KATE NASH + REVENGE WIFE + ORCHARDS – CHALK, BRIGHTON 23.5.22
Today’s big national festival news piece is about the rather poor gender-mix on big stages across the UK this year.
A bit of BBC data-crunching shows a woeful lack of female talent in the headline slots at the UK’s largest festivals.
So tonight at Chalk in Brighton courtesy of local promoters LOUT it’s good to see all three bands on the bill with women up front.
Orchards are first up and might have thought they had the short straw with a Monday night 7.10pm start time – but although the opening numbers were to a small crowd, the numbers swelled nicely by the time they had found their pace and by the end of the set it really was a decent sized audience.
We caught Orchards just last week in their adopted home town of Brighton at The Great Escape Festival, and tonight they once again put everything into their show, clearly seeing this opportunity to share a line-up with Kate Nash as a big one.
The band fizz with enthusiastic energy, and Lucy Evers ends up dancing on the bar after diving into a more-than-delighted crowd.
They have been described in all sorts of ways… but essentially Orchards are good-old-school indie-pop. Up-beat and infectious and just what you need to shake out the cobwebs as you let your hair down for some unpretentious fun.
The mid-section of the night is Revenge Wife – Kate Nash’s friend from LA, Elizabeth Nistico (formerly of LA band, Holychild).
Revenge Wife is main support across Kate’s UK dates, and steps out in front of an initially bemused audience dressed in a white skater/cheerleader style dress and patent boots.
Fortunately the bemusement swiftly turns to appreciation as Nistico wins hearts, ears, and minds with some very personal and honest (as well as often explicit) lyrics.
Despite an upbeat tempo and an energetic dance routine, there is also a melancholy and vulnerability in her choice of words – you can easily see how this will be popular in an LA club or as a soundtrack to work out to.
As her set draws to an end the crowd applause and reaction clearly leaves Nistico moved, and we anticipate a similar reaction at venues throughout the rest of the tour.
And so, to Kate Nash.
It’s been 15 years since ‘Foundations’ took the world by storm, and it’s no surprise that tonight as Kate Nash takes to the stage, (and with a knowing look opens with that very song) she does so as if she owns it.
Whether she’s pacing, dancing, or simply standing in front of the mic and singing, Kate has her proverbial hand out to the audience and every member is eating from her outstretched palm.
It might be four years since her last album, but with a steady drip-feed of singles and EPs Kate Nash has never been far away from the popular zeitgeist.
And that is why this Chalk show is a glorious night with every song a crowd-pleaser.
The audience hang on every word and from start to finish are singing (and in many cases crying) along. It’s an emotional expression of camaraderie and mutual support, exemplified as Kate asks everyone to “turn to someone next to you in the crowd you don’t know and say hello.”
These sorts of things can sometimes fall flat and be awkward moments best forgotten, but tonight it’s smiles all around as everyone willingly obliges. The love in the room is tangible.
Kate talks of her mental health and her joy at being able to perform live again after the enforced lockdown we’ve all been through. She is a national treasure, and remains simply as wonderful and vital today as she was when we first saw her emerge onto the scene all those years ago. It’s great to see a contemporary musician with die-hard fans who will clearly keep lapping up every new offering.
Kate Nash setlist:
‘Foundations’
‘Misery’
‘Do Wah Do’
‘Mouthwash’
‘Musical Theatre’
‘Birds’
‘We Get One’
‘Trash’
‘Wasterman’
‘Medley’
‘Foundations’
‘Ray’
‘Merry Happy’
Find out more at linktr.ee/katemfnash
