Nick Cave at Town Hall, NYC, 4/1/01 Photo © 2001 NY Rock

And then Nick looked upon his piano and saw that it was good. He segued into a tender rendition of "Sad Waters," followed by a sparse and haunting version of "Henry Lee." And, brothers and sisters, nobody does sparse and haunting quite like Cave. In fact, the house grew so quiet you could almost hear one of his thin black hairs drop to the Town Hall stage.

Nick introduced song four, "The Mercy Seat," as a Johnny Cash number, although Cave actually penned the tune himself with Mick Harvey. Go figure. (For all you wise guys out there, yes, I know Cash covered it on a recent CD.) Cave then broke into "God Is in the House" from the new CD No More Shall We Part. The song is a wrenching mix of acerbic humor, visceral outrage and gasps at faith that, dare I say, is slated for classic Cave status. Like Jacob, who had his unusual wrestling match with God at the banks of Jabbok stream (Genesis 32:24-32), Cave seems to have been doing his share of wrestling for some time now, as he vacillates between acceptance and rejection of faith, the subject matter of much of his material.

Nick Cave at Town Hall, NYC, 4/1/01 Photo © 2001 NY Rock

The evening continued as a showcase for Cave's more recent and better-known material. The repertoire included "The Ship Song," "People Ain't No Good," "Do You Love Me?" "Into My Arms," "I Like the Night Life, I Like to Boogie" (just kidding) and a blistering version of "Stagger Lee," the song known and loved worldwide for including the word "motherfucker" more times than any composition previously heard by humankind.

Though billed as a solo performance, Cave enjoyed the accompaniment of a backing trio, comprised of Susan Stenger on bass, Warren Ellis (Dirty Three) on electric violin and Jim White (Dirty Three) on drums. And although the performance may have had a low-key element to it, the audience was by no means laid back. As if fresh from a recent viewing of "The Rocky Horror Show," the crowd called rowdily to the stage, jockeying for their favorite tunes. Who knows, maybe this is part of the Nick Cave experience these days. He certainly responded with grace and humor, as if he enjoyed the bawdiness in all its chaotic glory. "Those are all good ones, for sure," he responded to a barrage of requests before launching into a tune of his own choosing.

When Cave broke into title track "No More Shall We Part" from the as-yet-unreleased record, handclaps immediately rang out from the audience, much to the shock of the performer-at-large. Cave momentarily ceased playing and turned to the crowd. "You know this? That's terrifying," he said, before continuing.

So what's the magic of Nick Cave? Is it the stentorian voice that booms from his rail-thin body? Is it the poignancy, the anger and the humor of his compositions? Is it the enigmatic persona? Is it all of above? Whatever the source of his sorcery, Cave's spell was in perfect working order on Saturday night, as the odd mix of Goths, folkies and disenfranchised yuppies – all satisfied customers indeed – spilled back onto the street after a stirring night with reverend Cave and company.