Agreeing to review this concert has forced me to consider his influence on my life and brought to the surface a deep buried memory. As a teenager I found a CD single of Are You The One That I’ve Been Waiting For in my older brothers bedroom and began listening to it very quietly in secret like it was some exotic porno mag, turning it off if anyone came too close to my room. I wasn’t sure what it was yet but it had its hooks in me. Until that point romance was Blink 182 and a stolen 6-pack of beer in the sand dunes. Things changed after that.

It pains me to say it but I have him to thank for opening up a new world of music, the underworld. The culmination of “good music” or what’s left of it – he swallowed it all – Johnny Cash, Scott Walker, Nina Simone, Elvis Presley, Leonard Cohen, John Lee Hooker, Suicide, Serge Gainsbourg and Glen Campbell – and regurgitated it in grotesque and absurd ways, bringing beauty to kitsch and dark menace to beauty. For me this is his gift.

I’ve wrestled with the creative roadblocks he’s thrown up at me as he goes about his territorial pissing – I see the markings on the buildings. I can’t go there anymore, Nick Cave owns that part of town – forcing me to move to the outer suburbs of synth pop and soft rock. But like some property developer in a gentrifying city he keeps expanding his reach, his greasy black tendrils over everything. How far do I have to run to escape? Screw this I say, I’m moving back to the centre of town and he’ll have to deal with me.

To talk of Nick Cave’s campaign to become the poet laureate of the greater known universe over the last 20 years is to witness an artistic hairline receding forwards from his mustached 50’s into his embalmed and grief ridden 60’s, frozen in time, The Man in Black Amber. He is now approximating the God he has spent his career writing about. He is an authority on grief, on love, on creativity. An online Gothic Buddha. I’m taking notice but I’m taking it with large grains of Brighton sea salt. At times it feels like his ambition has overtaken his ability and tonight is his reckoning. He will have to face my cruel judgement. My sword of Damocles hangs above the stool at his grand piano. Is it a Fazioli? I don’t care. I will decide who lives and dies. I am the critic tonight.

The first night of his sold out five show run at the historic State Theatre in Sydney is brimming with boomers in band shirts. The first thing I notice is his merch stall looks lazy. They’re selling generic Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds T-shirts. A hoodie for one hundred dollars! I thought this was a solo show. What?! He has a pink T-shirt. I was going to do a pink T-shirt. This is suspicious. He must’ve known.

On the marquee outside his name is in lights sharing the billing with Colin Greenwood of Radiohead which I thought was a generous thing for him to do. Maybe they just need to fill the thing up with letters as there is no support act. He couldn’t handle me anyway.

I forget how gaudy this place is. The statues with their togas falling down below their waists revealing a little too much skin standing next to the popcorn machine. A Sydney spin on ancient Rome.

They’re calling us on the PA to take our seats in the “The Palace of Dreams” and we file in. Turns out we have very good seats in the front stalls. I’ve never been so close for a show at the State Theatre. This will be like the time I stood in the front row for Lou Reed. He’ll be able to see me. He will feel my presence.

The crowd is restless. People take selfies in front of his vacant piano. He’s late. Of course he’s late. He’s grooming, he’s pacing, he’s stretching out his stiff fingers. He’s pointing at himself in the mirror, practicing his jazz hands and his leap from the piano stool to receive his applause. He’s reminding himself that he’s still got it. That he’s better than Jack Ladder and always will be. He’s laughing at me.

Lights go down. Colin hits the stage first in a black suit with white shirt looking like a baby Bad Seed to a smattering of applause. Then Nick in his tailored suit and tie, his perfect black hair slicked back bursts on stage – the crowd erupts. It’s hard to believe that he’s actually there. He waves and gesticulates and blows kisses. He is an entertainer. He makes love to the room. This is what he does for a living. He sits down promptly at the piano and begins a minor chord dirge. The mood is instantly transformed. We are in his world. He opens his mouth and that voice comes out. It booms with a little croak. Maybe he hasn’t been warming up. Maybe he’s come straight from dinner. Does he eat?! The song isn’t a classic hit. It’s Girl in Amber from Skeleton Tree. He’s letting us know who’s in control and that he will play what he likes regardless of the ticket price.

The song ends and he jumps up from the piano stool to receive his applause with a microphone on a pacing length lead. He wants to tell us about the new Bad Seeds record. He says it’s really good. Really really good. He says the Bad Seeds will come next year to play it. What?! He’s already spruiking tickets to his next show after one song. This guy is unbelievable. He is a salesman managing expectations. He knows that what’s he’s doing tonight might not land but he does it anyway. He is opening up these songs to the public to find new meaning in them, to see what they reveal. He is making a living and we’re here for it.

He introduces Higgs Boson Blues. He says it’s about the God Particle and driving down to Geneva. He begins the song “I’m driving my car down to Geneva.” I love it when the description is the first lines of the song. I wonder if he does that as a joke. For his lifetime of experience he is not a great piano player but I can tell he’s been working on his left-hand technique. He’s trying to hold rhythm and separate the bass notes out. Colin faces him and tries to hold time. They are in time together. Colin’s bass doesn’t sound like much. I imagined he’d be laying down the groove and Nick would be playing along but it’s the other way around. The lyrics to this song are acrobatic and silly. It doesn’t hold much emotional weight for me. Why is he singing about Hannah Montana / Miley Cyrus. Feels desperate like Dylan name checking Alicia Keys. The image is ugly when her name comes out of his mouth but he sells it. Song croaks to a halt. Can’t remember anything at all… lights come down.

Next up is a song I never paid much attention to from Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! Jesus of The Moon. I don’t think I’ll listen to it again. It’s hard to know what he’s getting at in the song even after inspecting the lyrics later. Lonely guy living in a hotel says hello to people on the streets. I’m confused at this point why he would bother revisiting this song. It’s another Dylan move. Hit ‘em with the sleepers.

Now we’re onto Galleon Ship from Ghosteen. It’s a beautiful melody. His piano playing is coming into it’s own. His hands are warming up. You can tell he loves to play the changes. He lives inside this. As the city rises up. It’s sentimental but what he’s reaching for is the divine. I get it when he goes straight for beauty. I’m softening.

He takes time to describe the “walk of shame” process when he performs a song for the first time in the studio for The Bad Seeds and they are unmoved. I relate. There’s nothing more humbling than receiving the indifference of band mates with a burning barometer for what’s what. He jokes they’re all fired and Colin is next then performs the song no one liked. I tend to agree with the band. At the end he says it’s called Euthanasia. Again, he’s coming after my turf. My song Susan is about euthanasia. He better back off. Lucky it’s not on a record. I can’t even find the lyrics on his website.

Next is a trilogy of weepers. O Children followed by self described “sad song” I Need You, then Waiting For You for his wife Suzie who is standing behind him side of stage. It’s hard not to be moved by these songs. I try to hold back but as the lights go out on I Need You and he’s whipped himself into one of his manic frenzies whispering “breathe just breathe just breathe just breathe ” it’s heart busting and I break. He turns tiny moments into Greek Tragedy. He is a drama queen on his grand piano. He’s making me feel things I’m not prepared to feel.

Now he’s talking about rocking his son to sleep in Brazil 30 years ago. His son has just had a son. He is now a grandfather. The song he wrote while rocking his son to sleep is Papa Won’t Leave You Henry. I laugh at the absurdity of this. No one else is laughing. He starts the song and it’s all blood and sweat and bones and booze. This is where his bread is buttered. This is what he does. Inside a song like this there is a fever. The way the words churn and mangle. His new songs have a lightness and a self consciousness that is hard to connect to. A song like this is a wild cat that he’s boxed up and he can still let it out when he wants. He’s possessed now. God I hope he’s going to do more of this. I can’t breathe.

But no, we’re back with some light hearted crowd participation. He wants the the people in the balcony to cheer when he says “balcony”. He’s playing Balcony Man from Carnage, a COVID era floater. People love it and he loves it and it helps to break the mood. He has a few false starts on Carnage the song and says they rarely get inside this one and I’m not sure if they do tonight either.

Then Colin creeps into the shadows and Nick starts pummelling away on the Mercy Seat. If there was a song that I thought needed accompaniment this was it but he’s taking this one for a solo ride and puts the pedal on the floor. He is flying. He is hammering. This is serious shit. He says this song is ancient but it feels to me like it’s hot off the press. He has lived this and he’s time travelling and spirit walking. He’s afraid he told a lie. I’m sure he’s told many lies. We all have. He’s got his hands around my neck choking me out. He needs to back off or I’m going to take a blunt object to his skull. Then he leaps off his stool and throws his hand in the air like Mick Jagger practicing his dance moves alone in the basement. He is constantly offsetting the tension with vaudeville stage craft. He can’t help himself.

One thing that’s interesting to me is how happy he is on stage. He’s not leering and arrogant anymore, he’s a grandfather after all, and he lets us know he’s going to play a song for his dear old friend and Melbourne underground hero Anita Lane. She wrote the lyrics and Blixa wrote the music. He sings Stranger Than Kindness. The song is humbling to him. You can tell the lyrics are written by a woman. They are nuanced and poetic and talk of small details in a way that his songs rarely do. It’s sly and painful and he is aware of what he’s done. Singing as penance. This is his due diligence. He is the last man standing and keeper of the flame.

Next he speeds through Are You The One That I’ve Been Waiting For and can barely hold onto the sentiment but we get the idea. We’ve heard it before. He throws the lyric sheet on the ground beside him. They’re piling up now. He whips out The Weeping Song and lashes it around and Colin steps back into the shadows again. He let’s the crowd know they can sing along to the next one and Into My Arms is blurred into a Kumbaya. It’s still a thing of beauty as much as it’s had the sheen rubbed off by ten thousand wedding ceremonies. The price paid for a timeless classic.

He wants to round out the set with Jubilee Street and Push The Sky Away. It’s fair play but an uninteresting one. I’ve never been able to get a handle on Jubilee Street. I like the progression and the atmosphere but the story doesn’t feel vital. Decrepit man sleeps with prostitutes and is transmogrified. The crescendo is hard to do in this format but he gives it a crack. A tender Push The Sky Away concludes the set and he leaps off his seat and blows kisses to the crowd. Standing ovations of course. How could they refuse.

After a towel down and a sip of water he’s bouncing back on stage and introduces his special guest, Beth Orton. This is preposterous to me. One of my first big shows was opening for Beth Orton at the Enmore Theatre. He’s doing this on purpose to taunt me. He’s letting me know I’m still chicken shit. Beth Orton sounds gravellier than I remember, but it’s been a while, about 20 years. They have fun with the Ship Song. They don’t really have to try at this point.

Now he does something really fucking crazy. He plays Shivers for Rowland Howard. A song written by Rowland as a teenager and performed by The Boys Next Door. This is ancient history and the song is an historical artefact, it’s embedded in the fabric of Australian music culture. I’ve seen people butcher this a few times but Nick is inside the song like it’s 1979. The Spine aye aye aye aye aye aye chorus is hard for him to pull off but it doesn’t matter. What would Rowland think? I wonder that sometimes about all sorts of things when I’d rather not know.

Next it’s the highly decorated Grinderman song Palaces of Montezuma and Alys my girlfriend loves this song so I try to love it too. The spinal cord of JFK wrapped in Marilyn Monroe’s negligee. It’s hard to argue with a line like that. No one else was going to write that and anyone else would sound like a fool singing it.

Now another song for Suzie, Wide Lovely Eyes is simple and beautiful and open and all sorts of lovely, I’m feeling lovely at this point. Sometimes I want to hate him but he is a lovely old man. I forgive him the anger of his youth, the pain he’s subjected me to. He is a happy sad old lovely man and I kind of love him smiling at his piano singing for his lovely wife.

He concludes the set with a rousing version of The Carnival is Over by The Seekers – Colin’s struggling to get the rhythm with a pick. He doesn’t mention it’s the final song on Kicking Against The Pricks, he may have forgotten that all together. There’s very little irony at this point. It feels like it’s a song he genuinely loves to play and he plays it like he’s the grandfather in the living room on Christmas Day singing for the family.

The post “He turns tiny moments into Greek Tragedy” – musician Jack Ladder reviews Nick Cave’s Sydney show appeared first on RUSSH.

Mutiny in Heaven, a new documentary film helmed by director Ian White, charts the swirling chaos that enveloped the band from the moment they set foot in London until their eventual collapse in 1983. Taking its name from the final song on the band’s 1983 album and told with archival footage that captures each of the band member’s own recollections from that short yet prolific period, White assembles a portrait characterised by drug addiction, poverty, and malnutrition. Yet, the director also captures the earnestness of the music, which, although it was later misinterpreted by its notoriously violent audience, upended the post-punk status quo.

Eventually, the band – comprising Rowland S. Howard, Mick Harvey, Tracy Pew and Phill Calvert – would combust from the mayhem that trailed them. Most saliently, the generous, thoughtful Nick Cave we now refer to is a far cry from the loincloth-wearing misanthrope recorded in Mutiny in Heaven. Fans of Cave are sure to appreciate the film.

Who is involved?

Although Cave has signed off on the film, he is not directly involved in its production. However, Harvey stepped onboard as music supervisor and curated the soundtrack, while Wim Wenders joined as executive producer.

Is there a release date?

The film made its Australian debut back in August at Melbourne International Film Festival, and will slowly drop across Australian theatres from October 26, with director Q&As planned for each capital city’s premiere screening. Find more information about where to watch Mutiny in Heaven at the documentary’s website.

Is there a trailer?

See the teaser trailer for the film Mutiny in Heaven, below.

Image: Pinterest

The post A new documentary chronicles the thunderous birth and collapse of The Birthday Party appeared first on RUSSH.

Isabelle Truman

Contributing Features Editor

Watch… Barbenheimer, of course. It was so cool to see such an incredible turnout for opening weekend of these films – and how hot pink central London was. I was laughing because I think if it didn’t come out the same day as Barbie, I probably wouldn’t have even seen Oppenheimer at all, let alone hours before another screening. As for the reviews? I found Oppenheimer interesting and visually stunning, but felt it could’ve been an hour shorter and the exact same movie. I was shuffling in my seat by the end and I don’t think it was solely to do with ADD. Also, where were the girlies? More Florence! More Emily! Thankfully, the girlies were most definitely in Barbie. I loved this film. It was fun, it was funny, it was camp, the acting was spot on, the soundtrack was fab. It’s also so brilliant for a women-led film with feminist message to be the biggest movie of the year. Some of the points they touched on and parts of the storyline may seem obvious and surface-level to us, but think about how many millions of young women and girls – and boys and men! – in all corners (or should we say middles) of the world it’s being watched by.

Read… Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. One of the classics I’ve gone my entire life without reading (and have felt endlessly guilty for it, which is silly). I’m currently working my way through a long list of the greats, but once I’ve finished this one, I’m going to quickly time travel back to 2023 for a brief second to read Emma Cline’s The Guest. I loved her 2016 novel, The Girls, and have heard great things, so I’m very excited to read this. 

Listen… In LA (where I live) you’re constantly driving and I feel like there’s no better way to listen to music than in a car with the windows down and sun shining. My new favourite thing to do is add a few of my current favourite songs to a playlist and then let Spotify do its thing with the shuffle recommends function. Old school Nicki Minaj is coming up a lot and so is Charli XCX, likely due to my love of the Barbie soundtrack, and Amaarae’s new album is a current fave. 

Cassandra Dimitroff

Production Editor

Watch… I recently decided to dive back into Mad Men (properly, this time) and have been really enjoying the steady pacing of each episode. It’s a modern classic for a reason, and has honestly convinced me that I need to add even more mid-century furniture to my life – if only to enjoy with an Old Fashioned in hand.

Read… In an attempt to curb my literary spending, I’ve made a hard rule for myself to not purchase any new books until I’ve finished the last. So while I finish up the final few chapters of last month’s read, I’m relegated to reading my emails and the occasional online essay.

Listen… Spotify’s algorithm has been good to me this month, suggesting I listen through Ben Howard’s latest release Is It? It’s an album that’s been on heavy rotation for me on commutes this month, alongside another recent-but-not-new discovery, Midnight Marauders by A Tribe Called Quest.

Olivia Repaci

Creative Studio & Campaigns Manager

Watch… I’m late to the party that the other editors have been having about The Bear, but in lieu of the second season being released I figured it was about time I gave it a go. I love how snappy and fast paced the episodes are and I’m keen to really dive in further.

Read… I’ve also just started reading Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, and so far (50 pages in) I’m enjoying it! It’s becoming a bad habit of mine to start something and not finish it, apparently.

Listen… Ethel Cain. Her song American Teenager opened an Ethel Cain-flavoured can of worms and it’s all I’ve been listening to for weeks. Obsessed is an understatement…

Mia Steiber

Digital Strategy Director

Watch… Obviously I’ve been watching The Bear. Season two is incredible. If you haven’t started yet, you must. I’m also in the middle of David Attenborough’s Our Planet II. It’s very confronting but a wholly necessary watch.

Read… After seeing some of the Netflix adaptation, I’ve delved into Wellmania. It’s a very funny read, especially when you work in the women’s lifestyle industry. I would highly recommend it.

Listen… I’ve been doing a deep dive into some cult 90s movies and it’s got me back into listening to soundtracks. I’ve had the Cruel Intentions soundtrack on repeat for about a week. It’s such a mood.

Meg Nolan

Marketing Manager

Watch… Barbie (obviously). I’m not usually one to get sucked into the hype but I LOVE going to the movies and this was a good excuse. Whilst the casting, costumes and set design were all phenomenal I found the storyline a little underwhelming. I’m aware I’m in the minority who didn’t love it so if you don’t want your bubble burst here are some more positive reviews from the Twitter-sphere (or whatever we’re calling it these days).

Read… I turned to my housemate for book recommendations this month as I’ve been struggling to find something inspiring. She suggested Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe with the disclaimer that it’s non-fiction but reads like you’re watching a movie. I’m only a few pages in but will report back.

Listen… With so many Splendour sideshows happening across the country I’ve been inspired to mix up my music taste this month. A friend offered me a ticket to Loyle Carner, and while I didn’t end up going he’s been my vibe for the past few days. Think Jorja Smith meets Stormzy? Kinda makes me want to move to the UK.

Jasmine Pirovic

Arts & Culture Editor

Watch… I did the Barbenheimer double feature last Saturday. I think with all the anticipation and discourse around Barbie and few details on Oppenheimer, I enjoyed the latter more. So much in fact that I downloaded American Prometheus on Audible immediately afterwards. It was also a novelty seeing Einstein on screen and I loved Emily Blunt’s cutting performance as her character is interrogated. Also, Cillian Murphy and Benny Safdie. So hot. Besides these two movies, I’ve been glued to the broadcasts of the FIFA Women’s World Cup. When I’m not sitting in a stadium or pub, I’m smashing Takis and watching Alexandra Popp head in goals. It’s my happy place.

Read… Two of four books I read this month centre on pianists; The Happy Couple by Naoise Dolan and Deborah Levy’s August Blue. I tore through both of them and enjoyed Dolan’s intricate twist on the marriage plot with emphasis on guilt and obligation, while I loved travelling across Europe with Elsa Miracle Anderson and piecing together her worldview through other people’s treatment of her. As for the other two? I just put down Caroline O’Donoghue’s The Rachel Incident, a juicy immersion into early adulthood, and finally got around to reading Come As You Are by sex educator Emily Nagoski, which is just as practical as everyone says it is.

Listen… Dub at the Cup, a daily podcast covering the WWC. I warned you I am sick with football hype! Ever since Julia Jacklin released her cover of Shivers, I’ve gone down a rabbit hole of The Boys Next Door and The Birthday Party. Australian classics.

The post The ‘RUSSH’ editors share their book, movie and music recommendations from July appeared first on RUSSH.

Personal Score, Ellen van Neerven

Release date: May 2

For a country that’s obsessed with sport, we refuse to interrogate how it has the power to not only unite, but divide. From the moment they began playing football at a young age, this is something Mununjali Yugambeh, non-binary author Ellen van Neerven has understood, and in their new book Personal Score, van Neerven explores sport through a First Nations and queer lens. From the untold history of Indigenous sport and the implications of playing on stolen land to athlete activists and body policing.

Search History, Amy Taylor

Release date: May 2

The thing about modern dating is that past relationships, exes and dirty laundry all leave a digital paper trail. Search History protagonist Ana is learning this firsthand. After fleeing Melbourne in the wake of a breakup, Ana’s situation is looking particularly drab. That is until she meets Evan, who is charming, kind, financially responsible – basically the antithesis of her dating history. But when she finally caves and stalks him on social media, Ana comes across the page of his previous girlfriend Emily, who died recently in a hit and run, and finds herself obsessively trawling her posts, making comparisons and wondering why Evan has never mentioned her?

August Blue, Deborah Levy

Release date: May 9

A novel I’ll be purchasing as soon as it lands at my local bookshop. August Blue opens with Elsa M. Anderson, a classical piano virtuoso. Pottering through a flea market in Athens, Elsa watches a woman buy two mechanical horses. In that moment, she imagines the woman as her double, and the life she dreams up for the lady takes a shape of its own. From there Elsa chases her across Europe, whether that is knowingly remains to be seen. The story culminates in one final encounter during a fateful summer rainstorm.

Yearbook, Seth Rogen

Release date: May 12

Having written for Superbad and Pineapple Express, it makes sense that Seth Rogen would put eventually publish something of his own. Yearbook is a collection of essays that cover the actor’s time at Jewish summer camp, doing standup comedy as a teenager, his own family history and stories from living in LA (which yes, mention drugs a lot). If nothing else, the drawcard is the book has promised to be funny and offer a lot of juicy tidbits about celebrities which he is sure will “create a wildly awkward conversation for me at a party one day”.

The Guest, Emma Cline

Release date: May 16

Emma Cline publishes her first novel since The Girls, her 2016 debut that earned a spot on the Sunday Times best sellers list. With traces of Raven Leilani’s Luster, The Guest follows Alex who, after a summer spent living with an older man on Long Island, is sent packing back to the city following a misstep at a dinner party. With little to work with, save for a talent for entertaining the desires of others, Alex manages to stay on Long Island, billowing in and out the gated communities and like a hurricane, leaving nought but destruction behind her. Mark it down as your feral girl summer read.

Quietly Hostile, Samantha Irby

Release date: May 16

There’s nothing like a Samantha Irby essay to unclench your jaw and loosen your limbs. So we’re glad another collection is on the way. What’s changed since Wow, No Thank You? A lot actually. Irby has found fame in Hollywood, attended a major red carpet premiere, and after writing for And Just Like That… she’s also received a lot of strange emails about Carrie Bradshaw. Strap in for more candid and comedic advice on all the gross and mundane details of life.

The Three Of Us, Ore Agbaje-Williams

Release date: May 16

Like Kiley Reid’s Such A Fun Age and Candice Carty-William’s People Person, The Three of Us deftly captures the subtleties that make or break a relationship. Set over the course of a single day, Agbaje-Williams tells the story in three parts, each one from the perspective of a wife, her husband and her best friend, the latter two of which despise each other.

Notes On Her Colour, Jennifer Neal

Release date: May 23

American-Australian author Jennifer Neal launches readers into a world of magical realism played out in humid Florida. We are introduced to Gabrielle and Tallulah, daughter and mother who have banded together in the face of a volatile patriarch, a man of colour trying to prove himself in the corporate world. Gabrielle can change the colour of her skin, a skill she inherited from her mother, but under her father’s wishes everything from the crockery to the walls in their home is bleached a cool white – and the women must conform. But when Tallulah is hospitalised, the mother-daughter bond is weakened and Gabrielle must navigate the world around her – and her sporadic shifts in colour – on her own.

The Racial Politics of Australian Multiculturalism, Ghassan Hage

Release date: May 27

Whether you came to the research of Ghassan Hage at university or out of personal necessity, his influence on Australia’s understanding of racism, nationalism and colonialism – and how they all intersect – cannot be overstated. Published by Sweatshop Literacy Movement, The Racial Politics of Australian Multiculturalism is an essential collection for the Ghassan Hage reader. It includes his seminal work White Nation, along with Against Paranoid Nationalism and the intellectual’s later writings.

Celebrate the launch of Ghassan Hage’s new book with an evening of conversation and performance at Sydney Writers Festival.

Love Language, Linda Marigliano

Release date: May 30

Beloved Australian radio presenter and podcaster, Linda Marigliano, examines her own relationship with people-pleasing, identity, family and performing in her upcoming memoir Love Language. After a lifetime of over-committing, approval-seeking and feeling stretched thin, Marigliano sifts through the complicated relationship with her mother, the sense of duty within her extended Italian and Chinese-Malaysian families, and the unique demands of her career and love life to understand how her acts of service has begun to serve everyone except herself.

The Happy Couple, Naoise Dolan

Release date: May 30

The Happy Couple is on route to examine the ubiquitous marriage plot through five characters all linked by a wedding set to take place in one year’s time. You have the happy couple: Luke and Celine. Then there’s the best man, Archie, who is in love with Luke and without the desire to change that. Celine’s chain-smoking sister Phoebe is the bridesmaid, and has no wedding aspirations of her own. The way she sees it, her role is to get to the bottom of Luke’s frequent disappearances. Meanwhile, wedding guest Vivian watches on with enough emotional distance to see with clear eyes. If the plot reminds you of Four Weddings and a Funeral, me too.

Half Deaf, Completely Mad, Tony Cohen & John Olson

Release date: May 30

A music memoir with the approval of Nick Cave. Before legendary Australian music producer Tony Cohen died in 2017, he had granted researcher and archivist John Olson access to unseen recordings with Cold Chisel, Michael Hutchence, The Cruel Sea, Cat Stevens, Split Enz and more, along with personal reflections from his time producing music during the 70s, 80s and 90s and defining the sound of Australian punk.

Image: Pinterest

The post 12 new books to add to your stack this month appeared first on RUSSH.

NSW

Wondering what the future of Australian art looks like? Step in the National Art School for its Grad Show from 6-10pm.

Brave the line and step into Frankie’s Pizza for its final weekend after a decade slinging pizza, heavy music and good times.

IN BED is hosting its annual Christmas holiday market this Saturday at its flagship store. There’ll be curated gift ideas, fresh flowers and a selection of pastries from Iggy’s, coffee from Artificer, gingerbread from Flour and Stone, as well as a range of gourmet preserves and pantry items from Jam Lady, Church Farm, Chappies Chips, Loco Love and NON.

See Lachlan Parry’s play How to Win a Plebiscite (and Tennis) at NIDA this Saturday.

Young Henrys is celebrating a decade of the Newtowner with a street party this Saturday. There’ll be pop-ups from Mary’s and Continental Deli, along with live music from The Preatures, Andy Golledge and more.

From Azealia Banks at the Enmore, Kendrick Lamar at Qudos Bank Arena, and Meg Mac, Ellie Goulding and Electric Fields at the Domain for the opening of Sydney Modern, music is abundant this weekend.

If you’re in Byron, wander over to Soko Space on Friday for its annual Block Party. There’ll be discounts at St Agni and Ziah, beers from Yulli’s, a show by Jesse Dolman at Yeah, Nice. Gallery, live music and delicious snacks.

While you’re in the area, why not make a booking at the newly opened venue, Pixie, from the minds of Byron institutions Light Years and Moonlight.

Aunty Jenny Munro and Paul Silva are just some of the voices you can hear from at Red Rattler Theatre’s International Human Rights Day panel on Saturday night.

Incu has just opened its first footwear and accessories store in the Galeries at shop 19-20/500 George St, Sydney. Explore brands like Coperni, Marni and Acne Studios, along with homewares and beauty from Maison Balzac and LESSE.

Bring your friends and take advantage of the bubbly Aalia x Perrier-Jouët champagne pop-up bar at 25 Martin Place.

Sydney Theatre Company presents RBG: Of Many, One, a play about influential US supreme court judge Ruth bader Ginsburg.

Dior is hosting a pop-up at Westfield Bondi Junction until December 29 to celebrate the launch of its Cruise 2023 collection.

SEE LV has arrived in Sydney. Step into the travelling exhibition this weekend and discover its 160-year legacy of innovation, craftsmanship and imaginative design.

Victoria

Arnsdorf if hosting a warehouse sale with up to 80% off from Friday to Sunday this weekend. Pop in to pick up something for Christmas, or just yourself, at 18-20 Dight St, Collingwood 3066.

There are still tickets to hear Caribou play the Forum.

IN BED is hosting its annual Christmas holiday market this Saturday at its flagship store. There’ll be curated gift ideas, fresh flowers and a selection of pastries from Wildlife Bakery, coffee from Market Lane, as well as a range of gourmet preserves and pantry items from Jam Lady, Church Farm, Chappies Chips, Loco Love and NON.

Sunup Space will open its doors for people to explore its Melbourne/Naarm Makers Summer Pop-up. Paintings from Lill Desormeaux will be available, as will jewelry from Sabi the label.

If you’re feeling festive, snag a seat to see A Christmas Carol starring David Wenham at Comedy Theatre, Melbourne.

The weekly drop from Lune Selects is quickly becoming our favourite part of the week. Explore the latest selection of vintage at the brick-and-mortar store in Carlton.

Phantom of the Opera, anyone? Find tickets here.

Queensland

Nick Cave? Performing in Brisbane and Broadbeach? You’re kidding me. Get tickets immediately.

Queensland Performing Arts Centre is putting on The Nutcracker for anyone in the mood for the holidays.

<play/ground> celebrates the city of Brisbane as a concrete playground, with hosts of artists revealing visual stories of their personal relationship to the city.

Brisbane’s best local comedians come together for After Hours at Brisbane Powerhouse.

Experience the limited season of Mary Poppins at QPAC this month.

ACT

Triple One are hitting up Kambri Precinct at ANU and there’s still tickets available.

A self-referential play about musical theatre entitled Winging It is in session at Canberra Theatre Centre.

Hippo Co. are leading one of its famous whisky tastings on Saturday evening at 6pm.

South Australia

RÜFÜS DU SOL are bringing their larger-than-life show to Ellis Park, and there’s still tickets up for grabs.

Plan a spring escape at the newly opened Ukiyo House, a pillar of Japandi design, at Port Willunga.

Explore the Fleurieu Peninsula, starting with these 5 beaches.

Western Australia

From King Parrot at Amplifier Bar, Hayden James at the Ice Cream Factory, the Pixies at Fremantle Arts Centre and Daryl Braithwaite playing someplace else, feel the music this weekend.

Vance Joy in the Margaret River is a deal sweetened when you learn Budjerah is set to support.

Freo.Social is your reliable source for a good time. Head down there Friday night to see C.W Stoneking.

Make sure to catch the Scarborough Sunset Markets for food, live music and overall good vibes.

Northern Territory

There’s always the FIFA World Cup!

Explore a side of the Territory you haven’t seen before with this guide.

Make your way over to Nightcliff Markets for Laksa, pastries, massages, and jewellery.

Tasmania

Pick up a ticket to see Boy and Bear at Uni Bar Hobart or see Luca Brasi at Altar instead.

Put on your hiking boots and spend the day exploring Kunanyi. Make sure you leave yourself enough time and check the weather conditions on the day.

As always, Music at Mona is on this weekend. This time around Gold Pen and Hinsby are just some of the acts set to perform.

Salamanca Market is open and calling your name this Saturday.

Road trip your way to any of these magical stays in Tasmania.

Image: Pinterest

The post Your guide to what’s on across Australia this weekend appeared first on RUSSH.

What is Blonde about?

What separates Blonde from say, My Week With Marilyn, is that this film will use Joyce Carol Oates’ bestselling 2000 novel of the same name as its source material. We’ll enter Monroe’s life from her own perspective, rather than through the eyes of an outsider. And while Oates is adamant that her novel is not to be read as a biography, the film will follow suit in touching on Monroe’s marriages, affairs and public life while making larger commentary on celebrity and fame.

Who else has been cast in Blonde?

Since the film has been in the pipeline for some time now (it began production in 2010) names like Naomi Watts and Jessica Chastain had been toyed with to play Monroe, but as we know, Ana De Armas ultimately won out after just one audition. Joining her will be Bobby Cannavale from Nine Perfect Strangers as who else but Joe DiMaggio—a perfect bit of casting in our opinion. One only matched by the selection of Adrien Brody as Arthur Miller. Meanwhile, John F. Kennedy will be played by Caspar Phillipson who also played the President in Pablo Lorrain’s Jackie and Julianne Nicholson from Mare of Easttown has signed on as Monroe’s mother, Gladys Pearl Baker.

The soundtrack will be one not to miss

As a favour to the films’ writer and director Andrew Dominik, Nick Cave and Warren Ellis are reportedly working on the score for Blonde after Dominik produced a documentary on Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. A drawcard for all who have admired both musician’s work.

Is there a trailer for Blonde?

Here it is, everyone. Our first official teaser trailer and De Armas has completely transformed into Monroe! See for yourself, below.

When will Blonde premiere?

After many months speculating about when Blonde will be released on Netflix, we now have an official date – September 23, 2022. The film will also appear for a short time in cinemas some time at the latter half of 2022.

Image: Twitter

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What will be discussed in This Much I Know to be True? 

This Much I Know To Be True is the follow-up from filmmaker Andrew Dominik and their 2016 documentary,  One More Time with Feeling, which while similar in concept remains a standalone film. The latest offering explores the creative relationship between Cave and Ellis and songs from their last studio albums, Ghosteen and Carnage. Filmed in the spring of 2021 prior to their UK tour, the documentary sees the pair accompanied by singers and a string quartet as they “nurture each song into existence.” Special appearances by long-term collaborator Marianne Faithful also feature, in what has been described as a film about the intensity of creating music.

“We all live our lives dangerously… in a state of jeopardy, at the edge of calamity,” says Cave in the trailer of the documentary, which you can watch below.

A post shared by Nick Cave (@nickcaveofficial)

This Much I Know To Be True reaches into the deep friendship and personal relationship between Cave and ellis, something we saw glimpses of in 20,000 Days on Earth, the 2014 pseudo-documentary endeavour curated by Cave himself. It is set to capture the mood and spirit of the pair as they move through a “new, optimistic phase” in their partnership. Unlike One More Time with Feeling, This much I know to be true is shot in colour with Robbie Ryan tasked with its cinematography.

When will the documentary be in cinemas?

This Much I Know To Be True is slated for a global release date of May 11 and more information about the film can be found at its official website.

Image: Instagram

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Just as her music is deeply experimental and ever-changing, so is her style. She’s a fashion chameleon. As an artist in the truest sense of the word, PJ Harvey’s albums are never without a fully-realised beauty or sartorial mood to match. Be it her To Bring You My Love era, defined by that iconic slick of powder blue eyeshadow, blood red lips, and lusty sequined dresses or shielded in monochromatic Ann Demeulemeester — a designer whom she feels a kinship with — for Let England Shake. Each period of dressing is charged with female desire, and tied together by her signature shock of black hair and enigmatic aura.

When we look at PJ Harvey’s style we’re reminded that dressing is fluid, something that needn’t be defined nor static. A physical manifestation of the poetry, music, and art you consume as it flows through you. That’s why we’re bringing together some of our favourite PJ Harvey fashion moments for you to get lost in, below.

From lurid colours, skimpy pieces, Victoriana, and punk rock, PJ Harvey’s style archive is dripping in art, sex and the Cool Britannia feel. See for yourself, below.

A post shared by PJ Harvey (@pjharveyofficial)

A post shared by PJ Harvey (@pjharveyofficial)

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The famed To Bring You My Love era.

A post shared by Daily Björk and PJ Harvey pics (@6j0rk)

A post shared by Daily Björk and PJ Harvey pics (@6j0rk)

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PJ Harvey at a portrait session for her performance of Henry Lee with Nick Cave in 1995. The chemistry between the then couple is palpable.

Looking to drink in more 90s style from other favourites like Fiona Apple, Winona Ryder, Sofia Coppola and Hope Sandoval? Fill your cup here.

Images: One, Two

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Intended to drive conversation and thought supporting the Black Lives Matter movement and racial injustice, the artwork was resurrected as an act of protest against propagated falsehoods, censorship, and white supremacy in America, but unfortunately was received differently by local residents and officials. City officials argued that the artwork was technically a sign and violated local law, and called for it to be removed.

Considering the underpinnings of censoring a Black artists commentary on racial injustice is rife with microaggressions, Nick Cave and Jack Shainiman Gallery started a petition for the artwork to stay put, where Cave wrote “Censorship is a crime against communities, progress, and enlightenment, not individuals. I know that the town of Kinderhook is not censoring the words I’ve formed, but rather the meaning that they’ve assigned to them and in turn the ability of others to have access to my provocation.” He argued. “They are censoring the words of a Black man in a moment when our country, more so than ever, is divided on the basic principles of fact and fiction. This is not about me, but about those who come after. I am not the one who stands to lose.”

The artwork is yet to be removed from the site, however the Brooklyn Museum has noted an opportunity within the battle, and museum director Anne Pasternak has plans to support Cave’s work by including the piece in an exhibition which will start May 14, the artwork will be installed on an outdoor plaza. “Museums are being called on to tell the truth, from the painful to the celebratory,” says Pasternak. “We can invite a constructive conversation.”

Ahead of the Brooklyn Museum exhibition in May, the ongoing Kinderhook installation – which may be removed at the end of January – will be altered to only read “Truth”, reportedly in celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Joe Biden’s Inauguration. While Kinderhook might be losing a prolific work and commentary on America’s present reality, the Brooklyn Museum will house it in a more accessible way, anyway.

Image: @nickcaveart

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1/7   From left: COYOTE NEGRO ring; MAISON MARTIN MARGEILA Replica EDT in Lazy Sunday Morning; RAG & BONE AW 17 photography exhibition. 

Fresh faces, odes to America and reminders of home. Contributing fashion editor Melissa Levy shares her New York Fashion Week moments to remember.

The shows …Calvin Klein: What a force to enter New York fashion week, like a ship in the night bearing bright optimism and new energy. Welcomed in a landscape that has been pretty gloomy over the last six months. In his first collection for Calvin Klein, Raf Simons presented a mélange of sheer nude, heavy deconstructed knit sleeves, plastic-covered fur, double denim and cowboy boots. This Belgian sure knows how to make an ode to America.

Zimmermann: Always happy to see an Australian in New York. Spot-on casting for the brand, a great heavy-handed Nick Cave soundtrack, a well executed and realised collection – felt very proud to see Zimmermann make its mark.  

The sounds …Hands down the Zimmermann soundtrack of Nick Cave.

The sets …Car pieces at the presentation of Christopher Esber’s automobile-inspired collection.

The faces …Lameka Fox and Matilda Dods.

Between shows …We stopped in to Dirty French – a classic french bistro perfect for quick breakfast or coffee meeting, very conveniently located in Soho with great large booths; Balthazar – a classic New York spot for a quick meeting over chamomile tea at the end of the day; and Sauvage – a little corner of Paris new to Greenpoint that’s great for coffee or a wine.

The places to be …The Rag & Bone exhibition, where we managed to catch Thom Yorke, and Chloë Sevigny’s cocktail party for Delfina Delettrez with event stylist Lucinda Constable.

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