Laurence Mackin reviewsNick Cave and the Bad Seeds at Dublin Castle while  Tony Clayton-Leawas at the Carlsberg Rhythm Roots festival in Kilkenny

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Dublin Castle

FANS EXPECTING a retrospective Bad Seeds performance will be forgiven for being disappointed; the set drew on Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! for the most part, with a few classics from Cave's awesome back catalogue thrown in for good measure. Poor sound made for muddled listening, and the crowd, particularly towards the back of the square, struggled to become a part of the gig. The omens were good with an early stomping Red Right Hand; Today's Lesson and the new album's title track spun into the crowd like lumps of granite. Far From Me brought a hint of crafted delicacy to the night, but it wasn't really until a furious version of The Lyre of Orpheus that the Bad Seeds threatened to tear down the castle around them.

Cave led from the front; how many men in their fifth decade of life can hold centre stage with a handlebar moustache, a half-open rose red shirt and trousers tight enough to make you wince, and still look cool? Cave was in vintage form, battering aside hecklers with composed obscenity and flailing across the stage strapped to a guitar, rarely tempering his mood behind the piano. Warren Ellis, so often a dervish of gypsy energy, played his violin like a guitar for the most part.

As the daylight failed, the songs grew more intense and the performance flared into life. The only major exception was a disastrous spur of the moment appearance by Shane McGowan that sharply derailed, sadly, into a shambles. The set was easily rescued with a muscular, violent closer in the shape of Stagger Lee. This was a fine performance, but not the Bad Seeds or Nick Cave at the height of their powers.
LAURENCE MACKIN

Carlsberg Rhythm Roots
Kilkenny

You know when you see someone in a hotel check-in queue with a copy of Willy Vlautin's book, Northline, and the new issue of Uncut magazine, that they're not visiting town for a weekend's shopping. By now a national institution and an international buzz-phrase among the Americana/roots movement, Kilkenny's Rhythm Roots festival has had its ups and downs over the past 10 years (last year's event, for example, was by comparison a lacklustre one), but this one should go down as one of the best of the past 10 years.

Mixing quite obscure names (Baskery, Sam Baker, Tom Fun Orchestra, Eilen Jewell) with reasonably well known ones (Tift Merritt, Tim O'Brien), the festival always manages to blend the former with the latter in a way that is inclusive and enjoyable. This year's event was no different; starting proceedings (at Cleeres) on Friday night was Chatham County Line, a spruce-looking quartet that gather themselves and their instruments around the microphone. Revved-up old time bluegrass is their bag, fuelled-up fun their game.

As if on cue, enter stage left (at Ryans) Baskery, three Swedish sisters with rock-girl clothes to match their rugged folkie/roots/rock music. Some people grumbled at Baskery's occasional lost-in-translation chat between the songs; others thought it added to the charm. What is agreed around the bars of Kilkenny is that Baskery are one of the finds of the weekend.

Add to that list the likes of Hillbilly Casino and Sam Baker. The former (at Dempseys) are tattooed human landmines from Nashville, rockabilly boys with a 1-2-3-4 punk rock aesthetic, stiff quiffs and a singer (Nic Roulette, possibly not his real name) who nonchalantly combs his hair onstage between flinging the microphone wire around and shouting out original material and covers versions of songs by Marty Robbins, The Ramones, Little Richard and Dead Kennedys.

Somewhat subtler but no less effective is spoken-word singer/songwriter Sam Baker (at The Clubhouse), whose stories reflect a life lived through despair, survival and revelation. A natural narrative-driven performer.

On Saturday evening, at The Watergate Theatre, it's Tift Merrift. Merritt is the nominal headliner of the festival, and as such delivers a set that seems rehearsed within an inch of its life; this is superbly played, top notch country/roots that leaves little to chance, and as such came off second best to some of those festival acts that goofed off on the busker-thrill of it all.The event wraps up today with Hillbilly Casino (Ryans at 4pm) and Chuck Prophet (Paris Texas at 9pm).
TONY CLAYTON-LEA