LIKE David Bowie before him, Nick Cave has won a huge cult following by balancing his love of discordant, semi-avant garde songwriting with melodic pop songs which retain the twist heart of his most daring work.

Sunday's show in Wolverhampton leaned towards the former as Cave made full use of his 11-piece backing band. He leapt around the stage, bending his extraordinary Elvis meets Johnny Rotten voice around lyrics of murder and redemption, pausing only to hammer the piano with his fists.

Many of the songs came from his latest record, the double Abattoir Blues/The Lyre Of Orpheus, which has been touted by many as one of his finest works, and it wasn't until the extended encore we got his best known numbers with Deanna, Weeping Song, the beautiful Henry Lee and the ethereal Red Right Hand.

At £25 a ticket, Cave was getting his money's worth from the Bad Seeds, which would surely have left some disappointed he didn't spend a song alone at the piano reciting ballads like Into My Arms, Nobody's Baby Now and People Ain't No Good.

Yet when it comes to a visceral rock show, Cave delivered on every level. OE