Last weekend I saw a band that I’ve been listening to in one form or another for almost 25 years — Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds — at the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Gardens.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the 51-year old Cave, although unlike many of the bands from my teenage years, he’s put out a steady stream of quality work in multiple media for the best part of three decades (I also saw Echo & the Bunnymen earlier in the same week, and they only had a couple of songs more recent than the eighties).

I needn’t have worried — the band’s performance in the full-to-capacity venue was electric, and Cave ran around the stage with a manic yet darkly comedic energy.

My only complaint about the gig was that the sound was so loud when it peaked that it hurt and sometimes sounded distorted to my middle aged ears!

I’ve also been listening to Grinderman a lot recently, another Nick Cave project which Paul Facer tipped me off too. I highly recommend it.