Gig Watch: The Black Seeds

By Chris Wood

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The Black Seeds

In what was initially explained to me as one of "Nick Cave's few performances this year", I did a stupid little dance (ala Harbhajan Singh after dismissing Hayden) in anticipation of being able to witness such a momentous occasion!

It was too good to be true.

Much like the time I was given the task of covering what I thought to be a Darren Hanlon gig (the folky-troubadour with lyrical meanderings comparable to Dylan) and ultimately was forced to witness and endure a set from Savage Garden run-away Darren Hayes.

Since I am once bitten, twice shy kind of character, I wanted to make sure that this time I was definitely going to see Nick Cave, and not some shitty alt-country power rock outfit fronted by actor Nicholas Cage. Using my highly developed research skills I soon discovered:  a) that Nick Cave was definitely not playing! Damn!!! and b) that Nicholas Cage was not playing either. Double Damn!

Then came the message from my musical editor saying, "Sorry, it's not Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds...It's the Black Seeds...P.S I'm a big fat twerp".

* To avoid being taken to court for defamation, parts of that message may have been altered and/or entirely made up. *

But the underlying message was that I was seeing the Black Seeds. I mean, when you get down to it, there isn’t really that much difference between the two. One is an Australian cultural icon on the back of releasing their fourteenth studio album. The other is a bunch of guys from New Zealand...

After a quick visit to The Black Seeds MySpace page to get a quick heads up on a few of their tracks, I was ready for this explosive 8-piece reggae-dub crew hailing from across the Tasman. To avoid any confusion, I'll gladly inform from the beginning that I'd only consider myself a seasonal fan of reggae. This roughly equates to enjoying reggae on four separate nights of the year.

The night didn't get off to the best start as my friend and I watched Australia lose to Sri Lanka in the front bar (I watched eagerly as she looked horribly bored). She also knocked over my beer! We waited for the obligatory shuffle off from the bouncers, but nothing happened. Maybe I wasn't doomed to have a terrible evening after all.

In terms of performance, The Black Seeds were flawless. Given that I knew very little of their back catalogue, I consider my experience of the concert completely objective, as far removed from any biases as possible. They have already proved quite the success in their native New Zealand, however they’re yet to take a strong hold of they’re prospective Australian audience. But if what I saw the other night was anything to go by, they’re well on the way to carving out a niche fan base in 'ol fair Melbourne town, if not having done so already. From beginning to end the crowd was nothing short of transfixed as the purple haze provided a more than appropriate visual landscape for the soothing rhythms.

Although most of what I have just written has little to do with The Black Seeds performance or the band in general, it does not reflect on the bands creative element or importance in the music scene.  The only reason I can think of for not giving a vivid account of all their songs, and possibly the only relevant one, is that I knew almost nothing about the band in the beginning.

And I still don't that much about them.

But that doesn't mean their performance was lacking in any way. I suppose the most meaningful remark I can leave you with is that I’ll definitely consider seeing them again.

Bring on more of the Bad Seeds…Oops… I mean the Black Seeds!!!

The Black Seeds are reggae kings - not to be confused with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

Overall: 60%

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