Kate Nash / Peggy Sue and The Pirates

If I’m totally honest I went along to London Spitz with a highly cynical outlook for the gig. I was fully prepared to be extremely annoyed by jerky and quirky pop. I was also prepared to irritated by an uber-cool crowd. I was basically expecting a Regina Spektor tribute evening. Nothing wrong with Spektor, but hasn’t she encouraged a huge pile of drivel to try their luck in the music business? There were a few initial signs that didn’t exactly put me at ease.

Primarily, during the support act a nauseating couple in front of me felt the need to clap for each other. By this I mean that they both had a drink in their hand so, to clap, they turned to face each other and gave repetitive high fives followed by attention seeking giggles. I was infuriated but probably need to be a little less grumpy. Anyway, I moved to the other side of the room.

Thinking that the left side of the stage would make me a little happier, I started to really concentrate on the support act. Peggy Sue and The Pirates are a lo-fi duo made up of Rosa 'REX' Slade and KatyBeth 'KLAW' Young. They were selling their CD next to a large picture of Nathan Followill (drummer from Kings of Leon) with his quote saying how great the girls were. Being able to concentrate on the two girls was not a good thing. There were times when my toes were curling with embarrassment and I didn’t know where to look. Unbearable doo-waps and various strange vocal noises made it a painful half an hour to endure. Mr Followill must have been misquoted...

Kate Nash is constantly, and rather inevitably, compared to Lily Allen. I would personally describe Kate Nash as a potty-mouthed (yet sweeter), prettier, and more talented Lily Allen. However, Kate needs to be thankful to her mate Lily as it was only when Allen put Nash on her (incredibly popular) MySpace page as a friend that interest levels in her escalated. This, along with a dedicated group of fans, partly led to a sold out Spitz and a cracking atmosphere in the small venue.

She came onto her fantastic looking set with her trademark grin. She was genuinely happy to be there and that kind of enthusiasm can only be infectious. Luminous lamps, and a big pink neon ‘Kate Nash’ sign only helped to lighten the mood and with a quick glimpse around the venue I saw that the vast majority of faces in the room boasted a smile.

Every tune was immediately catchy as she played piano or acoustic guitar and was backed by an efficient drummer and a bass player. The re-worked version of ‘Caroline’s a Victim’, described by Nash’s Mum as sounding like Buddy Holly, was substantially better than the recently released version. The released version happened to be the intro track as Nash took to the stage. Not so subtly titled songs such as ‘Dickhead’ and ‘The Shit Song’ highlighted Nash’s ability to mix a bit of comedy and an appealing pop song whilst maintaining the underlying sentiments of the songs.

One thing that really impressed me about Nash was her interaction with the crowd and her awareness that it was her duty to please the paying audience in front of her. Too many artists come to a stage and put their head down and just do their job. The Spitz is a peculiar shaped venue where people can see the stage from 3 sides. Nash was constantly aware of the audience to her left and right and paid them due respect until she had to admit that ”I’m sorry to all of the folks to my left and right. I know you’re here, but I keep messing up when I look your way!!”

FUTURE GIGS