A Kate Tempest performance isn’t an experience, it’s a call to arms.
Kate Tempest is a force of nature. Her words roll over the audience like. . . Well. . . A tempest. In her first ever Brisbane show, a one-night-only event, she came out on stage to engage the audience in a bit of banter as she said that once she started, she “wouldn’t stop.” And she didn’t. For well over an hour, Tempest spoke her truth in rap, in poetry and sometimes in song. All her work blended together, so there was very little breath between pieces.
Every single second was brilliant. It was almost as if she entered a trance, and she couldn’t come out of her mental tunnel until her words were exhausted. At some points she went over to a wall of speakers and rocked against them with her head bowed, almost like an Orthodox Jewish person at the Wailing Wall. It was quite something to witness, and to be a part of.
This second bit is important and was emphasised by Tempest before the set began: every night is different, everyone takes away from the performance something different, and Tempest finds something different in her own words through the interpretation of the audience. She came across as authentic, genuinely humbled by the audience, and keen for connection.
Her performance ended with a beautiful piece about hope – well-needed after some fairly bleak spoken word about the future of our planet and society. She received an immediate standing ovation, and eventually came back out to say that she had no more to say that night, her show had ended where it needed to end, but she came back out to thank us because she didn’t want us to be disappointed. Again, a very genuine and humble interaction.
The only downside was the lighting design. It was very violent and hectic with lots of swinging spotlights and strobes. It really distracted from the starkness of the performance and the words being said on stage. The parts where Tempest was simply backlit were the best, as it allowed the audience to focus on what she was saying.
Another highlight was her support act, Malaysian-Australian author, rapper and poet Omar Musa. Musa was able to get his entire (from the looks of things) white middle class baby boomer audience to give the middle finger to Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton. His spoken word pieces were very powerful, speaking on a range of issues from Indigenous land rights and his experiences as part of an immigrant family to refusing to assimilate, as his vision of Australia means everyone bringing their culture with them to create something new. A strong Australia listens to critique, it doesn’t set ASIO on those pointing out weakness.
His work was challenging, and sometimes funny, he is very charismatic and has great banter with the audience. His songs weren’t as strong as his poetry, and his love song was the weakest element in an otherwise very powerful set.
★★★★★
