Kate Nash at the Vic – May 2nd, 2008. Arriving at the Vic for the sold-out Kate Nash show, I had tremendous expectations. Her debut Cd, ‘House of Bricks’ has been in constant rotation since I received it from a friend in February, and I have been scouring the web trying to catch whatever videos I could find. Her CD displays a unique ability to find the hook, yet keep things stripped down and simple. Needless to say, this was one of my most highly anticipated concerts of the year.
I don’t think I like the Vic as a venue anymore. It just feels second rate compared to Metro and House of Blues. The sound mix was horrible. After sitting through an obnoxious opening act, Kate Nash finally stepped on stage, and from the first note I was highly disappointed. She opened with the song ‘Pumpkin Soup’, and her 4 piece backing band just obliterated the tempo. The song speed was shifty and inconsistent, which made her vocals sound rushed and, at some points, incomprehensible. I figured this might just be jitters, but every single song kept at this breakneck pace. Even her hit ‘Foundations’ was played too fast, and made the night almost unbearable.
The overwhelming hipster crowd didn’t help matters either. Only 50 percent of the crowd even seemed to care about what was going on. The rest were there apparently because it is hip to like Kate Nash.
The only time she shined was when they slowed down and played songs like ‘Birds’. Only at these moments was she able to really capture the audience and showcase her stellar singing voice. There were not enough of these moments however. I left feeling like I wasted $20.
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