life during wartime: kate nash apr 30 2008 detroit mi.

jordan, angelica, her sister maranatha and i went to see cute as a button briton kate nash perform at st. andrew's hall on congress st. in detroit, mi. last wednesday. it was a beautiful day out; chicken schwarmas and an empty tunnel bus ride (with absolutely no security checks by customs - we didn't have to get off the bus/go inside!) complimented it well.

on the way to getting in line who did i happen to see chattering away on his cell phone but cribs frontman ryan jarman, who happens to be dating ms. nash herself. i was a little surprised and i kind of stared him down as we passed by. i like to think that the look i conveyed to him when we made brief eye contact was 'ryan jarman! i am a huge fan, and also probably the only person who knows who you are/likes you better than kate nash!'

the show openers were freaky faux-family the tratchenberg family slideshow. their songs were kind of funny but neither i nor the crowd were, as they say, 'feelin' it.' angelica did get quite into the song 'eggs' though. i just think the little girl looked miserable to be doing this; they said she was now 14 and had been doing it since she was 6. the novelty probably wore off around age 11 or 12, depending on her maturity level and when she became aware of what the hell she was actually doing.

before kate came on, motown classics were played but i can't for the life of me remember which song she actually came out to.

i keep reading that she is an arrogant person, but all she demonstrated at the show was a bit of shyness, nervous banter and generally seemed humble. the only time she got angry was when she explained that one of her songs was used in a pro-anorexia youtube video. she blamed the media for glorifying thin bodies and pretty blondes, while saying she wasn't a size zero and was quite proud of it. she also had some sort of inside joke with the band where she got everyone to say 'fuck swaz' or whatever she said.

she's a pretty engaging performer and i've not seen such enthusiastic piano-playing since... well, i can't remember the last time i saw piano-playing like that. she waited awhile to play her hits 'foundations' and 'mouthwash' and towards the end performed a punk-tinged song whose chours went, 'you don't have to suck to succeed.' she came out for one three-song chorus and no covers.

her merch was all cutesy stuff but nothing really interested me (the tote bag with a bee on it was cute and said, 'i can assure you i've been to an awful lot of kate nash gigs...' but if i bought that at this one gig that sort of makes me a retarded person until i see her again).

i would definently go see her again, for sure.