Kate Nash’s performance at The Bowery Ballroom was one of the best and most memorable highlights out of my CMJ marathon experience for many love-filled reasons. She and New York City alike truly embodied the concept of how music brings people together so naturally and with such *shimmering* grace. 

In an exhausting week full of enlightening panels about the music industry and so many great artists, the combination of it all set the perfect tone for a passionate unifying experience for independent music enthusiasts to, in all honesty, run a city that never sleeps (or stops entertaining for that matter) with a fresh outlook brought in by so many musicians, promoters, college station members, and more.

This conference lent to several warm gatherings to honor good music and creative people spread out all over the city in what weren’t your typical crowds or venues. Everyone there either wanted to be the person on stage, was the person on stage, or wanted to be the person who helped get them on stage. Therefore, I guess it kind of made sense for me to end my tiring experience (that was worth every minute of the hustle between the subways in the city from Brooklyn to Manhattan) with one of the warmest and most welcoming performances I have ever seen live.

The second I stepped into the venue, she was already rocking the house. I was running late due to my Californian-not-being-familiar-with-the-concept-of-subways and basic sense of direction issues, but my excitement and girl gang devotion were not going to let me miss Kate Nash. So, a dollar pizza and 20 minutes into her set later, I made it.

I was a bit far back from the stage at first, but somehow through all the dancing, singing, and a great moving crowd, the stream took me in and delivered me to the front where I was able to catch up with KTSW music director and now KCSB pal, Janelle Abad. Together, we co-led the head-bang on the dance floor to Kate’s FIDLAR cover of “Cocaine,” redesigned and redirected into a “Girl Gang” anthem. 

An equal mixture between her older upbeat pop/rock songs, such as the gentle and melodic tune, “3 AM,” carefully intertwined with her newer, unrulier, more deviant tracks, gave that Saturday night in NYC a dose of music just about anyone could enjoy.

The experience was climactic in that it only grew more intimate with several moments worth highlighting that left an impression on many of us. The show only got better and better after each song and between every break. From her incredible head-to-toe sequin attire to her Alice In Wonderland backdrop, the audience surely fell down the rabbit hole of feelings during this rock show. She truly shined and lit that stage with a passion and joy strong enough to ring wedding bells.

After a very mellow and heartfelt acoustic break that brought tears to many of us in the audience, Kate brought a young woman up from the audience on to the stage, handed her the mic, and let her propose to the love of her life in perhaps one of the most beautiful venues in New York City. The crowd was stunned, myself included. 

The chemistry between her and her band definitely played a major role with the night’s overall welcoming environment, particularly between her and her guitarist, Linda Buratto, who exemplifies a full-blown energetic stage presence and unbelievable guitar virtuosity that shows pretty clearly she gives it her all for an audience. It was a thrill to see this guitarist claim that stage with the fiercest and most badass attitude, giving the type of in your face guitar solos you want to see at a rock concert when there’s no barrier. I remember thinking at one point when she was playing her solo over the crowd waving her hair, tongue out like some punk rock wild child, “Wow this is actually so… metal.”

Once the night neared its end, Kate returned to the stage for her encore, played a few additional songs before she and her band decided to suddenly share the stage, with us, the audience. Buratto began the mob by latching onto someone’s hand and pulling them up motioning everybody else to come on stage. As everyone started boosting each other up, three failed hops and a bruised shin later, I, too, found myself dancing a long with Kate and her killer band of strong women in rock. One can only imagine what a nightmare this was for the poor security working the venue, but this is rock ‘n’ roll, where we’re supposed to crowd surf, cry, sweat, and dance our asses off under confetti, and that we did. Though Kate did most of the crowd surfing.