There can be no doubt that the idea of covering an assortment of Nick Cave’s deeply emotional, inventive and formidable songs would have been rather daunting. An intimidating and challenging venture for sure, yet as Thursday night’s show proved, entirely possible and awe-inspiring when you put together a truly talented selection of Aussie artists. Having been a formidable force in the Australian (and international) music scene for over three decades now, playing with The Birthday Party, Boys Next Door, The Bad Seeds and Grinderman, Cave has accumulated a vast and dynamic catalogue of material. From writing post-punk numbers to beautiful love ballads, Cave’s repertoire is certainly varied, making way for artists from a wide range of musical backgrounds to perform his material.

Arranged by Triple J, the tribute show featured Abbe May, Adalita, Alex Burnett (Sparkadia), Bertie Blackman, Dan Sultan, Jake Stone (Bluejuice), Johnny Mackay (Children Collide), Kram (Spiderbait), Lanie Lane, Lisa Mitchell, Muscles and Urthboy (The Herd). To top off what was already an illustrious ensemble, Paul Kelly made a surprise appearance to the crowd’s delight.

After the pounding, dramatic opening numbers that included “Red Right Hand” and “Do You Love Me?”, Alex Burnett took to the stage to perform “Shivers”. A track from The Birthday Party’s 1979 debut album “Door, Door”, the song was well selected for showing off Burnett’s smooth, high reaching vocals. Subsequently joined by Lanie Lane for a haunting performance of “Where the Wild Roses Grow”, Lanie did a superb job of singing the vocals originally performed by pop-princess Kylie Minogue. A sinister song that tells a tale of murder, Burnett was just as impressive, revealing his ability to reach the deeper notes – something not so commonly come by in his own material.

One of the most intense rock numbers of the night would have to be Johnny Mackay and Lanie Lane’s rendition of “Nick The Stripper”. Mackay’s lively guitar playing paired with Lanie Lane’s expressive vocals made for a strong performance as they were able to evoke the pent-up angst that Cave creates so forcefully. The other drama-filled number of the set was Urthboy’s delivery of “Stagger Lee”, an old folk song actually also covered by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds. Taking the theatrical, dark elements of the song while imbuing it with his own trademark hip-hop sound, Urthboy’s performance was a huge crowd pleaser. Accompanied by Abbe May, Lanie Lane, Burnett and Jake Stone, it was not only clear that these musicians were not only thrilled to be covering such a big, bold song, but to also be collaborating with each other. In fact, throughout the set there was a strong show of camaraderie and excitement amongst the musicians, demonstrating their strong respect for one another.

Of the performances of Cave’s gentler numbers, it was Lisa Mitchell’s renditions of “The Ship Song” and “Into My Arms” that were the most captivating. Mitchell’s vocals have a sweet innocence and sensitivity to them, making for a stunning performance of these romantic, yearning songs. Initially kneeling in prayer for “Into My Arms”, to slowly dance in the arms of Jake Stone during the song’s final verse, Mitchell had the audience mesmerized.

Another crowd favourite was Paul Kelly’s rendition of “Nobody’s Baby Now”. The perfect candidate for telling lyric-dense stories in his music, Kelly showed us why he is such a highly esteemed veteran of the Australian music scene. Singing in a manner that is at once bittersweet, romantic, sad and tender, Kelly finished to a huge applause.

The appearance of at least one of the numbers from Nick Cave and The Bad Seed’s album “No More Shall We Part” would have topped off the night nicely, particularly the tracks “Oh My Lord” and “Fifteen Feet of Pure White Snow”. Yet, that the crew couldn’t find time for any of these tracks stands as testament to Cave’s extensive collection of much-loved songs. Indeed each and every one of the song choices was delivered brilliantly and stood as entirely worthy of being brought onto the stage.

As Dan Sultan brought the night to an end with a roaring version of “Papa Won’t Leave You Henry”, it was perfectly clear that the packed out venue would have happily stuck around for a few more hours of Nick Cave goodness. A joyful and extremely powerful celebration of Nick Cave’s brilliant musicianship and of the impressive array of local talents that graced the stage on Thursday night, Straight To You: A Tribute to Nick Cave can only be seen as a wonderful success.