Kate Nash performed an energetic and emotionally-charged show at the 9:30 Club on Nov. 11, making the audience feel like each and every fan was her best friend.
Skating Polly was the first to open the show, a two-girl rock band comprised of electric guitar, drums and soulful bellows to shocking sharp shrieks. The second opener was the garageband La Sera, which was comprised mostly of men, all looked and dressed like the girls next door. The singer’s voice could be described as beautiful and clear siren-like wails, although lyrics were extremely hard to make out in every song.
Three hours later, Kate Nash finally made a dramatic entrance on stage, but the wait was well worth it. With the stage dark and oldies music blaring, Nash’s “Girl Gang” band members entered the stage one by one with wild cheers from the crowd. Nash finally entered in a bold red dress.
With a bright spotlight on her, Nash opened with “Sister,” a song from her new album Girl Talk. The first song set the precedent for the show—it was extremely punky and rough, with Nash and the Girl Gang yelling and dancing instead of singing.
After the first few songs, Nash’s personality began to shine. She introduced most of her songs by poking fun at different stages of her life that prompted her to write. She worked the audience, getting laughs every time she opened her mouth. Her emotions became visible during each song, as if she was singing directly to those who inspired her raw and biting lyrics.
Nash said “Fri-end?” was written when she realized that some of her friends of 10 years were “total bitches,” and asked her fans to delete 10 “fake friends” from their phones tomorrow.
“You’re So Cool, I’m So Freaky” was a sobering performance, but Nash lightened the mood. “Oh, poor me…this was supposed to be a ‘fuck you, man’ song,” Nash joked.
Nash also played some of her most popular songs like “Mouthwash,” “Foundations,” and “Merry Happy,” eliciting claps, dancing, and singing from the adoring crowd. All of her songs, besides “Merry Happy,” which was the only song performed on keyboard, had a more raw, rocker-ish edge performed live.
On her more provocative songs like “Free My Pussy,” inspired by the Pussy Riot prosecutions, Nash defended her choice in lyrics.
“Yes, I am a badass. A badass bitch from hell. I’ve kind of made that my thing… YOLO,” Nash said. She then settled this claim by crowd surfing while playing the bass during a song.
Toward the end of her set, Nash invited a large portion of the audience to dance onstage while she performed. Nash hugged each and every person brought on stage, which even included some AU students.
Nash also encouraged more female singer-songwriters to pursue their passion, criticizing the harshness of the media and its power to keep girls scared of pursuing their dreams.
Nash left the stage mouthing the words to the classic “The Time of My Life,” waving and sending kisses to the audience, who she thanked thoroughly for enabling her to make music.
Overall, Nash and her Girl Gang were a group of amazing and personable entertainers, providing an extremely amusing showcase of brilliant singer-songwriter talent.
