Ballarat councillor Belinda Coates, who attended the concert, dubbed the show a rip-roaring success.

“The majority of feedback I have received from people was that it was awesome for Ballarat to have somebody of Nick Cave’s calibre in town,” Cr Coates said.

“People have even said it was the coolest event we’ve had in a very long time, if not ever.”

But some who weren’t in attendance at the concert weren’t impressed and took to social media to complain about the noise.

However, the results of a survey of more than 300 people undertaken by The Courier revealed overwhelmingly that people applauded the concert.

More than 65 per cent said Cave was a national treasure and they were thrilled he performed in Ballarat, 20 per cent said they didn’t attend the concert and couldn’t hear the noise, while a little more than 14 per cent said the event was “too loud.” 

Cr Coates said like any large-scale event held in the city, it has to be a case of “give and take” with the positives far outweighing the negatives.

“Like most big events there has to be a little bit of give and take needed,” she said.

“Events like the recent Road National cycling event saw roads blocked which some people felt was an inconvenience but on the flip-side the event was also incredibly beneficial for Ballarat.”  

“Similarly, when there is a music concert there is going to be noise.

But we have noise curfews in place to ensure it won’t go right through the night.” 

Cr Coates said people had travelled to Ballarat from across Australia to attend the event.

“I spoke to a couple who had travelled all the way from the ACT just to see Nick Cave perform in Ballarat,” she said.

“There were also people from surrounding rural and regional areas including Bendigo and Geelong.”

“It’s terrific for Ballarat locals to have high calibre events like this in the city, but it is also a way to generate and attract visitors to the city.”  

“There was an incredible buzz about the concert from the moment it was announced to the time the tickets went on sale and the crowd who attended loved it.

“It was an incredibly relaxed and excited vibe.”  

Shaun Adams co-promoted the concert in Ballarat with Billions Australia booking agency

He say the concert was sold out. It was limited to 5000 people, in order to keep a manageable and easy going vibe about the show.

"The more that these kind of events come to Ballarat, it will become a destination for touring acts," said Mr Adams.

"With Nick Cave, he has an international presence; so there were a lot of people there last night from within the music industry who thought it was amazing. So it puts Ballarat on the radar."

"The weather was on our side, the crowd was really great; it was a really nice crowd and atmosphere and everyone really enjoyed themselves."

Cave’s performance marked the beginning of a number of big name summer evening concerts in store for Ballarat with John Farnham, Xavier Rudd and The Cat Empire scheduled for the coming weeks.