In what feels like an exceedingly appropriate premiere for Halloween, the folks at Austin City Limits have unveiled a web-exclusive clip of Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds performing “Higgs Boson Blues” (taken from 2013’s Push The Sky Away). Recorded for the live-music series last July, the video is an extra from Nick & the Seeds’ hour-long set, which will air (in edited form) on PBS on Saturday, November 1. But just in case you want to watch the Prince of Darkness scowl onstage — and, uh, toss in a few words about Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus — here’s your chance.
Dressed all in black, with the front of his sparkling shirt unbuttoned, Nick serenades the audience as only the king of noir-rock can. Which is to say, with his perpetually furrowed brow in a knot while singing lines like, “If I die tonight / Bury me in my favorite yellow patent leather shoes,” and “The Hannah Montana does the African Slide / While the simulated rainy season begins.” (Never change, Nick.)
Sell your immortal soul to Beelzebub — er, we mean watch Nick’s “Higgs Boson Blues” performance above, scan the show’s set list below, and check your local listings for the episode’s air-time on PBS. And for more exclusive ACL performance videos, watch Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds play “Stagger Lee” on Stereogum and “Jubilee” on PureVolume.
Nick Cave’s Austin City Limits set list:
1. “Jubilee Street”
2. “Tupelo”
3. “Red Right Hand”
4. “Mermaids”
5. “From Her to Eternity”
6. “Love Letter”
7. “God Is In The House”
8 “The Mercy Seat”
9. “Push The Sky Away”