KATE NASH + CONNIE CONSTANCE – CHALK, BRIGHTON 29.11.24
We returned to the now familiar surroundings of Chalk, Brighton. An expansive venue, which though large suffers from its uniformly flat floor and low ceiling when it comes to a decent view of the stage. They have alleviated this slightly with the inclusion of screens showing the main stage towards the rear. Despite this shortcoming, it remains one of the most vibrant and popular music venues in Brighton.
Kate Nash is not just a singer-songwriter and musician, but also an actress. The Brit award-winning singer-songwriter announced the UK and Europe tour of the new album ‘9 Sad Symphonies’ earlier in the year. The fifth album from Nash, and the first after six years. A recording artist for almost two decades she is best loved for her irreverent, honest lyrics, and her distinctive delivery style.
Over the past week, Nash has been busy in the press and on social media since announcing her ‘Butts 4 Tour Buses’ OnlyFans campaign. In typically unapologetic style Nash launched an OnlyFans site to offset losses from the cost of staging the tour. Stating that she thinks she’ll make more from the OnlyFans account than she will from the tour. Nash is utilising the campaign to highlight both the struggles that the music industry is currently facing and to underline agency over her own body and how she uses it. On the day of the show, Nash had received the news that her campaign had persuaded parliament to push forward with their plans for a £1 levy on gig tickets to go to grassroots venues.
The band walked onto the stage to the strains of ‘World Of Imagination’ from the Willy Wonka Motion Picture Soundtrack followed by the intro to Nash’s, ‘Play’ and then in quick succession a string version of ‘Foundations’. A trio of the familiar to ease the audience into ‘Millions Of Heartbeats’. Surprisingly for a track from a new album it was afforded the same word-perfect reverence usually reserved for long time favourites. The acoustic faux country whimsy of ‘Vampyre’ hid a few of Nash’s more brazen lyrics to offset the saccharine.
‘Mouthwash’ gave the majority of the audience what they were looking for in the nostalgic singalong from ‘Made Of Bricks’. It was after the rapturous applause died down that Nash chose to address her OnlyFans campaign, “Alright Brighton, I dunno if you’ve heard, but I’ve been causing a bit of a riot with my bum this week.” She went on to detail what had happened and why she was doing it. “…for a few reasons, 1. Because I’m a woman, and I can do what the f**k I want with my body. 2. Because the music industry has failed artists and is in total f**king crisis.” She took the opportunity to outline how exactly artists were struggling and the ways to remedy it to both cheers of support and boos of derision for those profiting.
‘Misery’ like many of the songs on the new album looks to find hope in despair. Discussing the visceral reality of dealing with mental health issues. Nash took to the audience to connect with them directly and then encouraged them to crouch down to the ground to then enter into a collective leap towards joy leaving everyone palpably uplifted.
Though the majority of the crowd might have preferred her chart-friendly piano pop hooks, the medley she then surged into was the highlight of the night. Strapping on her electric guitar Nash and her band tore through a rock medley of ‘Cherry Pickin’’, ‘Death Proof’ and ‘All Talk’, followed by ‘Part Hart’. It was a deliciously dirty grunge- tinged, though all too short interlude.
In direct contrast, Nash moved from electric guitar to acoustic to deliver ‘I Hate Seagulls’, a title which any Brightonian can relate to. ‘The Nicest Thing’, took the tempo down even lower, which was unexpected. The lovelorn lament resonated with the large section of the crowd who were paying attention, joining to sing along, bonded in emotion.
Nash brought the audience back to the new album. The new material resonates deeply, embracing potentially difficult subject matter head-on, but with a lightness of touch and relatability. ‘Ray’ skewered overcoming depression with honesty imbued hope rendering the track is both inspiring and moving. ‘Wasteman’ buoyed the audience with its empowered defiance, getting the whole venue on their feet.
The sweet spot of artist crowd interaction from the evening came with ‘My Little Alien’ the only song in the set from ‘Yesterday Was Forever’. Nash endeavoured to teach the audience the harmonies with varying degrees of success until nearly the end. The song, about her dog, offered a little collective therapy, which to quote Kate herself is “Good for you!”. The audience greeted every song of the set with rapturous applause, no matter the album. A testament to Nash’s ability to crisply distil events and emotions which chime with her audience.
Nash rounded off the set by launching into the second medley of the night. A flurry of crowd pleasers included, ‘Kiss That Grrrl’, ‘Shit Song’, ‘Later On’, and ‘Mariella’, which swept the audience up into a frenzy. Just when you thought the crowd couldn’t get any more exuberant the band slammed into a euphoric rendition of ‘Foundations’. The once ubiquitous track sounded as fresh as the day it was penned.
For a short while after the band left the stage before the inevitable encore it looked as if they might not be one. Only to return to play the surprisingly downbeat choice of ‘Space Odyssey 2001’, a nostalgic recollection of the start of her current relationship. Continuing downtempo the set finished with ‘Birds’. The track in which Nash melds romantic declarations with abrupt dismissal and somehow makes it charming.
Oscillating from upbeat pop piano crowd pleasers, lovelorn laments to rock and political statements there’s no doubt that Nash is aware of how diverse her audience has become. She catered for all, leaving no one behind and left everyone smiling.
Kate Nash:
Kate Nash – lead vocals, guitar
Un-named – bass guitar, backing vocals
Un-named – drums
Un-Named – guitar, backing vocals
Kate Nash setlist:
‘Millions Of Heartbeats’ (from 2024 ‘9 Sad Symphonies’ album)
‘Vampyre’ (from 2024 ‘9 Sad Symphonies’ album)
‘Mouthwash’ (from 2007 ‘Made Of Bricks’ album)
‘Misery’ (from 2024 ‘9 Sad Symphonies’ album)
‘Cherry Pickin’’ / ‘Death Proof’ / ‘All Talk’ (Medley from 2013 ‘Girl Talk’ album)
‘Part Heart’ (from 2013 ‘Girl Talk’ album)
‘I Hate Seagulls’ (from 2010 ‘My Best Friend Is You’ album)
‘Nicest Thing’ (from 2007 ‘Made Of Bricks’ album)
‘Ray’ (from 2024 ‘9 Sad Symphonies’ album)
‘Wasteman’ (from 2024 ‘9 Sad Symphonies’ album)
‘My Little Alien’ (from 2018 ‘Yesterday Was Forever’ album)
‘Kiss That Grrl’ / ‘Shit Song’ / ‘Later On’ / ‘Mariella’ (Medley from 2010 ‘My Best
Friend Is You’, 2007 ‘Made Of Bricks’ albums)
‘Foundations’ (from 2007 ‘Made Of Bricks’ album)
(encore)
‘Space Odyssey’ (from 2024 ‘9 Sad Symphonies’ album)
‘Birds’ (from 2007 ‘Made Of Bricks’ album)
Connie Constance (aka Constance Power) the support act for the evening arrived on stage full to the brim with effervescent energy. The singer-songwriter released her debut album ‘English Rose’ in 2019. Comparisons to the likes of Lily Allen, King Krule and Hiatus Kaiyote confirm that her music doesn’t conform strictly to one genre. ‘Miss Power’, her 2022 album confirmed her move away from the R&B and Soul influences her former label pushed her towards embracing her influences and preference for indie-rock.
Jumping right in the set opened with the upbeat ‘Till The Worlds Awake’. Constance has a husky edge to her voice which she was pressured to abandon, thankfully she didn’t as it brings real interest to her vocals. The track has an infectious dance melody, just begging to be remixed. Constance doesn’t stop moving throughout the track. A trained dancer, her agile and energetic movements remained relentless throughout reflecting the pace of the set as a whole.
‘Hurt You’, a second track from ‘Miss Power’ could initially be misinterpreted as a track about surviving and thriving after escaping a personal relationship, but is about the dysfunctional relationship with her first record label. The catchy chorus will stick with you. The upbeat composition is in direct contradiction with the downbeat lyrics. ‘Monty Python’ is pure bouncy indie-rock, with an edge of Kelis style RnB creeping in and is again a pure earworm of a chorus.
Barely taking a breath aside from encouraging the audience to dance and thanking them between tracks her frenetic movement on stage kept the atmosphere upbeat. ‘Prim And Propa’ was power pop at its best, an exuberant and uplifting song inspired in part by her mother.
The next three tracks infused indie rock with club beats and more earworm choruses showcasing Constance’s vocal range and songwriting talent. They all appear to have been brand-new tracks as none could be found in her currently available material.
The final track of the set ‘When Heaven Takes You Home’ was familiar to some members of the audience as it is a collaboration with Swedish House Mafia. Abandoning Indie influences entirely the song is a pure high-energy dance, which is the direction the singer-songwriter appears to moving towards if the later half set was any indication. A perfect support set which buoyed an already enthusiastic audience and got them moving. We’re keen to see which direction Constance moves in next.
Connie Constance:
Connie Constance – lead vocals
Un-named – bass guitar, backing vocals
Un-Named – guitar, backing vocals
Connie Constance setlist:
‘Till The Worlds Awake’ (from 2022 ‘Miss Power’ album)
‘Hurt You’ (from 2022 ‘Miss Power’ album)
‘Monty Python’ (from 2020 ‘Monty Python’ single)
‘Prim & Propa’ (from 2022 ‘Prim & Propa’ EP)
‘Till The Worlds Awake’ (from 2022 ‘Miss Power’ album)
“Un-released”
“Un-released”
“Un-released”
‘When Heaven Takes You Home’ (from 2022 ‘Paradise Again’ album with Swedish House Mafia)
www.instagram.com/itsconniesworld
