Kate Tempest

I saw Kate Tempest last night at the U Street Music Hall in DC. It was an extraordinary performance. As the New York Times says, she is a "triple threat" as a poet, dramaturg, and rapper/musician, and the show was an overwhelming experience of verbal dexterity and a torrent of incantatory language, both exhorting action by the audience and depicting her characters, which are sketched deftly and lithely, and with empathy and humor.

The contrast between her personal appearance and the ferocity of the stage performance is striking: She is a young, slightly chubby Englishwomen in her late 20s, with plain clothing, a sweet smile and dancing blue eyes. She looks like an arts student at university. And then she opens her mouth and raps with incredible fluidity over dense electronic beats, recites her poem-stories, and orates in a fascinating blend of street-tough lingo and high-minded literary allusions. For her, the connection between telling stories of struggling urban classes, and exhorting her listeners to change their environment for the better, was inextricable.
At the end of the show, not only did it seem possible to change the world for the better, but it seemed imperative, and inevitable. Really remarkable to watch.

If you want to change the world for the better, don't have kids. Everyone should stop having kids. The slow extinction of humanity is what this world really needs.

I'd like to see her share the stage with Patti Smith. It would be like dueling hipsters!



Post Edited (06-05-15 11:30)

Well that's a cheery observation, thanks!

I believe in sharing the optimism.

Hoip, Hoip, Hoip! If you'd checked online, you would've seen that Ms. Tempest was a recent recipient of the Ted Hughes Award, which would've opened up a whole world of Sylvia Plath observations if you really wanted to be pessimistic.

Anyhow, I gave a listen to Tempest's album while at work and liked it well enough that I want to listen to it again when I can pay more attention to it. I did get the feeling that seeing her live is probably essential to get the full effect.

Hush, hush, the Ted Hughes Award doesn't require that the recipient commit suicide; that part is just optional.

Yes, seeing Kate Tempest in performance is really critical. I have heard the record, too, but in performance she blends the rapping, spoken word poetry, and storytelling in a more seamless fashion. There are plenty of clips of her performances on YouTube. Also, the record is a companion piece to her written work - same characters and settings appear in both the recorded work and her writings, so you hear familiar references in new contexts.

I like Icarus and Circles. Think I'll check out more of her stuff.

ACL had her play our SXSW day party. I was not able to go, unfortunately, and heard nothing but raves about her performances from everybody who did.

If you like Kate Tempest, I'd highly recommend Young Fathers (from Edinburgh) as well . . .

And Ted Hughes shouldn't necessary evoke Plath (despite marriage) ... Pete Townsend collaborated with Hughes and once wrote the lyric "hope I die before I get old" and no one is connecting *those* dots (with good reason).