Overview
Two Australian music legends. Decades of collaboration. One long-awaited album. One huge tour. That's the maths behind the Australian leg of Nick Cave and Warren Ellis' Carnage tour, which Cave first announced was in the works back in early February via his The Red Hand Files email list. Now, after already locking in dates in Hanging Rock — which have sold out, unsurprisingly — the duo have unveiled their full 2022 Aussie tour schedule.
Yes, this is some news to come sail your ships around — with 15 gigs slated in five states and one territory, all from mid-November through to mid-December. The tour will kick off with a two-night stop in Adelaide, before heading to those Macedon Ranges gigs, then to Canberra, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Tamworth and Newcastle.
And, to cap things off, Cave and Ellis will hit up the Sydney Opera House's newly revamped Concert Hall for a two-gig big finale.
Palma Sabina
The pair are doing the rounds to support the 2021 album that shares the tour's name, which actually marks Cave and Ellis' first studio album as a duo. Bandmates across several projects since the 90s — including Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and Grinderman — Cave and Ellis are Aussie icons, with careers spanning back decades. Together, they also boast more than a few phenomenal film scores to their names as well, including for The Proposition, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The Road, West of Memphis, Far From Men, Hell or High Water and Wind River.
Cave and Ellis are heading home after an American Carnage tour, and following Cave's subsequent tour with the Bad Seeds in Europe.
"I can't begin to tell you how happy Warren and I are to be finally returning to Australia to perform. The wait has been way too long. See you all soon for the Carnage experience!," said Cave, announcing the news.
Laurine Payet
It's already been a big year for fans of Cave and Ellis, thanks to film This Much I Know to Be True, as directed by Chopper, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and Killing Them Softly filmmaker Andrew Dominik. It explores Cave and Ellis' creative relationship, largely through watching them at work in stunning live scenes.
Dominik also made 2016 Cave doco One More Time with Feeling, and his latest flick is available to stream now.
Laurine Payet
NICK CAVE AND WARREN ELLIS 'AUSTRALIAN CARNAGE' 2022 TOUR:
Tuesday, November 22—Wednesday, November 23: Festival Theatre, Adelaide
Friday, November 25—Saturday, November 26: Hanging Rock, Macedon Ranges — SOLD OUT
Monday, November 28–Tuesday, November 29: Canberra Theatre, Canberra
Friday, December 2: Palais Theatre, Melbourne
Monday, December 5—Tuesday, December 6: Riverside Theatre, Perth
Friday, December 9: Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre Great Hall, Brisbane
Saturday, December 10: Gold Coast Convention Exhibition Centre, Gold Coast
Monday, December 12: Tamworth Regional Entertainment and Conference Centre, Tamworth
Wednesday, December 14: Civic Theatre, Newcastle
Friday, December 16—Saturday, December 17: Sydney Opera House, Sydney
Nick Cave and Warren Ellis' Australian Carnage tour will head around the country in November and December 2022. Tickets go on sale at 10am local time in each city on Friday, July 29 — for more information, head to Nick Cave's website.
Top image: Megan Cullen.