NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS GOD IS IN THE HOUSE LIVE DVD MUTE, PLAYGROUND RELEASE: AUGUST 11, 2003 REVIEW: SEPTEMBER 30, 2003

If anyone still needs proof that it's possible to take "rock" music with you into your forties, just take a look at "God Is in the House". Recorded live in France in 2001, it features such an energized performance from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds that it puts most younger bands to shame. Especially those in the current wave of "new" rock, otherwise perfectly healthy young people living in the misunderstanding that music is some kind of retrofetish that demands being treated with silk gloves, as if afraid to offend that wrinkled old God of the Electric Guitar, Keith Richards.
But, sorry, that's not what this review is supposed to be about. It's just easy to get carried away when you've watched Nick Cave twisting and writhing through songs like a man possessed by spirits you definitely won't encounter in any church. As a live unit, the Bad Seeds have an amazing scope. They constantly succeed in bringing forth the best qualities of each song, from the delicate tenderness of "Lime Tree Arbour" to the crushing power of "The Mercy Seat", a song that just seems to get better with each year. It's a pure joy just beholding the band, especially violinist Warren Ellis. Bar John Cale I've never seen anyone play the violin with such manic elegance as him, his madness illuminating him like a lithium halo.
So this is a great concert, and extremely well captured for the screen. As if that was not enough, the DVD also features three promo videos, as well as an entertaining look at the recording of the "No More Shall We Part" album.

KRISTOFFER NOHEDEN