Rose Kemp

There are a number of reasons why some gigs are devoid of atmosphere. Occasionally it’s because of the dull vacancy that occupies the larger, callous venues. Other times it’s down to the unsympathetic audience, who tend to exercise their right to be British and show as little compassion as possible. Or on the odd occasion it’s simply because the band are rather sh*te.

After a rescheduled Hundred Reasons gig had pulled most of Exeter’s gigging clientele towards the Lemon Grove, there wasn’t really that many people left to see singer/songwriter Rose Kemp. It was free entry to this gig for any Hundred Reasons attendees, but it didn’t look like many had taken up the opportunity of a free gig.

For all its back street pokiness, and dingy interior the Cavern is actually quite a nice little venue. The stage is tucked round the side, and out of view from the bar which means if you can’t find any way to shut up an annoying support act you can always hide behind the dividing wall and hope that the barrier drowns them out.

A staggered, disparate crowd had collected to watch Kemp, who was taking central stage to front her four piece outfit. The stage recedes back out of view, and a couple of annoying pillars meant that her group spent most of the performance hidden away, but it is Kemp’s show and the attention was expectantly focused on her.



There’s no denying the similarities between Kemp and another artist from just down the road, PJ Harvey. It’s the same gutsy sound that looms somewhere between grunge and that elusively difficult genre prog rock. Kemp clearly has some sort of affection for effects pedals, working them into the majority of her songs and picking her moments to break out with a few obligatory power chords, played vigorously through distortion.

Her single ‘Violence’, which came out on November 20th, is clearly the highlight of the set. The vocals twist and shape the core of the song, and it all sounds rather unnerving, unpolished and brilliantly raw. Definitely one of her more experimental tracks, which screams of The Breeders at their best.

I wasn’t expecting the heavy handed, overdriven choruses that seem to come crashing out at any given time, snapping you back from a daydream and forcing you to watch as Kemp moves left and right within the tiny two foot square area she’s been given to perform in.

Even though Kemp’s musical attributes cannot be faltered, her charisma seems to be lacking somewhat. She delivers a half hearted plug of her album with less than passionate enthusiasm. Throughout most of the gig she fails to give the crowd much more than a brief accepting smile. If she was going for the tortured soul look then she needs a little work on that too. Right now she just looks bored and uninterested, and as she goes through the motions the effect wares off on the crowd.

I was expecting a folk artist with an acoustic guitar, so instead I was quite pleased to see something a little different from Rose Kemp. There’s certainly promise in her music but a lack of enthusiasm, and a less than appreciative crowd let the whole gig down. There simply was no atmosphere tonight, and I felt that it was largely down to the uninterested performance given by Kemp and her band. Just because she has a similar name to TV’s Ross Kemp (Eastenders' Grant Mitchell), it doesn’t mean she has to be as grumpy.

FUTURE GIGS

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