Nash Hits

Kate Nash/Peggy Sue And The Pirates, Little Civic, Wolverhampton, Tuesday March 27 2007.

Don't have much in the way of prior knowledge about Peggy Sue And The Pirates but, coming from Brighton by way of London, had them figured for ditzy scenesters. What becomes immediately apparent as they start proceedings with an acapella number, however, is that both girls have extraordinarily good voices and they're not afraid to use them to splendid harmonising effect. There's also a nice line in humour running throughout the songs to complement their sound vocal technique, with 'Superman' making me chuckle with its' observation, 'I've been played by lots of different actors/Some of 'em were good, but some of 'em were wankers'. Very entertaining, then, but somebody should have a word with them about the fact the tracklisting on their CD is all to cock...

The cheeky electropop of 'Caroline's A Victim' is played to the crowd before Kate Nash gets up on stage, just as well as it's an acoustic version we're treated to as part of the live set. It plays well enough but on her first ever tour it's difficult not to feel a little short-changed that a nearer approximation to her debut single couldn't be attempted in concert. Overall, though, the lack of 'killer beats' is compensated by the good humour and charm presented throughout by the curvaceous and cheeky Nash, who, judging on tonight's turnout, has become the adopted elder sister of Wolverhampton undergraduate girls obsessed with cake and beads. There's a nice moment, too, when she beckons her sound engineer, a wild-haired man answering to the name of Rampton(!), to come up on stage to celebrate his birthday (you guessed it, cake was involved!).

Technically, her vocal range is a little more limited than the PS&P girls but she sings with a fetching East London twang that stands up to the exposure of the half-acoustic half-electronic set. But while the love for Kate Nash amongst the crowd is palpable, it's perhaps only on 'The Birds' where you feel a genuine emotional connection is made through the material as opposed to the singer's winning personality. A work in progress, then, with plenty of promise, potential that will perhaps be fully realised when the electronica element can be sustained live throughout to give her a more distinctive edge over singer/songwriter rivals.