Kate Nash (By Laura Palmer)
By Georgette Keane
Those who came expecting the jaunty melodies of Kate Nash’s first emergence into the music scene may have left unfulfilled as from the moment her all-girl band, complete with kick drum skin reading ‘Girl Power’ began, it was evident that this was a different side of Kate Nash. Not necessarily better or even worse but undeniably different. Her white dress and hazy back lighting made Nash seem otherworldly, somewhat distant from the stage she was on but as soon as she seemed to relax her between song banter was on point and promoted more than a few laughs.
As she flew into her first song it was hard to gauge the audiences reaction to this guitar heavy offering, with Kate singing-cum-shouting lyrics over the top. What seemed like disengagement may have been surprise or even just the audience warming up because it wasn’t long before the atmosphere started to reflect the tempo on stage. After making the audience aware that she’d be playing a lot of new songs Nash continued into her next offering.
The concise blurbs of each song such as ‘this one is about sh*t friends’ when introducing ‘Fri-End’ meant the pace never slowed except for the two false starts that ’3am’ suffered. After blaming the moored boats [leaning] for her confusion, the crowd laughed off the mistakes and the set continued. The rest of the set included the inevitable ‘Foundations’, her first foray into the world of rap as well as a cover of a Fidlar song, which Nash explained was relevant as she misheard them chanting ‘girl gang’ in the chorus instead of ‘cocaine’, the original songs actual topic.
At the risk of sounding preachy, Nash launched an attack on the very industry she was part of, slating the emphasis on how an artist looks as opposed to how they sound, an issue the single ‘Never Mind The Girl’ addresses. As the set concluded she returned to deliver an encore in the form of an enchanting lullaby, written of those sleepless nights, prolonged by the writing of ones mind, we are all too familiar with.
To say Kate Nash has reinvented herself feels like a tired not to mention unfair cliché: she has evolved. It was clear to those present, that whoever Kate Nash is becoming: don’t try putting her in boxes because she’ll just break out of them.
