Photo: WENN.com
Standing unaccompanied on a stage littered with broken television sets, Nash opens with a beautifully paced acappella rendition of ‘Lullaby for an Insomniac’. Swaying alone in a billowing gown, she looks like she’s in the surprisingly sad denouement of a post-apocalyptic rom-com. An unexpected way to start things, but then it’s a night for the unexpected.
For example, in 2007 when ‘Made of Bricks’ was sitting on top of the album charts, catchy as they were, you couldn’t exactly imagine fans moshing to pop-gems like ‘Mouthwash’. Now they do. The band Nash has put together since being dropped from her label last year turn out to be a perfect foil, not just for the spikier, riot grrrl inspired material of ‘Girl Talk’, but her old hits too.
When Kate returns to the stage in a massive tutu, gripping a bass adorned with the legend “FIDLAR!” (it would’ve been nice if the LA skate punks could’ve lended support) it’s no surprise to hear them rip through a new song like ‘Sister’. It’s when you hear the fiddle part from the intro of ‘Higher Plain’ replaced with jagged guitar, or the orchestral rush in the middle eight of ‘Kiss That Girl’ swapped so convincingly for a muted battering on a distorted bass, that you realise this has been on the cards all along.
The penny drops that this isn’t a new Kate Nash. It’s just Kate Nash with less inhibition, which goes a long way to explaining how joyous the whole affair feels. The performance of recent single ‘OHMYGOD’ (which features the awesome not-quite-rhyming-couplet “yesterday a dolphin kissed me/ but I just don’t feel no different”) is particularly impressive, not least because Nash spends the entire song spinning on the spot and only almost falls over a couple of times.
Towards the end of the show, the band are joined on stage by a swarm of girls who look as if they’re attendees at Kate Nash’s after school rock n’ roll club. They’re clearly having an awesome time, and depart by surfing the crowd with insane grins. Confetti cannons are fired, but even before that, there’s a real air of triumph. The last few years have obviously been a major transition for Nash, and it’s great to see such a bold change of direction pay off so handsomely.
