The latest in news from the cultural universe
Just For Culture
  • Home
  • Art & Literature
  • Music
  • Day & Nightlife
  • Film & TV
  • About Us & Contact

Live Review: Kate Tempest - Electric Fields Festival, Drumlanrig Castle, Dumfries and Galloway, 1 September 2017

4/9/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
It’s no coincidence that anytime Kate Tempest plays a music festival she leaves as one of the most memorable acts of the weekend. The London-based poet left hoards of people stunned at Glastonbury and sent viral videos around the internet for days after, and her performance at Electric Fields was every bit as memorable.

Tempest has released two albums of music to date (as well as a novel, numerous collections of poetry and much more) and has received widespread critical acclaim for both, including a Mercury Award-nomination for each record.

Both albums are narrative-driven explorations of modern day society. They tell a story from start to finish, and make comment about the modern-day state of the world while they’re at it.

What this does mean is that when you see Kate Tempest live it’s unlikely you’ll be treated to a ‘Greatest Hits’ style performance; even at a music festival, where most bands tend to roll out a setlist made from their biggest hits and crowd pleasers.

Tempest closed the ‘Tenement TV’ stage on Friday night by playing her latest record, the 13-track Let Them Eat Chaos in its entirety. You don’t have to previously be familiar with her work to enjoy it, though. Just turn up, watch and listen, and you will be blown away by the performance. The audience is hanging on every word that comes out of the Londoner’s mouth.

Let Them Eat Chaos looks at day-to-day life in modern society, and the bigger picture of it all, from the perspective of numerous different characters, all of whom live in the same apartment block and going about their regular routine at 4.18am.

Lines like single release ‘Europe is Lost’ take aim at the government: “Caught sniffing lines off a prostitute’s prosthetic tits / Now it's back to the house of lords with slapped wrists / They abduct kids and fuck the heads of dead pigs / But him in a hoodie with a couple of spliffs? / Jail him, he’s the criminal."
Others observe on more ground-level matters: “Pete grew up on this street / He moved away, but he's back livin' at his dad's so he can save / He rigs stages at live events, but every time he gets paid / He gets wasted and wakes up with less than he made / Then he hates it, but that's life, right? / Fast paced, shit faced, low maintenance.”

All of this comes set to a mesmerising, endlessly original live electronic soundtrack. The words are gripping, bold, more engaging and thought-provoking than anything else you’re likely to hear on mainstream radio, and the electronic soundtrack makes it something that’s hard to stand still to as well.

Tempest smashes through song after song, character after character without so much of as a moment’s break between songs. Individual tracks start slow, with spoken word stanzas rising into quicker rhythmic verses as the beat comes in.
​

There can surely be no doubt that Tempest is one of the best writers in the industry right now, and one of the most hypnotic performers in the world. Your jaw will drop early, and it’ll stay dropped throughout.

​Stuart Kenny

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Music

    Bringing you the latest music news, features and opinions from the JFC mind

    Archives

    May 2021
    February 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    June 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    June 2013

    Categories

    All
    2013
    2014
    2015
    Abandon Ship
    Aberdeen
    Album
    Alex Metric
    Alternative
    Austin Carlile
    Band
    Becky Hill
    Beyonce
    Biffy
    Biffy Clyro
    Blackened Sky
    Blog
    Bono
    Broken Social Scene
    Calvin Harris
    Camden
    Charlie Simpson
    Chart
    Chris Martin
    CHVRCHES
    Clyro
    Coldplay
    Dance
    Dangermouse
    D&B
    Deadmau5
    Decade
    Drum And Bass
    Dublin
    EDM
    Ella Eyre
    Exclusive
    Festival
    Full Crate
    Gecko
    Genre
    Ghost Stories
    Giorgio Moroder
    Girl Friend
    Glasgow
    God Level
    Gorgon City
    Gwyneth Paltrow
    Handguns
    Heart To Heart
    Hit The Lights
    House
    Hudson Mohawke
    If I Go
    Indie
    Infinity Land
    Innovative
    Interview
    In The Lonely Hour
    Ireland
    ITunes
    Jesse Glynne
    Jess Glynne
    JproD
    Jurassic 5
    Kanye-west
    Kilmainham
    Kings
    King-tuts
    King-tuts020c7650de
    Knife Party
    Latest
    Liquid Room
    Little Matador
    Little Mix
    Live
    Live Review
    Living Without You
    London
    McBusted
    Mentirosa
    Metric
    MK
    Monarchy
    Money On My Mind
    Motion
    Music
    Myspace
    Neck Deep
    New
    New Music
    News
    New Wave
    Of Mice & Men
    Oliver $
    Oliver Heldens
    Online
    Only Revelations
    OPM
    Opposites
    Overdrive
    Paloma Faith
    Paul Epworth
    PAWS
    Pendulum
    Pop
    Pop Punk
    Pop-Punk
    Punk-Rock
    Puzzle
    Rating
    Reasons
    Remi
    Remix
    Review
    Ric Ocasek
    Rivers Cuomo
    Rob Swire
    Rock
    Royal Hospital
    Rudimental
    Ryan Tedder
    Sam Smith
    Scotland
    Scottish
    Simon Neil
    Single
    Singles
    Slam Dunk
    Sleep Deprived
    Social Network
    Songs Of Innocence
    Soul
    Synthpop
    Technology
    The 1975
    The Pierces
    The Story So Far
    The Xcerts
    Tour
    Twin Atlantic
    U2
    Video
    Wah Wah Hut
    We Are The In Crowd
    Website
    Weezer
    Xcerts
    Yeezus
    Youth Culture Forever

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.