Issue #335 / August 2025
One of the pivotal moments of my early 20s was seeing you perform at Enmore Theatre, Sydney. My now wife stood me up for that performance, and I have always told her we need to see you perform together, as she does not know what she missed out on that night, but we live in rural NSW and by the time we get word you are coming, it is always sold out. I don’t really expect a response to this, but if there is any way we can get advanced warning when you are touring Australia next, it would be very much appreciated.
GEOFF, WELLINGTON, AUSTRALIA
KELLY IN BUSH, 1945 BY SIDNEY NOLAN
What do you miss most about Australia?
DEE, BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA
Dear Geoff and Dee,
I’m sitting in a park in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The sun is shining, and I am watching the row boats go up and down the canal, happy to have performed a beautiful concert last night in the city’s 2,000-year-old amphitheatre, and looking forward to performing there again tonight. But your letter, Geoff, is playing on my mind. I keep thinking about you and your poor Bad Seeds-deprived wife, living way out there in rural New South Wales, amongst the kookaburras and the kangaroos, beyond all things.
Happily, I can report that The Bad Seeds are bringing the Wild God show to Australia and New Zealand in January (I’m not sure I am supposed to tell you this, but the tour will be announced next week). It’s gonna be wild, and it’s gonna be big and it’s gonna be beautiful!
What do I miss about Australia, Dee? I miss everything, but most of all the Australian audiences. I miss stepping onto the stage and that singular feeling of recognition, of a spiritual homecoming, of circles closing, of the natural order of things returning to their rightful place, of big, fierce Aussie love.
But as I sit here, Geoff, watching the row boats go up and down the canal, I can’t stop thinking about your letter and your long-suffering Nick Cave-impoverished wife and the sheer dearth of it all, and I can no longer tolerate it! Send me your email address (I have your last name, so I’ll know it’s you writing again), and I’ll put you both on the guest list for Sydney. Your dear wife’s going to fucking love it! Like I said, it’s gonna be wild and it’s gonna be big and it’s gonna be very, very beautiful!
Love, Nick
P.S. I am taking a short break from The Red Hand Files. A holiday! See you in a couple of weeks.
NICK CAVE AND COLIN GREENWOOD, PLOVDIV AMPHITHEATRE, BULGARIA, PHOTO BY TOM HOLLAND