Before Kate Nash even took a step onto the stage she made her presence known to all with a projection of her miming along to feminist classic You Don’t Own Me.
The words might have been a reference to Nash’s independent artist status, having parted ways with Fiction and Polydor labels. Or it could have been about her political, fan-funded new album Girl Talk.
But before fans got a glimpse of the cockney crooner herself Swedish band Vulkano opened the night howling like wolves and rocking out in their delicate floral dresses.
The Heartbreaks were the second band to appear on the stage but their pretentious attitude was really painful to watch.
The lead singer was oblivious to the fact that his vocals struggled to over-ride the talented musicians behind him but, luckily for the audience, the extremely talented Nash was on next.
Flanked by her own female band Nash moved about the stage with a well-earned confidence belting out hits from different moments of her career, from chart-topping Foundations origins right through to her new single Fri-End, released this week.
While on the album Nash sounds a little like she’s aping the Riot Grrl/90s punk style, here the new direction seems more genuine. The sound is tighter, the politics a little more heartfelt.
The raw energy of the tracks have been smoothed slightly bringing the sound closer to her previous cockney pop/rock.
The transition is less jarring now, but time will tell whether sceptical fans will come round to this new dimension.
In between sets Nash took a moment out to encourage young women to become musicians but also warned of the harm caused by an overreliance on make-up and the opinions of others.
It didn’t sound like a PR stunt though she was dressed up to the nines, which jarred slightly against what she preached, but it was well received by the audience.
She explained how ‘awesome’ it can be to play music with friends. “I would just encourage girls, everyone – girl and boys – to do whatever the fuck you want to do,” she said.
“There are fewer girls doing this,” she shouted into the darkness below her, trusting that her words will touch someone in the anonymous mass. “Go for it and who cares what people think. Fuck them!”
The concert ended with a bit of a stage invasion as Nash invites Vulkano, her crew, and members of the audience to join her, before abandoning them by throwing herself into the crowd.
Nash disappeared almost instantly, worrying the surrounding security, but after a few awkward minutes she reappeared and gets back on stage to play the final few songs.
Yes, Nash is fine and while she may still be angry she’s back on form. It’s kind of inspiring.
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