Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds delivered a historic headline performance at Cruel World 2025, playing Hollywood live for the first time during their set at Brookside Park in Pasadena, California.
The moment occurred on Saturday night as Cave and his band topped the bill at the festival, treating fans to the sprawling 14-minute closing track from their 2019 album Ghosteen, as reported by NME.
“This is for LA,” Cave announced before launching into the meditative piece, with lyrics projected onto the screen behind the band to guide the audience through the spiritual journey.
‘Hollywood’ holds particular significance in Cave’s catalogue as it references the Buddhist tale of Kisa Gotami, an enlightened figure who seeks help from the Buddha after losing her child, ultimately discovering that “no one is untouched by loss.” Cave penned the track, along with the rest of Ghosteen, following the tragic death of his son Arthur in 2015.
While this marked the song’s debut in a Bad Seeds setlist, it had previously been performed during Cave and Warren Ellis’s ‘Carnage’ tour in 2021, making this full-band rendition all the more special for dedicated fans.
The Cruel World performance capped off The Bad Seeds’ first North American tour in seven years, which has featured several notable moments including the band’s first live performances of ‘Skeleton Tree’ since 2018, alongside tracks from their acclaimed 2025 album Wild God.
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The current lineup features Radiohead’s Colin Greenwood, who stepped in after it was announced last year that longtime member Martyn Casey couldn’t join the tour due to illness. Greenwood’s involvement with Cave extends beyond this tour, having previously played with him on solo tours and the ‘Carnage’ tour, as well as contributing to the Wild God album.
The career-spanning Cruel World set included fan favourites like “Tupelo”, “Red Right Hand”, and “From Her to Eternity”, alongside newer material such as “Frogs”, “Wild God”, and the historic debut of “Hollywood”.
Prior to the release of Wild God and these recent performances, Cave shared his concerns about how social media negatively impacts younger generations, stating it has “a huge demoralising effect on society” with young people “losing faith in the world.” He has also written about his profound connection with live audiences, describing his love for them as “entirely true” and “profoundly intimate.”
