nick cave @ the electric factory

Nick Cave during his opening number

Words cannot describe how unreal and life-changing this concert was. As soon as I found out Mr. Cave was coming to Philly I committed to that ticket instantaneously. For me he is the male version of PJ Harvey; dark, intense, emotional, commanding presence. The Electric Factory is not my favorite venue but whatever, I'm seeing Nick Cave for the first time! I arrived at the venue 45 minutes early to a line that wrapped around the building. To my dismay I winded up at least 100 people back and kept panicking about being so far away once inside. Luckily the majority of the people in front wanted balcony seats so my friend and I opted for along the side. Then we ended up second row to the left of the stage which was disappointing because he kept pandering to the opposite side of the stage. Dang it! Again no opening band which was wonderful and a night of 22 songs or two and a half hours of music? Yes please! When he kicked into "Anthrocene" I thought "Okay he's got a chair out...will he be seated the entire show?" That was a complete tease because he was "connecting" and out there with the audience the entire time. 

Blurry Nick Cave! We did make eye contact tho!

The goal of the evening was just to touch him and neither of us succeeded. I winded up with a blurry picture of Mr. Cave close by but my friend captured a better one. During one part of the song he sang "Can you feel my heart beating?" and the girls were aiming to touch his chest and he encouraged them, "Can you?" I mean DYING!!!! The guys were fangirling just as hard as the girls. Nick Cave is an enigma, period. I had tears, TEARS streaming down my eyes when he performed "I Need You" because it was such a beautiful song and the lighting was perfect I felt like I was not on this earth. During his last song he actually went out into the audience, stagehands feverishly roping extra yards of mic cord into the center of the Electric Factory. There goes Mr. Cave up the balcony deck and serenades not one, not two, but three women from the audience into an emotional huddle of arms on backs and twirling the one woman. Again DYING!!!! When Carrie Brownstein and Shirley Manson go off about their Nick Cave experiences just yaaasss! I get you. Excited to hear "Ship Song" "Weeping Song" and "Red Right Hand" along with the new songs too of course!

Nick Cave serenades as we fall in <3

Set list:
Anthrocene
Jesus Alone
Magneto
Higgs Boson Blues
From Her to Eternity
Tupelo
Jubilee Street
The Ship Song
Into My Arms
Girl in Amber
I Need You
Red Right Hand
The Mercy Seat
Distant Sky
Skeleton Tree

Encore:
Mermaids
Nobody's Baby Now
The Weeping Song
Stagger Lee
Push the Sky Away

.grimes

It pains me to say I have waited SO LONG for this opportunity to see Grimes in concert. I became a fan back in November or December. I own just about every album. When she cancelled her Philly show due to injury it sucked. The only hopes of seeing her live were in NY opening for Florence and the Machine (I really did not want to see her in a big venue) or taking a chance with StubHub at the 9:30 Club in DC. When she announced her Philly date I was so elated! However it was in my least favorite venue, The Electric Factory but still. My friend Cole got our tickets and a group of us girls went. Before the show started three of us bought matching tee shirts. We will flaunt those babies soon. Hana was just stellar. Her voice was killer and cut through the room when she hit the high ones. She joined Grimes on stage a lot during her set. Let me just tell you this was the most fun I've had at a concert this year. The four of us were just dancing the night away. It was one big Grimes dance party. We knew just about all of the lyrics. There was a guy up top at the balcony just killing it hardcore with all of his moves. The girls behind us noticed him as well and we tried to get his attention. I think he saw us. He needs to go to all of the concerts with us. Her back-up dancers were wonderful. They used everything from dagger-like weapons, ribbon dancers, and gloves that had laser beams shooting out of the fingers. Incredible. Grimes wore what many fans referred to as MC Hammer pants, a sparkly fanny pack, and hot pink glow-in-the-dark barrettes. My pictures didn't turn out too hot and the top shot was the only good one. The videos were hard to take because everyone around me kept jumping so keeping a steady hand was not easy.

SETLIST:
REALITI
FLESH WITHOUT BLOOD
VENUS FLY
ARTANGELS
GO
BE A BODY
GENESIS
BUTTERFLY
SCREAM
AVE MARIA
OBLIVION
WORLD PRINCESS PART II
KILL VS. MAIM

Grimes is so cute though! I know she has stage fright / anxiety but handled it like a pro. She told us she was just going to do the encore right then and there because if she went off of the stage she wouldn't want to return on the stage. The crowd just roared in cheers for at least over a minute after she said this. Apparently everyone screamed too loud the sound reverberated in her ears and was burning her hearing! Next time I see her I'll try and get closer spots to the front. She's amazing and everyone needs to go see her. I described her to Cole's friends as an anime character come to life and they agreed.