Evil!

My fall rockstravaganza (seven shows in the last three months) came to a close Saturday night with a bang: the Nick Cave-led Grinderman at the House of Blues. It was an early show at the HOB, but that didn't diminish from the raw power on display (check out some great photos from the show). These middle-aged Australians rocked way harder than most bands 30 years younger than them.

Right from the moment Grinderman hit the stage at 8 and tore into "Mickey Mouse and the Goodbye Man" from the band's latest release Grinderman 2, Cave and crew had the crowd captivated. The 53-year-old rail-thin frontman paced the front of the stage, slashing out rhythm parts on his guitar and exhorting the audience like a crazed revival preacher. His main partner in crime was Warren Ellis, who committed various forms of instrument abuse as he wrung out tortured sounds from guitars, electric violins, bouzoukis. Ellis, with his long straggly hair and even longer beard, pranced around like a demented wizard as he sang backing vocals and on songs like the slow-burn closer "Grinderman" bashed the hell out out a cymbal with a pair of maracas. Bassist Martyn Casey and drummer Jim Sclavunos held down the rhythm while Cave and Ellis brought the fire. Indeed, the sounds Ellis got from his overdriven violin were louder and more dangerous than any guitar could emit.

Cave and his Bad Seeds are known for darker, gloomier meditations, but with Grinderman, it was full-on garage rock insanity. The highlight of the 80-minute set was "Kitchenette" off the new album, which featured Cave screeching about he just wants to relax while the kids of the married woman he's wooing "TIPPYTOE, TIPPYTOE!!!" through the house. Cave was like an unholy combination of Iggy, Elvis and Lux Interior as the band ripped through blistering versions of "Heathen Child," "Honey Bee" and the middle-aged lothario's lament "No Pussy Blues." All of which made more conventional pop-rock like "Palaces of Montezuma" and downtempo numbers like "When My Baby Comes" sound downright striking.

Alas, HOB's Saturday dance nights mean that bands have to wrap things up by 10. But when Grinderman finished its set at the shockingly early time of 9:20, nobody felt like they'd been shortchanged. Cave et al left it all on the stage.

A couple of choice live performances from Later with Jools Holland: