great, too. June 24, 2004

Stop! Quit! I can't take it!

Wow! What can I say? This is one of the most amazing DVDs I've ever had the pleasure of viewing! Whoa! What amazing music! What amazing showmanaship!! Please...let the words "Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds" ring thoughout the land. January 24, 2004

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