Warren Ellis says bring tissues, a seat and be ready for a long set

Tasmanian music fans will be pleased to know musician Nick Cave's favourite live band, Dirty Three, will play at the Odeon Theatre on Wednesday, June 26.

Nick Cave, the dark prince of rock, once publicly declared Dirty Three his all-time favourite live band and enlisted Warren Ellis into Cave's band the Bad Seeds back in the 90s.

Dirty Three are on a national tour for their latest ethereal album, Love Changes Everything.

Ellis said he has a long and storied historical connection with Tasmania.

"My great great great great grandfather had, what I guess was in the early days of Airbnb, an Airbnb down in Port Arthur," Ellis said.

The violinist said, "Because he took a couple of spoons, they put him on a boat and sent him out there".

"Once there, he looked after the garden in the local church for a while and started a family.

"Then he said to his wife, I'm going over to the mainland to look for a job, and I'll send for you.

"He left, went to Collingwood, and set up another family. The last time anyone saw him, he was heading for the goldfields in a long coat," Ellis said.

Ellis said his first "overseas" trip was on a school excursion to Tasmania when he was 12.

"I stole the vomit bag off the plane. I'd never seen one before. And it was so fascinating. I took it as a souvenir.

"And I think I also got a couple of patches to sew onto a travelling rug I had at the time. Yeah, they are crucial memories for me," Ellis said.

The wild man violinist said he vividly remembers playing shows in Tasmania over the past three decades.

"I remember the fabulous recent shows we did for the Dark Mofo festival."

Ellis recalled Dirty Three was required to do two shows in one day but said he didn't read the email stating there were two to play.

After the first show, Ellis said he hobbled off the stage, was pretty beaten up, and very sore because he hadn't done a show for a while.

"I went back to the hotel to get changed because I was soaking and came down the stairs. There was a couple at the bottom of the stairs.

"They looked at me and said, 'Oh, I'm glad we saw the first show'. And I said 'why?'

"And they said, well have a look at yourself, and there was blood coming out of my nose," Ellis said.

"It's always incredibly moving when we [Dirty Three] get together to play shows, and the band has an enduring friendship that has lasted for decades."

So, what does a radical performer like Ellis and Dirty Three like to do in their downtime on a Tassie tour?

"I like to go to MONA. See David Walsh there and check the gallery out. I always pop in if I've got a minute," Ellis said.

The showman added, "I like the honey in Tasmania-very good honey and lavender."

These days, when Ellis is not touring with bands (Grinderman, Nick Cave, the Bad Seeds, and Dirty Three), he manages Ellis Park Wildlife Sanctuary in Sumatra, Indonesia.

He helped found the sanctuary in 2021 with the animal welfare non-profit group Jakarta Animal Aid Network.

"I'm very committed to the park; sadly, there will always be a need for it because there's a lot of animal trafficking going on, and there is big money in it.

"We've [Australian film director Justin Kurzel] made a documentary about the park, which is premiering at Melbourne International Film Festival [Miff] in August," Ellis said.