Colin Greenwood to play bass on Nick Cave's European arena tour

Colin Greenwood will play bass for Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds on their UK and European tour, the band announced on Wednesday 4 September. Martyn Casey, their bassist, will miss it through illness. The 33 arena dates run from Oberhausen on 24 September to Paris on 17 November.

Colin has been Cave's bassist before, on the solo shows with Cave at the piano, in North America in 2023 and in Australia in April and May, where they played five sold-out nights at the State Theatre in Sydney. On 30 April there he dropped out for the last minute of “I Need You”, leaving only voice and piano as the lights went down, and during “Into My Arms”, which Cave played alone, he stood at the back miming shadow-play.

He is also credited as a guest on bass on Wild God, the Bad Seeds' album released on 30 August. Cave and Warren Ellis were working on the record in London and wanted it to sound less sealed off, so they asked him to drop in. I literally lived down the road. And I make good tea.⁴ Cave told Rolling Stone Italia the reason was practical, as Casey lives in Australia, and that nobody set out to replace him. Colin told Dorian Lynskey of MOJO that he sat with his bass and listened, playing to whatever he liked and keeping out of the way; with Cave, everything starts with the words and the music gathers round them.

He has worked with the same people since he was 14, and playing as a guest on someone else's record is new to him. Cave's refusal to repeat himself reminds him of Radiohead. Am I a Bad Seed now? No! I love the Bad Seeds as they are.⁴

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, UK and European tour 2024