Kate Nash added a second Webster Hall date after the show on the 23rd sold out so quickly, only to have the second night do so. I arrived just as Kate was walking out in her vintage little plaid, pleated, balloon-sleeved dress to sit at her piano. The first thing anyone notices coming into a Kate Nash show a little late is her glowing neon pink name hanging at the back of the stage. The second thing you notice is, of course, her wonderful cockney accent. While a lot of people claim it to be contrived, the rest of us don’t care either way, and simply appreciate it as it is. All we know is that 1) it is cute, and 2) she is incredibly charming.
Arriving late, Webster Hall was massively packed. Kate hit the ground running, taking to the piano and diving straight into the energetic Pumpkin Song. Almost immediately, the floor began bouncing as young girls all around me started jumping. A few songs later, Kate changed directions as she grabbed her guitar. I should have known, but I’ve never really noticed exactly how guitar-driven most of her songs are. I was a little shocked to see her piano vacant for many songs. The first of these was the quirky and oddly observant love song, Birds. I genuinely believe that no person has ever before and no person will ever again compare the prospect of love to the possibility of being defecated upon. Yet it works wonderfully and is in fact my favorite song of hers. Many of her songs share a similar style of cute pop tempered by a foul mouth or otherwise uncomfortable subject matter.
Her arsenal ranged from very melodic love songs like Birds to a shocking riot grrl sound on Model Behaviour. I can see how some critics could see that she hasn’t fully developed her identity and that the range was a bit much, but personally I found it refreshing. She reminded me of a teenage girl (keep in mind that until last year, she was one!). Also, I was excited to hear a number of new songs, including Pickpocket, Paris, I Hate Seagulls, Do You Want to Share the Guilt?, and Model Behaviour. Her charm comes through heavily through the cover songs she often plays, including covers of Black Kids, White Stripes, Arctic Monkeys and others. I should be ashamed, but I was hoping to hear her take on another artist. My only other disappointment was that she didn’t play “Little Red” or “Old Dances”, arguably two of her very best songs. And of course “A is for Asthma and Annoying” was what got me hooked on Kate in the first place. That said, I will always complain at the concerts of artists I love because short of playing a 3 hour set, not all of the songs are going to get in.
Unfortunately, the crowd near the back was so rude as to make her actually ask them to shut up as she was introducing “I Hate Seagulls” as a quiet song. In it, she seemed to sharpen her tongue as she sang “I hate rude ignorant bastards”. One of the things I love about her is how quickly sharp tongued she can turn. In Model Behaviour she bounces around the stage yelling “you don’t have to suck d*ck to succeed”. Hearing that only a few songs after the refreshingly observant and pg-rated “Mouthwash”. Nevertheless the crowd did actually listen up & quieten down (at least up until the point she had us all chanting “Paul you suck” for “Dickhead”).
For all of her comparisons she receives, I’m surprised not to have heard Mike Skinner’s name not be brought up more often. Kate has a style of singing that is incredibly conversational, and often speaks rather than sings her lyrics. It gives her song a more authentic storytelling folky feel. She isn’t the only artist to do this, but the type of lyrics and the pace of them is what draws the allusion to Mike Skinner for me. In case you don’t know, Mike Skinner is The Streets, and his lyrics are a sort of grime hip-hop poetry encased in a cockney accent. Kate, at times, will speak/sing in much the same way. Perhaps a perfect example of this was on Mariella, a song I’ve only recently (and finally) warmed up to. What makes this fun to see live is other people in the crowd who love the song making an effort to sing along. Quite simply, it doesn’t translate to being spoken by teenage americans in unison.
Kate’s stage presence, which I really enjoyed, was that of a charmingly neurotic child…all go go go until she would get dizzy and have to calm down…and then she’d do it all over again. While she at most times seemed comfortable on stage, she at times became visibly fatigued. At one point she even had to pull out her asthma medication. She did it somewhat discreetly, but I sort of wish she wouldn’t feel it isn’t rock star of her to do. Rather than hiding it, I’d have liked to have seen her embrace it and bring attention to it. Maybe everytime it happens to her during a show she should break out into “A is for Asthma and Annoying”. I believe one thing that draws me so strongly to Kate Nash is her everyman nature. She is so new to the block, comes in (unfortunately) under the shadow of Lily Allen, and seems like she could be a good friend of mine. Which is of course why I loved when she spoke like a schoolgirl of having let her tea sit for too long, ex-boyfriends, her feelings about New York, the sounds of her teeth chattering, and meeting Whoopi Goldberg…seeming constantly awed by all of it…the way she seemingly cared as much about simple observations as international success was inspiring because it was so ordinary person rather than pop star.
As most of my readers know, I’m a long time, and huge fan of Kate Nash. The show wasn’t mind-blowing, nor was I expecting it to be. It was, however, everything I wanted it to be and I look forward to her success in the US to match the level she’s already received in the UK. My fingers are crossed.
For the setlist and loads more photos,
Setlist:
Pumpkin Soup
Shit Song
Stitching Leggings
We Get On
Birds
Nicest Thing
I Hate Seagulls
Dickhead
Pickpocket
Do Wa Do
Paris
Skeleton Song
Mariella
Mouthwash
Foundations
Encore:
Don’t You Want to Share the Guilt?
Model Behaviour
Merry Happy
