Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds at Preston Park

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds at Preston Park, Brighton — 2026-07-31

For a few days Brighton became Nick Cave’s city, culminating in an intense Preston Park performance and a surprise appearance from Kylie Minogue.

For a few days, Brighton became Nick Cave’s city. Pop-up shops, film screenings, a surprise rooftop performance and even train station announcements all led towards what was billed as his only UK show of 2026. By the time the gates opened at Preston Park, it was obvious this was more than another date on the calendar.

The park filled early, queues stretched across the site and, before the support acts had even finished, there was barely a patch of grass left unclaimed.

Cave opened with Get Ready for Love and, within minutes, was leaning over the barrier. Fans held onto him as he sang, he held faces in both hands, smiled, laughed, stepped back onto the stage and then returned to the front again a few songs later. For much of the evening, the barrier became part of the performance.

Ten songs in came the moment nobody expected. As Where the Wild Roses Grow began, Kylie Minogue walked onto the stage for their first live performance of the song together since 2018. It took a second for people to realise what they were seeing before phones shot into the air across Preston Park. “I’m so happy to be here with you… always,” Minogue told the crowd before the pair slipped back into the song as though they had never stopped performing it together.

Once Minogue left the stage, the show simply carried on. From Her to Eternity, Tupelo, Red Right Hand and The Mercy Seat arrived without fanfare, while Joy and The Weeping Song shifted the mood before Cave closed the evening alone at the piano with Into My Arms.

It’s easy to focus on Cave and Warren Ellis, but this is a band where everyone contributes. The four backing vocalists added richness throughout, the keyboards and percussion quietly filled out the sound, and Ellis remained a constant source of movement, switching between instruments and throwing himself into every song without ever pulling attention away from the music.

Preston Park wasn’t without its problems. The site felt stretched, with long queues for drinks, food and toilets throughout the day. Those frustrations were real, but they never overshadowed the reason thousands had travelled to Brighton. For an artist more than forty years into his career, there was nothing about the performance that suggested he was slowing down.

Setlist

Get Ready for Love / From Her to Eternity / Train Long-Suffering / Wild God / O Children / Tupelo / Carnage / Joy / Rings of Saturn / Where the Wild Roses Grow (with Kylie Minogue) / The Mercy Seat / Papa Won’t Leave You, Henry / Red Right Hand / The Weeping Song / Jubilee Street / Hollywood

Encore

City of Refuge / Wide Lovely Eyes / Into My Arms (solo)